EID 100 – MIDTERM REVIEW

1. BIG DATA

Volume, Velocity, and Variety are the characteristics of the Big Data.

Volume

The volume of data is increasing. Today, we can observe its exponential growth. It is not uncommon for large enterprises to have terabytes of storage space. 40 (43 trillion gigabytes) zettabytes will be created by 2020, an increase of 300 times from 2005. Millions of transactions are happening everyday that create more and more data. The characteristics of volume are:

• Records • Terabytes • Tables, files • Transactions

Velocity

Velocity is the speed with which the data is growing. Just a few decades ago it took a more than a day, week of even month to get updated information from a newspaper. Today, the world reacts instantly. It takes a few seconds to sent someone a text or to update a news website and get updated on the world's events. Social networks are growing which speeds up the informational exchange. By 2016, it is projected there will be 18.9 billion network connections - almost 2.5 connections per person on earth. The characteristics of velocity are:

• Batch • Near-time • Real-time • Streams

Variety

Today, the Big Data can be stored in multiple formats: plain text, images, music, video. And each image, sound, and video can also be formatted differently, for example, in PDF, Jpeg, GIF, MP3. There is a countless number of formats. This variety of formats can disturb interoperability, which is the problem we have to solve with the Big Data. The characteristics of variety are:

• Structured • Unstructured • Semistructured

Big Data is the concept of corporations collecting and analyzing big data sets to come up with conclusions to the answers they seek about: their businesses, customers, and among other things. The shift in big data is due to technology and the ability of collecting and interpreting large streams of data now that data capacity is larger and processing power is quicker. Not only that, put there are tools such as SPSS that can help us break down Big Data to use it in marketing metrics in order to improve customer relationship management and reduce churn rates.

The amazing thing about Big Data is that once it is analyzed and interpreted, most researchers can come to a similar and clear conclusion, therefor there is no bias. Also, because of new technologies such as Google Analytics that stores customer information to sell to large corporations based on their needs, it is much easier to collect and organize data. Applications being developed to analyze this data efficiently and quickly are getting better each year to keep up with the exponential growth of data collection.

There are many uses of Big Data, many of which could save your company money and prevent costly mistakes that could make you lag behind your competitors.

Some of these include but are not limited to:

• Customer relationship management- Mining the data collected on your customers, you could understand why a particular product failed or what your new product needs to succeed. Does your product meet customer expectations? This is a question that big data could help answer.

• What drives your sales? – Do customers like you because of the status you convey or because you offer the best product for the best price? This information could help you understand where you stand in the market and how you can capitalize on your brand’s perception

• Forecasting future industry growth- Where will the industry be in 5 years? 10 years?

Big Data offers limitless possibilities and every day the internet and corporations are getting better at collecting and analyzing it.

Big data has transformed the way businesses collect their data. Gone are the days that companies use traditional databases to collect information on how their business is running. Using big data gives businesses the potential to transform themselves by learning how to make better decisions and predictions. With big data, companies are able to collect data from all over the web, from any site and learn about how their business is doing, what the consumer think of it and how they can improve themselves. Having big data gives business the knowledge they need to come up with better solutions on how to improve their performance. The 3V’s help describe how big data can be beneficial. Velocity is how fast you can get to all the sites, the speed. Volume is the number of sites and data coming out, speed and size. And Variety is the diverse information out there, which is increasing velocity and volume. One benefit to using big data is keeping in touch with consumers. Customers enjoy sharing their personal opinion on social media on a product. By having big data, you are able to connect at a personal level with the customers. Another reason why having big data is important because is that you get to re-develop your products. If you are not helping the customer’s needs and wants, you can change your products. Another beneficial point is that you get to reduce your overall finances. Technology wears out after a while but with big data, you can see when you will have to update your systems rather then updating every few years without knowing if you have to. Overall, big data is making a huge outbreak throughout the web, helping business and market sectors.

2. CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud computing allows for organization across applications. It is always online and allows you to save space on your hard drive. Google Drive and Dropbox are major examples of cloud computing services. Cloud computing can be done anywhere at anytime which makes it so great. All you need is an internet connection and web browser, the cloud's system takes care of the rest.

The infrastructure needs are: Server farms, Power, Cooling and Redundancy (creating back up)

The front end of the cloud is accessed by the user and provides the point of interaction between user and system. The back end of the cloud is unseen by the user and runs on a server which remotely retrieves and stores data.

Some pros include: flexibility, scalability, cost efficient

Some cons include: security, bankruptcy, intellectual property

In terms of security, an encrypted cloud would be ideal to move it from a con to a firm pro.

Middleware and Redundancy: Sometimes products breakdown, in this case cloud computing systems will save a back up of information as a duplicate. This saves users a big headache in retrieving the information and that is why redundancy is praised. Middleware basically means what it says, it is a middle administrator of the system that monitors traffic and demands.

Cloud computing is in the right direction in terms of changing the way people organize their emails and other applications. Some people are already using cloud computing with out really knowing they are. Google is on the right track of ensuring everyone's applications are in one place, now the security factor needs to be established for good.

What is cloud computing? Instead of using the hard drive of one’s computer, it is a way to store and access data and programs over the internet. Some examples of cloud computing services include Amazon Web Services, Drop Box and Google Drive.

A demanding infrastructure needs:

Server farms Power Cooling Redundancy

Just like anything on the web, cloud computing has many advantages and also comes with a few disadvantages:

Advantage Disadvantage Flexible Security Scalable Legacy Software Cost effective Bankruptcy Secure* Intellectual property

When talking about cloud computing, the best way to explain it is through the front end and the back end terminology. Both of these connect through a network, mostly the Internet.

Front end:

It is the interface layer, accessed by the user. It runs on the client, providing point of interaction between the user and system.

Back end:

It is the process layer that is unseen by the user. It runs on the server and includes all the processes that goes on behind the screen or the "cloud" section of the system (remote retrieval and storage of data).

Refer to the image below for a visual depiction of front end and back end:

Protocols and middleware:

A central server administers the system. It monitors traffic and client demands and makes sure the system is functioning properly. A set of rules that it follows are called protocols. It also uses software called middleware that helps networked computers to communicate with one another.Think of middleware as the connecting puzzle piece (refer to image below).

Redundancy:

To prevent unavailability of data during occasional breakdown, cloud computing system duplicates the information of clients and stores it elsewhere for backup . This process of duplicating is called redundancy.

Cloud Computing doesn’t have a physical server; an individual is accessing the application through the Internet. It uses the Internet and central remote servers to maintain data and various applications. It reduces the complexity of networks. This technology allows much more efficient computation by centralizing storage memory. It allows an individual or an organization to access their data fast and easily. With an online connection, cloud computing can be done anywhere, anytime.

There’s 3 types of Cloud computing private, public and hybrid –

Private:

This is mostly related to enterprise service or a single company. It provides flexibility, scalability, automation and monitoring. The security level is very high. Thus, it can be very expensive and most used by large corporations. This is useful for a business that has a network that provides you with that kind of service gives high-speed service. An example for utilizing this cloud computing would be to share data between employees in different departments. Not a lot of people using this service.

Public:

This is the most common type of cloud computing everyone is using. Everyone can access this. Examples for this service are adobe cc cloud and google docs. If there is a problem with accessing its really hard to locate the

problem because there’s a large number of people using this service. However, it is the cheapest option of cloud computing.

Hybrid:

This type of cloud computing combines both private and public. This option is best for mid-size company that is looking to grow because they have their own infrastructure and their own data located in one place. They can use the public component to allow everyone access to general data and document library and then use the private component to allow certain employees to access the CRM for more secure/sensitive data.

3. COGNITIVE SURPLUS

Cognitive Surplus is a book written by Clay Shirky in 2010. The idea behind it is that because of greater access to each other via the internet and social media, society can do bigger things. By using second screens, we can create things at the same time as we consume them. We can watch a tv show and tweet about it or read a book and research it, for example. We share information and data on a global level and this allows us to collaborate and make the world better. The huge amount of people that have access to the internet and the speed at which we can collaborate is something that we, as a society, has never been done before.

Using the internet as a collaborative resource is cheap and easy. Social media shapes and reflects thoughts of consumers. As consumers of the internet, there are lots of people who volunteer their time and get nothing in return. Cognitive surplus is the idea that people want to do more and can do more thanks to the internet.

4. COOKIES

Cookies? No, not the kind your grandma makes for you on a rainy day, but Internet cookies. Internet cookies are a form of communication between your web browser and the sever being used. It’s important to learn about cookies because 1) it’s on your midterm and 2) it’s something you encounter on an everyday basis. So here it is, a short little summary of internet cookies.

What are cookies?

Basically, cookies relay information you provide to your internet browser to the internet server so that they can identify you. Every time you give a piece of information to your internet browser (e.g. your name, your username, email), it is stored in a cookie and sent from the the browser to the server. Now, every time you check back into that site, a cookie is sent from your browser to the server and then back to the browser so that the website you’re visiting knows your preferences and is custom to you. However, this also leads to privacy issues seeing as it is storing information that you may not necessarily want to be stored.

How do I get rid of cookies?

Cookies sound really creepy right? Well, there is a way to get rid of them. It depends on the browser you use, but in general, cookies can be deleted through your browser’s privacy settings. Cookies can also be managed using adblockers and other installations such as “do not track”.