Big Data has, for some time, been one of the major technological trends making its way into the daily operations of companies. Moreover, it is poised to bring a true revolution to Industry 4.0.

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What Big Data Means

The term refers to large volumes of data, primarily collected within companies. Also known as massive data, macrodata, or large-scale data, it is generally considered “Big Data” when it reaches 30 terabytes or more.

Although this is the broader definition, when we talk about Big Data, we usually mean the processing of massive amounts of information or data intelligence—that is, structuring and making sense of vast amounts of unstructured and potentially disconnected data.

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What Big Data Is

Big Data consists of datasets that, due to their size and complexity, cannot be captured, managed, processed, or analyzed using conventional database, visualization, or statistical technologies.

To define Big Data, it is common to refer to the “5 V’s” that characterize it: Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity, and Value. These five characteristics correspond to five challenges companies face in extracting meaningful insights: storage, timeliness, collection, quality, and usefulness.

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What Big Data Is Used For

Primarily, Big Data is used to draw conclusions from large amounts of information. The goal is to aggregate data from multiple sources (such as Facebook data, web logs, connected devices, GPS, calls, statistics, etc.), relate and analyze it, visualize it, and ultimately extract relevant insights.

It is often combined with structured data, which is easier to collect and process and has been in use for a long time—for example, data from an ERP or CRM system.

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Why Big Data Is Important

The importance of Big Data comes not only from the enormous quantity of information but especially from a company’s ability to analyze it, extract insights, and act upon them.

By making sense of vast numbers of insights, the extracted knowledge is more reliable and can be verified from multiple perspectives. Companies gain new benchmarks, enabling them not only to answer existing or new questions but also to ask questions they had never considered.

The result is a better understanding of what has happened, what is happening, and the ability to forecast what will happen with far greater confidence. This allows companies to identify trends proactively and adapt more efficiently.

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Benefits of Big Data

Above all, Big Data helps identify new opportunities. Depending on the data collected and how it is processed, the most common benefits organizations seek with Big Data include:

• Cost reduction
• Identification of opportunities for new products or services
• Faster decision-making
• Improvements in regular operations
• Performance analytics to monitor activity

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Challenges of Big Data

The very nature of Big Data presents ongoing challenges for companies. First, the sheer number of sources and variety of data types can lead to many errors. Second, the speed at which data changes means its validity is relatively short, potentially leading to incorrect conclusions at times. Third, the sheer volume of data requires knowledge, time, and proper tools.

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Big Data and Industry 4.0

The ability to collect industrial data has steadily increased, incorporating new sources. This includes both simple data and more complex, rapidly growing datasets. That is why Big Data is a fundamental technology for Industry 4.0.

Connected industry has added capabilities such as the Internet of Things, sensors, and machine learning, all continuously generating data. Combined with previously collected data, this provides a critical source of knowledge for companies competing in mature, international, and constantly evolving markets.

Big Data’s importance in this new industrial revolution also lies in its ability to act as a convergence point for other small revolutions. Wireless connectivity, robotics, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing all converge in this data analysis.

Thanks to this, factories can, among other things, detect errors in real time, identify improvement opportunities, and forecast workloads.

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How to Take Advantage of Big Data

As with any business initiative, it is important to start with a strategy that addresses the following points:

• Alignment with business objectives
• Training
• Knowledge transfer
• Analysis of data sources
• Data collection, storage, and cleaning
• Data analysis tools
• Security