Book Review: Think Bigger

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ThinkBiggerSay goodbye to the days of megabytes and gigabytes. Big Data – simply put, the sum of everything created by every digital movement on the planet – is increasing at such a staggering rate that new terms are being used to describe it. When calculating the size of their data files, agencies like the NSA and FBI are talking about yottabytes (10 to the 24th power). Why should business leaders, managers, and decision makers outside of the IT department grapple with wrapping their brain around Big Data? For starters, Big Data is changing business as usual in significant ways.

In “Think Bigger: Developing a Successful Big Data Strategy for Your Business” (AMACOM, April 2014), author Mark van Rijmenam offers real-world insights and clear explanations to make getting a firm grasp on Big Data manageable for business leaders at all levels, in companies of all sizes and shapes.

Organizations need to understand what Big Data is and how ti can be used. The benefits and advantages are too big for organizations to ignore,” stresses van Rijmenam.

Capturing Big Data’s sweeping impact, Think Bigger explores:

  •  The eight biggest aspects of Big Data every business leader should consider when developing a Big Data strategy, which include: Big Data requires a different culture, Big Data is everywhere, and Big Data requires big security measures.
  • Seven Big Data trends with the potential to affect a company’s Big Data strategy and entire operations, which include: On-the-Go Big Data (basically, making the results of Big Data analysis available to employees on their private mobile devices); Smart Cities; and the Gamification of business.
  • The features and advantages of state-of-the-art Big Data technologies, including Hadoop and MapReduce, plus reliable analytic tools and tactics for tackling the massive issues of Big Data privacy, ethics, and security.

Think Bigger goes beyond presenting an informative Big Data overview. Drawing on extensive research and proven experience, it provides a road map and useful takeaways to help readers implement a Big Data strategy that best serves his or her unique business. It offers advice on whether to put Big Data on a company’s balance sheet and how to determine Big Data’s return on investment. It highlights Big Data’s role in customer relations, public relations, and human resources, and well as the organizational cast of Big Data players required, from supervisor to scientist, analyst, and visualizers. It also features a chapter devoted to what Big Data can do for 16 industries: agriculture, automotive, consumer goods, education, energy, financial services, gaming, healthcare, nonprofit, manufacturing, oil and gas, telecom, transportation, retail, travel, and government. Throughout, readers will learn from the best practices of companies such as Amazon, Disney, Ford, InterContinental Hotel Group, Nike, Shell, and Walmart among others – with a successful Big Data strategy.

For everyone with a stake in the future of a particular company, and for anyone with an interest in the future of business and society in general, Think Bigger is a valuable resource and welcome guide.

 

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