“Big data” has a big year coming. According to eWeek, “the overriding theme for 2012 is control of data: how data enters a system, where it resides, how it is processed, and who can access and manage it, as well as who can store and archive data. That’s where the real power is. Those who know how to control both the archival and current views are most often the ones who come up with significant new ideas and promote business progress.” The chatter about “big data” that we’ve all been hearing over the past year or so is about to become a major conversation. eWeek’s list of top trends for 2012 makes that clear:
- Full automation of major IT systems will continue as a major trend
- The availability of more cloud-based software and services than one can imagine
- The rapid ascendance of hybrid cloud systems
- Exabyte-scale storage systems (thousands of petabytes!)
- Data center systems that use less electricity, yet churn out more and larger workloads
- Vastly increased usage of data analytics deployments—and not just inside large enterprises
- New and improved unified data center controls that include monitoring of data flow and storage, as well as all the physical facilities
Getting ready for the collection, storage, and control of big data is an interesting challenge, and there are at least
five things you should do now. Remember that all this data is more than just bits and bytes. It’s a
key business asset that is IT’s job to protect and maintain.
