Big data for small businesses

IT has been estimated that we would have generated 40,000 exabytes, or 40 trillion gigabytes (GB), of data by 2020. That is equivalent to 5,200 GB of data for every human on earth. In other words, we are seeing an explosion of the digital universe.

It is impossible to comprehend just how much data is produced each day - and just how little of it is really being put to use. This creates a vast blue ocean of opportunities for enterprises, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to tap into and elevate their current hold in their respective marketplaces.

Many SMEs currently lack staff with the right skills sets to fully leverage big data and analytics. It is also common for small business owners and management within SMEs to think that big data means "big cost" or "big business". Many are hesitant to explore big data initiatives because they believe that it requi…