On Monday, October 22, our second Big Data research report will be available for download from this website. In Creating clarity with Big Data, the first of four reports, we offered an answer to questions about what Big Data actually is, where it differs from existing data classification, and how the transformative potential of Big Data can be estimated. The concrete adoption and plans of organizations are currently primarily oriented toward the theme of Big Social: basically the customer side, particularly inspired by the social network activity of Web 2.0. What’s next in Big Data? In our new report we will focus primarily on the predictability of consumer behavior. The crucial question for now is simply What’s next in Big Data? Many organizations are finding that they have been waiting too long for concrete solutions. These should be easy to implement, of course, and should amply repay the effort expended. Nervous eagerness and skepticism now mark the start of business practices that more and more will confidently build upon Big Data. Large Big Data projects and strategies are yet to come but the current emerging next practices that already can be discerned surely will find their place in daily operations everywhere. Nine observations with both feet on the ground To start with, we will carefully consider the following observations, that are central to the dynamic Big Data discussion being in full swing today:
1. Qualified best practices are under construction 2. Technology is making a breakthrough 3. Big Social will fulfill the promise of hypertargeting 4. Big Data runs the risk of becoming an out-of-control party 5. Clearly determine your actual needs 6. Behavior is often predictable without Big Data 7. Big Data builds upon traditional data centricity 8. Big Data ROI is simmering through 9. Social Analytics is the current Big Data pet topicOur new research report Big Social: Predicting behavior with Big Data offers a multi-faceted orientation to the promising Big Data developments with regard to Social Analytics and Social Media. Some of these are indeed very promising, others only promise a lot. The more confident you are in your own judgment, the more able you will be to make a personal assessment and act in accordance with your observations.