TO BIG DATA OR NOT TO BIG DATA THAT IS THE SME QUESTION
As with anything in business when developing objectives, strategies and plans data is to be used to derive whether you are on the right course. However, when looking at SME’s the concerns come in when dealing with Big data.
Numerous studies have shown the advantages of using big data in terms of marketing applications, however as with anything in life we need to critically evaluate and determine whether this is suitable for all business and if not, why not.
The biggest focus when looking at big data is that knowledge management and big data use is intricately linked. In the article Big data for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME): a knowledge management model by Shouhong Wang, Hai Wang makes the following statement.
“The proposed model portrays the synergistic relationship between big data and KM. It indicates that strategic use of data, knowledge guided big data project planning, IT solutions for SME and new knowledge products are the major constructs of KM of big data for SME.”
Therefore, by recognizing the use of big date in SME’s one cannot deny the importance however the manpower required to interpret and tailor this data to guide decisions or assist in formulating strategies will become strenuous. Further to this the sheer amount of data that would need to be scrutinized can become distorted and lost in translation.
In terms of investigation the following pitfalls may exist for an SME who might want to utilize Big data;
1. Technological infrastructure, the systems in place in the organisation must be of such a standard that it can withstand the amount of data being provided and that the data is safely and securely stored. The cost implication of the technological infrastructure can be exponentially high if not in place, which a SME might not see a return soon (Rising, Kristensen, & Tjerrild-Hansen, 2014).
2. Data Growth Issues, the storage of large amounts of data especially unstructured data becomes a task of concern as this type of data cannot be searched in the database as the files are to big. This result in proper storge systems being required.
3. Lack of Data Professionals, this refers to that gap in adequately qualified individuals that can be employed by companies to implement, maintain and update these systems. If the correct person is not appointed it may leave the organizations data systems in disarray, which in turn renders the system pointless.
4. Data integration, combining all data to prepare reports is a challenging task especially when considering that the data comes from a variety of sources being social media, email and client feedback reports to name a few.
FINAL THOUGHT
Even though the use if Big data carries numerous advantages the burden that the use of this system versus the reward on SME’s may be questionable. If a SME has the need and will actively use this system in all their decision making as a point of reference but in a instance where it will be used minimally it may not be the best selection based on time and financial implications.
References
Rising, J. C., Kristensen, M., & Tjerrild-Hansen, S. (2014). Is Big Data too Big for SMEs? Stanford University.
Wang, S. and Wang, H. (2020), “Big data for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME): a knowledge management model”, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 24 №4, pp. 881–897. https://doi.org/10.1108/JKM-02-2020-0081