Everyone is talking about big data and cloud computing. From sports teams to airlines to fast food restaurants, big data capture, management and analysis has become a key focus. In fact, I’d argue that big data has replaced cloud as the hottest buzzword in enterprise IT today. However, big data and cloud are actually linked. The rise of big data within the enterprise has been aided by the growth and adoption of cloud infrastructure, platforms and applications.
That said, not all cloud infrastructure solutions are created equal when it comes to supporting enterprise-level big data initiatives. Factors like resources, speed, reliability, etc. all become critical factors to consider when using cloud to support big data analysis. There are a number of items enterprises should consider in relation to their cloud providers if they want big data and cloud computing to get maximized efficiency and value for their business.
Data Location: Does your cloud provider have a place to store all your data? Yes, the cloud is about making data available anywhere, but when doing analysis of large data sets to gain critical company insights, having to move the data from separate locations into a central location slows down the process. It’s important to make sure your big data has a home.
The Network: The network is the core of any cloud solution and a cloud-based big data analytics solution is only as fast and powerful as the network it runs on. Can your cloud provider supply the necessary network horsepower? Find out or risk not being able to analyze and access big data insights in time to impact the business.
Reliability and Flexibility: Reliability is not merely an issue for big data analytics. As enterprises move more mission-critical workloads to the cloud, service interruptions cause real pain for the business. You need to know your cloud provider has been thinking about this and has put measures in place to provide reliable service. Additionally, cloud providers must be able to quickly scale or alter service levels. When you’re ready to analyze data you need to know the computing power can be quickly and seamlessly increased on demand.
Big data and cloud computing drives everything at smart enterprises. Cloud infrastructure makes it easier to let any employee access and analyze data to help inform decision-making. As a result, knowing that your cloud infrastructure is built for big data is paramount to the success of your organization. Ask about the above today.
