Relational databases have been in place for decades, but many organizational owners as well as administrators have come across the concept of big data. Big data defies the laws of relational databases and lets you store unstructured data. Basically, you can store anything and everything.
As your data requirements increase, you might wonder if it’s time to make the switch. Don’t be fooled — implementing big data in the wrong way can actually reduce performance and efficiency, but used the right way, big data can be a boon to organizational growth. Here are some reasons you should move to big data storage.
Relational Restrictions Stop You from Storing Data
If any one of your organizations needs data but it doesn’t fit into the relational database structure, it could be time to look towards big data options. In many cases, new tables are created with new constraints set with primary and foreign keys. If the data doesn’t fit in the current table design, you can’t store it.
Big data lets you store data in an unstructured way, so you can just store any object without the restrictions common in relational databases. If you find that most of the time you are limited in the data you can store, it’s time to look at big data.
You Need Better Detailed Reports
Reporting is a must for any organization, but most companies grow out of the standard, normal reports. They need better detailed reports that really drill down into customer behavior patterns and possible sales potential. This requirement ties back to the previous section where you need more data.
Since big data lets you store any number of data points, you can get much more accurate, detailed reports than structured data. Of course, you need a report architect who knows how to work with the data for the reports to be accurate. The amount of data can be overwhelming if you don’t know what to do with it. If you currently have a reporting architect, they might need training on the new database structure.
You Have More Volume Than You Can Handle
At some point, fast-growing organizations not only realize that they need more data points, but they also realize their startup resources aren’t enough to handle the massive amount of data collected.
Not only does big data offer a way to gather and store unstructured data, but it’s also perfect for high-volume data storage. You don’t have to completely eliminate your structured data storage either. You can run big data storage silos alongside relational databases. Usually, companies keep relational databases for basic data needed to run frontend services, and then they implement big data as a reporting and detailed data silo for higher end reports and statistics.
You Need Incorporation of Social Media Data Points
Social media is a must have for any successful business. Customers expect an organization to be available on social media for reports, feedback, customer service and the latest updates.
Once you have your social media accounts, you have a plethora of data point options that you can store in an effort to better understand your customers. The big social media outlets have an API that you can use to incorporate data into your current backend processes.
Social media data is unstructured, so you’ll need a big data solution to store the data and use it for your reports. Luckily, incorporating big data solutions into backend code isn’t any more difficult than incorporating a relational database.
You Need Stronger Sales Analysis and Projections
The right big data solution can massively improve sales. You can get detailed reports that give you an idea of what users want based on previous sales patterns. You can identify marketing campaign possibilities and target specific leads that will better convert over other types of marketing campaigns.
You can even incorporate your social media data points into these reports to understand user preferences for better sales. The ultimate goal of your marketing is to spend the least amount of money and convert the highest amount of sales. This can be done with big data as you collect data based on social media, data extraction and scraping, previous sales, clicks from newsletters and sales campaigns, and other information that you can’t collect from standard relational databases.
It’s Time to Upgrade Your Technology
If you’ve been in business for years, it’s probably time to upgrade your technology. Businesses that have a system in place for several years usually let technology age and this can be damaging for a number of reasons. Security, performance, and the need to install the latest software are just a few reasons the organization should look into the next step to upgrade.
When you’re already upgrading, you can take advantage of the process and look towards newer technology including big data options. Upgrades on the system are the best times to integrate new solutions that might be too much of a hassle during normal system maintenance. What’s great about big data is that it can be an addition to your current solution rather than a replacement, which is much easier to implement.
Technology is Limiting Your Growth
Technology should always facilitate the growth of the organization. It should never limit it, and relational databases can sometimes do just that. If developers consistently say that a specific upgrade is not possible due to data constraints, then it’s time to look towards big data.
Big data can open doors for several opportunities within the organization and stop the limitations that often happen with other solutions. Growth potential is one of the main benefits of big data.
Database solutions should help your business grow, and any of these limitations are signs that it’s time to upgrade. Relational databases have their place, but they can’t offer the massive volume and data collection options available with big data solutions. You can never go wrong with big data. The options and potential to increase revenue and customer conversions is too great to ignore.
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