They say that with great power comes great responsibility. This is definitely the case when it comes to big data. You’re wielding a powerful, valuable source when you have a big data processing platform at your fingertips. Enterprises of all sizes need to act wisely and cautiously when it comes to handling and managing big data platforms.
Here are the six best practices for managing your big data analytics platform:
1. Limit Internal Access to Data.
A data platform isn’t something that should be available to everyone in an enterprise or department. Most companies have extremely tight security limits when it comes to who can access, view and adjust a data platform. This can help to protect sensitive information and potentially prevent a very damaging data breach. Data should be stored behind a firewall or in some type of cloud server with restricted access once it is collected and processed. Your security protocol may vary slightly depending on the type of platform you use. For instance, a platform that utilizes batch processing may require a higher level of human interaction than a platform that utilizes stream processing. This means the list of permitted users may be slightly larger if you use batch processing.
2. Audit Your Data.
Make sure the data you have is working for you. Data that just sits around collecting proverbial dust is bad for many reasons. The first reason is that data that has been forgotten about is at risk for being stolen or misused. In addition, having data that isn’t of any value to your enterprise can cause failure in your system’s strategic processes. You can increase performance and get better insights if you purge invalid or unusable data using an analytic method that evaluates the validity and value of data.
3. Collect and Use Data Honorably.
It’s important to make sure you’re not collecting data in ways that are illegal or unethical. Doing so can put your enterprise in legal trouble or permanently tarnish its reputation. It’s very important to be familiar with details of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, the California Online Privacy Protection Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and other regulations before you craft a platform to collect, share or use data.
4. Tailor Your Data Platform for Your Specific Industry.
A company that sells hairbrushes will need to do different things with data than an organization that manages healthcare. You should never adopt a streaming platform that only does one thing. A data platform can be tailored to do what specific enterprises need to gain insights and make good decisions.
5. Don’t Try to Do Data Alone.
Most IT departments and technology officers simply can’t create and maintain a big data platform completely internally. Trying to handle too much internally can put your enterprise at serious risk for breaches that could result in big problems. It will likely be necessary to bring in a third-party firm to create and manage your platform. The good news is that enterprises have a lot of flexibility regarding how much they want to dig in and get their hands dirty or stand back and let a firm handle most of the details.
6. See Your Data.
A data stream processing platform that pours your collected data into visual reports can be a huge benefit. This can allow you to gain insights in real time and make decisions based on what you can see. Being able to visualize what your data is revealing can be especially helpful if you’re sharing information within an organization during the process of making decisions and coming to conclusions regarding the performance of a campaign or initiative.
Following these best practices will help ensure anyone utilizing big data will get the most impact from what they collect and analyze. Forgetting one or more of these aspects of big data use and it may lead to disaster.
