16 Saturday May 2015
Posted in Big Data, Consider this, Good Strat, Good Strategy, Martyn Richard Jones, Strategy
Tags
Listen up Big Data playmates! The ubiquitous Big Data gurus, tied up in their regular chores of astroturfing mega-volumes, velocities and varieties of superficial flim flam, may not have noticed this, but, Hadoop is getting set up for one mighty fall – or a fast-tracked and vertiginous black run descent. Why do I say that? Well, let’s check the market. Continue reading
12 Tuesday May 2015
Posted in Big Data, Big Data Analytics, Consider this, good start, goodstart, sentiment analysis
Tags
All Data, Analytics, aspiring tendencies in IM, awareness, good start, Good Strat, goodstart, Martyn Jones, Strategy
If you know all about Sentiment Analysis, you’ve come to the right place. Because I don’t have a clue if what I know about it is accurate or not.
I started to do a bit research into this Sentiment Analysis lark, in particular with the theoretical idea of using it to analyse and draw conclusions from comments on Pulse – assuming that this is what it can be used for.
To begin at the beginning, which is good place to start, I read the piece on Wikipedia, and this was how it began:
“Sentiment analysis (also known as opinion mining) refers to the use of natural language processing, text analysis and computational linguistics to identify and extract subjective information in source materials.
Generally speaking, sentiment analysis aims to determine the attitude of a speaker or a writer with respect to some topic or the overall contextual polarity of a document. The attitude may be his or her judgment or evaluation (see appraisal theory), affective state (that is to say, the emotional state of the author when writing), or the intended emotional communication (that is to say, the emotional effect the author wishes to have on the reader).” Source: Wikipedia Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentiment_analysis
Well, that’s a fairly intuitive description. I could have almost have guessed as much.
But, back to the aim of analysing sentiment in Pulse comments, where to start and what to do.
What would sentiment analysis make of these:
On the death of an IT-business celebrity. What would sentiment analysis make of the very emotive comments of desolation, sadness and poignancy of people who didn’t personally know the departed, even remotely, or maybe didn’t even know of them until after they had ‘shuffled off life’s mortal coil’? How would that work? What would sentiment analysis make of the maudlin aphorisms, surrogate grief and bizarre sorrow of people separated by more degrees than Kofi Anan and Mork from Ork. What additional insight does sentiment analysis tell us when these comments are analysed along with the body of the text and other comments that triggers these comments?
In a similar vein, how does sentiment analysis catch instances of sycophancy? Especially considering the fact that some of it is so ‘in your face’ and blatant that it often times seems to be a bad parody of a bad parody. “Oh, Ricky, why are you such a sexy brainbox?” How does it work in those situations?
Worse than that is the preening, gushing and obtuse texts of massive, errm… fabulators[i]. If it wasn’t about Big Data or Strategy or IT, it would be about something else, usually about the writer themselves. “I give Rafa and Rodge tips on tennis! I went to the University of the Universe and got a first! I challenged Superman to a race, and won! I have read the entire works of Dan Brown, 25 times…Neeeh!” What would sentiment analysis do with that sort of gold?
Also, what does sentiment analysis do with texts so ambiguously daft that they could mean anything? Okay, it might be able to pick up a few trigger words here or there, “rubbish”, “of”, “load”, “a”, “what”, etc. However, how does it know when “excellent” is being used in a way that means anything but excellent? For example, “Excellent Big Data job there”, with the silent “if you want a job doing properly then do it yourself”.
Finally, for the purpose of this little piece, what would sentiment analysis do with term abuse, if it could actually identify it? Going back to the use of the terms such as Big Data or Strategy, how can sentiment analysis discern between the dopey and wrong-headed use of the term, and when it is actually being used in a coherent, cohesive and consistent way, in line more or less with its formal definition? I suppose we can always write a mountain of rules to help us out:
If topic in focus of piece is strategy
And context of topic is business
And author of piece is Richard Rumelt
Then the credibility of text is good (with a certainty of 100%)
But you and try and maintain a rule base with isntances like that. It soon becomes a management nightmare.
Alternatively, maybe it could be used to analyse this text. It’ll have its work cut out, that’s for sure. Does sentiment analysis do sarcasm and cynicsm?
Anyway! I bet you might know how this sentiment analysis works, don’t you? On the other hand, if not, then it will be someone else who ‘knows’. But of course, all will not be revealed, because it’s a secret so powerful, that in the wrong hands it could be used to dominate the entire galaxy.
Only joking; and many thanks for reading.
[i]To engage in the composition of fables or stories, especially those featuring a strong element of fantasy: “a land which … had given itself up to dreaming, to fabulating, to tale-telling” (Lawrence Durrell).
lang: en_US
12 Tuesday May 2015
Posted in Big Data, Consider this, good start, goodstart, goostart, Martyn Jones
Bernice and the Martians, BATM for short, were an incredibly popular progressive-rock band.
Their first big commercial success came with the release of their first album and their planned promotional tour, which took in all continents.
The manager of the band was none other than effable polymath, Renaissance man and good all-round rogue, Ricky Jonesy – an obsessive control freak, lover of fine wines and darling of predictive analytics. He really loved his numbers, his social media and his sentiment analysis.
In fact, much of the early success BATM came about due to Ricky’s unparalleled passion for the ‘Big Data’.
Ricky was the band’s architect. He had major input into their material: what they composed; how they composed; their stage sets and lighting; where they performed; the way they played; how they dressed; were photographed; spoke; walked; and, ate and drank. In short, he controlled the whole BATM enchilada. It was like being in data-driven heaven.
As I said, their first album, a progressive-rock masterpiece called ‘Your Hole’, achieved major critical acclaim even before it was bolting out of the stalls and across the interwebs. Overnight the band became big property, and their notional market value ran higher than Twitter on steroids.
The band members were really please. The presses interviewed Bernice right, left and centre and he made no bones about the fact that a major part of their success was due to Ricky and his Big Data mojo.
Articles about the phenomenon appeared in all the major social media sites. Facebook, LinkedIn and BubbaToons. Ricky was named Supreme Data Scientist of the year by the Gardener Group, hailed as a messiah by the Big Data Front and lauded by all and sundry.
Then the band went on tour. Blazing a trail of ones and zeros across the face of the planet.
They were 5 gigs into their tour and Ricky decided to call a band meeting.
“Hi, guys” said Ricky “I’ve been analysing the stats, and I see that those yokes Big Blokes in Tights are trending strongly on the social media, coinciding with the release of their new single Never Stick A Banger In Your Ear”.
“Oh, whoa” chimes in Bernice, “tell us what we gotta do then, Ricky”.
Back comes Ricky. “Well, this is what I thought we might do”
“We take the old Fester and Ailin song Tropical Diseases, we practice it as much as can, and then we play it at the next gig in Birmingham, this weekend”
“But, Ricky!” pipes up Marty Smarty, “it’s an Irish country and western song. It doesn’t fit in with what we do, does it? And, anyway, we only have three days to get it prepared.”
Ricky responds. “Ah, you don’t want to be worrying your little head over that. Trust me. Learn the song. It’ll be great. The public will love it.”
So, BATM learn the song. It’s perfect. At the Saturday gig, they play it as the encore. The fans love it to bits and there’s not a cold cigarette lighter in the place.
Then they fly off to Palma de Mallorca for a bit of a rest before their next gig in Madrid.
The guys and gals are lounging at the poolside at the legendary Don Pimpón Espinete Plaza complex. The weather is glorious, the food is glorious, the scenery is glorious, and even the orchestra is glorious.
Then along comes Ricky, calling yet another band meeting.
“Hi, guys” said Ricky “I’ve been analysing the stats again, and I see that those yokes Spanky’s Magic Piano are trending strongly on the social media with their cover version of Engel Humpadink’s The Monkey Song”
“Oh yeah, what’s that mean for us, Ricky” chimes in Halo Popette, the bands keyboardist.
Back comes Ricky. “Well, this is what I thought we might do”
“We take the old Fester and Ailin song There’s A Dead Man Up The Chimney, and we rewrite it in the style of Tom Jones when he made that album of his, Little Fockers, was it? Then we practice it as much as can, until it’s perfect, and then we play it at the next gig in Madrid, this weekend”
“But, Ricky!” pipes up Brian McGarsical, “It’s a bit of an odd one isn’t it? I mean to say, it doesn’t fit in with what we do, does it? And, anyway, we only have four days to get it prepared.”
Ricky responds as fast as a chalked-up cat going down a drainpipe. “Ah, you don’t want to be worrying your little head over that. Trust me. Learn the song. It’ll be great. The public will love it. And anyways, it will fit nicely on the playlist, up there with Tropical Diseases.”
The band rewrite the song, and practice the Bedejaysus out of it. Ricky likes it so much that he gets the stats to confirm that this has to be number one on the next gig playlist.
Come the day of the gig, and BATM kick off, not with a progressive-rock anthem, but with There’s A Dead Man Up The Chimney. A group of young people at the front clearly are loving this new sound, but quite a few people are starting at the stage in fright, and it’s not from skunk induced paranoia either.
Two guys are having a conversation at the back of the hall.
“Yo, lunchbox, hurry this gig up, I thought this band was all progressive-rock and stuff, not this wiener schnitzel stuff.”
“No comment.”
Having divided the crowd with their first song, they play songs from their album. Again, they encore with Tropical Diseases. The crowd at the front go wild. The progressive rockers look on, bemused.
“Well, that was a mixed bag” says Bernice.
“Take it from your man Ricky. It all went fine lads. Just needs some fine-tuning of the songs and the analytics need to be a bit more real time. Take me word for it.”
Back comes a unison of “Okay, Ricky. We believe yas!”
So, off they go to Bonn, to prepare for the following weeks gig at the Live Music Hall in Cologne.
The band goes out visiting the museums, they have lunch at Brauhaus Bonnsch, and after a leisurely walk along the banks of Rhine they are taking a beer or three in a lovely little beer garden close to the United Nations campus.
Then out of the blue, a familiar voice can be heard.
“Hi, guys! We’re all goin’ on a summer ‘oliday”. It’s the voice of Ricky. “Anyway, Good news guys. I’ve been analysing the amazin’ Big Data stats again, and I see that those mensch Die Zahnarzt are trending strongly on the social media, especially on Swotter and Titter, with their amazon’ cover version of Podge and Rodge’s chillout mix of Currywurst and Microchips.”
Silence. No one says a word for the best part of infinity.
Ricky continues… “As you’re not going to ask, lads, I’ll tell you. We take the old song A Great Day for the Washing, and we rewrite it in the style of techno-Buddah-bar-chill. Then we practice it as much as can, until it’s perfect, and then we bang it out at the next gig in Cologne, this Friday. Innit. Come on lads, it’s 20 minutes of stage magic, and it’s a breeze.”
Come the day of the gig, and the band arrive early at the hall. Ricky is already there. He’s changed the stage set completely and has a new wardrobe for the lads – Bavarian romantic. They’ll soon be all Princed and Smiley Virused up to the eyeballs, wrecking ball included.
and BATM kick off, not with a progressive-rock anthem or chill, but again with There’s A Dead Man Up The Chimney. Again, a group of young people at the front clearly are loving this new sound, but quite a few people are starting at the stage in drug induced awe. Then they follow that up with A Great Day for Washing. By the time they get to the encore of There’s A Dead Man Up The Chimney, boisterous arguments are breaking out everywhere and empty crisp packets and used sticks of chalk are being thrown at the stage. It’s a disaster.
Four guys are having a conversation at the back of the hall.
“I liked the first song”
“No! The first was terrible. Minging! I want my prog rock back.”
“It’s like the choice of leprosy or the plague.”
“Down with this sort of thing.”
Next day Bernice calls an urgent meeting of the band.
Ricky kicks off.
“Well, lads bit of mid-week game yesterday wasn’t it?”
Bernice comes back with a “You can say that again, Rick”
“Don’t worry, I have analysed the social-media Big Data from all of the concerts, and we’re doing good guys. It’s in the analytics”
“We have to go back to our roots and drop all the changes we made”
A stranger in the lounge where they are having the meeting walks up to them and in simple language explains to them what has happened.
“You created a great product, a great brand, with some interesting progressive music”
“Your music was acclaimed and your world tour was eagerly anticipated by all your fans”
“But then you went wrong”
“You became data driven, dopey and data driven”
“You chased fads, tendencies and styles, and it became a mish-mash”
“People don’t want mish-mashes. Not your base. They wanted good progressive music”
“You’ve lost all credibility. No, you’re just an eccentric band of brothers and sisters that no one will really want to see more than once, if at all”
“Your former fan base is acutely embarrassed by you. That’s your bread, butter, vodka and caviar… in your terms”
“Data drive, Big Data, Big Data analytics in real time?”
“You people have no idea the damage you can do, and so easily”
To be continued…
Many thanks for reading.
01 Friday May 2015
Posted in Big Data, Consider this, good start, goodstart
Tags
Big Data, Consider this, data architecture, data management, good start, goodstart, Martyn Richard Jones
Miss Piggy said, “Never eat more than you can lift”. That statement is no less true today, especially when it comes to Big Data. Continue reading
01 Friday May 2015
Posted in Big Data, Big Data Analytics, Consider this, Good Strat, goodstart
Simply stated, the best application of Big Data is in systems and methods that will significantly reduce the data footprint.
Why would we want to reduce the data footprint?
30 Thursday Apr 2015
Posted in Consider this, good start, goodstart
Tags
The importance of listening well
I joined Sperry Univac in March of 1980. The previous year the Sperry Corporation had embarked on a revolutionary and innovative programme of coordinated advertising, PR and training ever seen in IT. Continue reading
20 Friday Mar 2015
Posted in Big Data, Consider this, good start, Good Strat, goodstart, Martyn Jones
Most of us would probably like to work in a profession recognised for its legality, decency and honesty. At least I hope so. In my line of work, what we have right now is palpable evidence that the IT industry lacks a moral compass.
Imagine this. A major sensationalist tabloid pulls together a team of diverse journalists who are set to work on a national campaign to promote very high usage of sunbeds as a cure for cancer. Why? The newspaper owner’s son owns the sunbed franchise.
The health experts criticise the publisher for being irresponsible, unprofessional and lacking in scruples.
The public is mainly undecided, but many take the story on face value and adopt the fad. The intensive use of sunbeds sharply increases. Elsewhere, in unrelated news, the cases of skin cancer show a marked increase. Some blame it on EU legislation for bangers and bananas.
In spite of protests, the press campaign continues over many months.
Eventually, and based on the evidence of recognised health experts and bodies, the press regulatory association tries to get the offending publisher to temper their claims, but without any success. It is only when the government’s lawyers step in and threaten the newspaper owners with legal proceedings, do they freeze their campaign. Much later, the editor resigns and the board of directors issue a short apology on the back pages of their much vaunted organ.
We have that in IT. Our current sunbed cure for cancer, if you believe those who are ‘bigging it up’, is undoubtedly Big Data.
I occasionally post content to Linkedin, some of it (maybe even this piece) gets promoted through the Pulse Big Data channel. There are some reasonable pieces pinned to that channel, but unfortunately, for much of the time what we get is total and moronic Big Data astroturfing. Tantamount to the equivalent of Big Data’s very own Big Lie campaign.
The Linkedin Big Data channel reflects life, and it is full of self-aggrandising and shameless marketing guff, shot-through with scandalously flimsy promotions of tendentious success stories, specious claims of value, half-truths about realisable benefits and embarrassing conjecture about the importance of social media and internet logs.
What I am referring to mainly are superficially neutral (yet virally toxic) pieces placed in the public domain in order to promote Big Data at any cost.
Now let’s step back a bit.
For over 125 years, the Financial Times (FT) has built up a solid professional reputation for accurate reporting, reliable journalism and informative editorials. The FT is a newspaper trusted by its discerning readership and admired everywhere. In fact, I could not imagine their journalists writing about markets, securities and financial houses the same way that pundits elsewhere write about Big Data, Dark Data and the Internet of Things. Because the FT knows, that maintaining the trust of their readership is far more important than winning the short-term favours of a few market players.
So consider this; if we in IT cannot bring our standards of communicating with the public up to the levels of the financial industry, at minimum, you know what that means don’t you?
Exactly. The IT industry will have a far worse public image problem than the bankers and the solicitors currently have, and we all understand the general public appreciation of those professions.
Now, call me old fashioned, but for me that possibility is worthy of serious consideration, and especially by those in IT who confuse no holds barred pimping of fads, trends and technology, in which truth, decency and honesty are optional, for ethical, candid and informative analysis and reporting of the industry.
How will the industry take these criticisms?
To go back to the sunbed analogy what we will most certainly get comments in this vein:
Whilst those who rail against ‘the cancer curing advantages of sunbed use’ may be right – or at least partially right – the sunbed revolution will continue, just as the IT revolution industry has done, and in spite of people saying that the age of computing would be a passing mania.
So, when someone tells you “intensive sunbed use is just a dangerous fad”, what they actually mean to say is that we don’t need the term any more, as intensive sunbed use is here to stay, as are those who are shrewd, unprincipled and cynical enough to cash-in on the public’s gullibility and wilful stupidity when it comes to fads.
Yes, it does get that bad.
We have people who seemingly spend all their waking lives working out not-so-original ways and means of riddling the IT industry with vacuous bullshit, and what Big Data promotion has shown us clearly is that what we have palpable and comprehensive evidence that the IT industry in general lacks a moral compass.
Is that a reflection of IT, of those who create and manipulate IT fads, or of society in general?
Many thanks for reading.
As always, please share your questions, views and criticisms on this piece using the comment box below. I frequently write about strategy, organisational leadership and information technology topics, trends and tendencies. You are more than welcome to keep up with my posts by clicking the ‘Follow’ link and perhaps even send me aLinkedIn invite. Also feel free to connect via Twitter, Facebook and the Cambriano Energy website.
20 Friday Mar 2015
Posted in Big Data, Consider this, good start, goodstart
Tags
Big Data, contradictions, data management, good start, Good Strategy, goodstart, Martyn Jones, Martyn Richard Jones
I have written at length about the fundamental contradictions of Big Data, but what I have omitted in the past is quite possibly the biggest contradiction of all. Probably because it has more to do with how Big Data is continually hyped, rather than having anything to do with Big Data as a bag of technologies – which has a whole assortment of problems in its own right.
Last time I spoke with you about the contradictions of the Big Data it was about the three Vs of volume, variety and velocity. In general, it was a view that was well received, even if not widely understood. Which of course is close enough for government work. But, get ready for “something completely different”.
If on the one hand some folk can claim that Big Data provides fact based insights and reliable forecasts of future habits, trends and preferences, then why is it so difficult to produce and socialise – yes, I like to use that term – Big Data success stories?
In short, I think we have arrived at the stage in Big Data’s cycle where it is reasonable to ask pundits to either put up or shut up.
So, why aren’t the current Big Data success fables accompanied by facts, such as names of those involved (at least businesses), the sponsors, the suppliers, the purpose of the exercise, the desired outcomes, the data used, how it is processed, what the results were, and what tangible benefits, if any, were accrued or are accruable. If that is not enough, then let people mention the technology used, the products purchased or licensed and the methodology followed.
In short, what I would like to know is why are the evangelists of Big Data telling us that bigger data is better, that more variety leads to greater insight, and that velocity is king. Why do we we told that Big Data almost assuredly results in better decisions, by people who are coy, shy or secretive about almost facts and data coming out of Big Data projects?
I have been reminded, time and time again, that there are Big Data success stories out there, and I have even been told that this information would be fully shared with me once it was agreed with the ‘clients’ that it was okay to do so. Okay, that’s fine, I know Big Data is a roaring success story (at least in people’s minds,) and I also know that it takes some time to make things up – some people are just not creative. Sure, I was told about these ‘successes’ some time ago, and you know, I’m not expecting anything that’s worth shaking a stick at, either now or later, but I’m still waiting, boys. Notwithstanding, you will still called you out as vacuous bullshitters when the time comes.
“But” I hear you cry “there is a wealth of success stories in the presses”.
Well, no, and you would wrong and gullible and foolish to think, but that is your problem, but unfortunately also mine, because this is my profession that you are playing fast and loose with.
The fact is that there is “wealth” of content that people try and pass off as legitimate Big Data success stories, but they aren’t in fact success stories, in any way, shape or form.
The thing is, people may read the blog title and even the stand-fast, but will be less inclined to actually read the article, so what remains is the impression that there are ‘loads of Big Data success stories’. But if people actually read the articles and were intelligent enough to understand them, then they would realise that inevitably there is a massive mismatch between the title of these pieces and the content. Indeed, if these pieces were actually pieces of advertising, rather than blog comments, they would be denounced in some jurisdictions for not fulfilling the advertising criteria of legal, decent and honest.
There is one more thing that Big Data evangelists (or any self-styled pundit, guru or expert for that matter) should understand, internalise and remember. If you say that you have a Big Data success story, with all the details, and that isn’t in fact the case, and it isn’t even remotely a success story or even true, then you are simply lying, and that’s deceit, it’s unprofessional and it’s unethical, and you are a scoundrel. So live with or fix it, the choice is yours.
Many thanks for reading.
20 Friday Mar 2015
Posted in Big Data, Consider this, data management, good start, goodstart
Tags
Big Data, data architecture, data management, good start, Good Strat, Good Strategy, goodstart, Martyn Jones, Martyn Richard Jones
Many people come up to me in the street and ask me what Big Data is all about. It has happened to me so many times in the past that I am convinced that it might just happen to you as well. I know sort of thing, I read the Big Data tealeaves. Nothing gets past me.
The first time a complete stranger came up to me in public and said “Hello, will you tell me what this Big Data lark is all about then?” I was lost for words, you just ask my Aunt Dolly, he can vouch for that, no problem. Later that day I read a book – it was my dad’s book – and I then decided to adopt a strategy.
Therefore, in the spirit of springtime goodwill to all men and women, I have put together this blog piece in that hope that it will enlighten, help and entertain.
What is big data?
Big Data can be characterised by the 10 Vs – yes, 10, not 4. Which, in my book, is more than enough to bring up-to-speed the average Big Data John or Jane that one meets on the street, and who naturally wish to be informed of such matters.
In layperson’s terms this a series of landmarks and pointers in the analytics space used to frame and guide the didactic aspects of Big Data.
The fundamental Vs of the Big Data canon are these:
So, let me now explain what each of these characteristics mean to those who might know and for those who might want to know.
Vagueness: This is perhaps the trickiest of questions to address, given the vast panorama that is cast before this incredibly complex yet easily graspable concept. But let me state this, and let there be no mistake about it. At this point in time, what makes Big Data vague is also what makes Big Data specific, explicit and certain. That is to say, in order to ‘come to an understanding’ of Big Data, it is necessary to completely embrace the dialectic of knowing the unknowable. So belief is an absolute essential element – belief and data, that is.
Volume – If there ever was a time to “pump up the volume”, we have it here with Big Data.
Big, voluminous, gorgeously rotund and infinite. Big Data is called Big Data because there is a lovely, roly-poly, likeable never-ending load of it. Its volumes can be measured in zeta-bytes, which you can be assured, is a helluva lot of data.
Variety – As they might say down my way, “variety is the spice of life, innit”. This is what makes Big Data so special. So appealing.
Because before Big Data there was absolutely no variety in anything, at all. We lived in a bland world, bereft of detail, nuance and diversity. Nothing could be measured, analysed or explained, because we lacked Big Data. We were ignorant. So ignorant and stupid that we couldn’t see the sense of putting the diapers next to the beer, or of offering three for the price of two.
Fortunately, today this is no longer the case if we don’t want it to be, and thanks to Big Data we have a veritable sensorial explosion. No longer is IT just a couple of symbols scribbled in crayon on someone’s school notebook.
Virility – Move over Smart Data, the new kid on the block is Big Data.
If Big Data were described in the manner of a religious text, it would be accompanied by a never ending narrative of begets.
So, what does that mean?
Simply stated, Big Data creates itself, in and of itself. The more Big Data you have, the more Big Data gets created. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy in 360 degree, high-definition, poly-faceted and all-encompassing knowing. The sort of thing that governments would pay an arm and a leg to get their mitts on.
Velocity – Velocity is of the essence. Velocity kills the competition. More velocity, less haste.
We demand that service is ‘velocious’. ‘Everything’ must be ‘now’, or it’s too late.
This means we need to be able to handle Big Data at velocity – at the speed of need.
Charles Babbage once stated (or maybe it was more than once) that “whenever the work is itself light, it becomes necessary, in order to economize time, to increase the velocity.”
But remember, we are dealing with mega-velocity here, so don’t drink and drive the Big Data Steamship, Star-ship or Mustang.
Vendible – If you can sell it, and sell it as Big Data, then it ‘is’ Big Data. If you can’t, then it’s not. The saleability of Big Data proves its existence.
So, what are the vendible aspects of Big Data?
Let’s leave that easy question for another day. But for now I can confidently state that it is used to mobilise armies of commentators, industry analysts, publicists, punters, writers, bloggers, gurus, futurologists, conference organisers, conference speakers, educators, customer relationship managers, salespeople, marketers and admen.
Vaticination – Edmund Burke is down on record as stating that “you can never plan the future by the past”. Now Burke may have been a clever person when it came to many things, but he wasn’t exactly a whiz when it came to Big Data.
There are people in the world who are in no doubt that Big Data provides the sort of visionary and predictive powers only previously obtainable through ritual sacrifice, magic potions and the casting of spells. Others are highly critical of the understatement implicit in this belief.
For many, Big Data will make the Oracle of Delphi look like a mere call centre.
This is why the power of vaticination plays a characteristically important role in the world of Big Data.
Voracity – This is based on the quasi-rationalist argument that Big Data is big and it has an omnipresent and insatiable self-fulfilling desire.
Big Data comes with an attendant requirement for hardware, even if it is a whole load of consumer hardware tacked together in a magnificent and miraculous mesh of magic.
Big Data can be characterised by voracity, but this comes hand in hand with the ‘ventripotent’ IT industry.
Veracity – The eminence of the data being captured for Big Data handling can vary significantly. The quality or lack of quality of the data naturally has the potential to impact the accuracy of analysis using that data.
Before Big Data arrived on the scene we knew nothing about Data Quality or data verification. This is why ETL and Data Cleansing tools lacked the power to effectively quality check and verify data, to ensure that any erroneous or anomalous data was rejected or flagged.
But now, with the sophistication of tools such as ‘grep’ and ‘awk’ at our disposal, we have the power in our hands to ensure nothing ‘dodgy’ gets into the analytical mix.
Vanity – In my opinion, to fully grasp the underlying and profound meaning of Big Data, it is essential for us to understand the difference between vanity and conceit. Max Counsell claimed that “Vanity is the flatterer of the soul”. Goethe characterised vanity as being “a desire for personal glory”. After an incident with an Anarchist (presumably a Big Data Anarchist), Blackadder remarked to Baldrick that “The criminal’s vanity always makes them make one tiny but fatal mistake. Theirs was to have their entire conspiracy printed and published in plain manuscript”.
So that ends the brief rundown of the defining characteristics of Big Data.
So, to summarise. That, which has passed before, necessarily divulges both the upside and downside of Big Data. By reaching out, opening up the kimono and relating the 10 Vs we are disclosing that which cannot be disclosed, exhibiting the absence of essential essence, and thereby opening up the entire field, discipline, profession, science and art to examination, questioning and ridicule.
Many thanks for reading.
20 Friday Mar 2015
Posted in Consider this, good start, goodstart, humour
Consider this. Why be shameful when all around you have apparently no idea of right from wrong?
GOOD STRATEGY 