Latin America. Hitachi Data Systems is passionate about the Internet of Things and the potential it has to transform the way we live and work for years to come. They believe this trend will be the most important revolution that has affected our industry in the last 20 years or more.
The Internet of Things is going to lead to an inevitable convergence of the physical and digital worlds: Billions of sensors, mobile devices, smart machines, will generate an unusual amount of data and the potential impact on the way we live and work will be enormous.
While large volumes of useful information data support innovation, organizations need to integrate and analyze all that information. Analytics is the key to processing the ever-increasing flow of information from sensors, events and real-time data, which will have to be stored, managed and quickly executed, to support optimal operations and decision making with that torrent of data.
Companies that successfully integrate Big Data analytics into their operations, supported by an advanced IT infrastructure, have the potential to gain a significant competitive advantage. The advantage derives from prediction analysis rather than providing a historical point of view. In fact, Big Data analysis drives the evolution of descriptive or historical analytics (what happened and why). For predictive and prescriptive analytics (what will happen and what is the best course of action).
They did predictive analytics in the past (data mining is not new). However, the breadth of the data and the context that those predictions now have is applicable to a much broader set of uses. And with more data we have a more accurate view as well.
Imagine not only knowing what can happen, shaping what's going to happen, and being able to respond with real-time adjustments that change the results. Big data analysis identifies the precursors to problems. We really could be entering the era of the crystal ball.
For example, the maintenance of a machine, with prescriptive analytics not only indicates the equipment that has worked best in the last three months; predicts the problems that will arise. That gives you more control and allows you to make better decisions that attract customers, reduce costs, increase productivity, and more.
Consequently, we are working hard in our research labs on issues related to Big Data and the Internet of Things.
Text written by Hu Yoshida, CTO Hitachi Data Systems
