Big Data isn't just about the datacentre. Data architecture, data processing and data management are all important. That's according to Alan Priestley, director of strategic marketing EMEA for Intel, who was addressing the audience at Computing's Big Data Summit 2013.
In addressing the challenges of real time data analytics, Priestley suggested big data doesn't need to be focused entirely on the datacentre, as technology is available to pre-process the data before it even reaches the datacentre.
Further reading
Follow the Computing Big Data Summit Live Big Data Summit: Big data needs a boardroom champion Big data will lead to the 'elimination of most curable diseases', says AstraZeneca
Priestley cited digital signs - advertising boards which determine which product to show someone, depending on their age, sex and so on - as a way this pre-processing of big data could be harnessed, directing adverts for a car at a middle-aged man, for example, with other products being advertised to a woman or a younger person.
There will be many more connected devices, such as smartphones and tablets, capable of generating data. Intel predicts that at in the near future, there will be 15 billion such devices across the globe. When it comes to digital signs and mobile data, Priestley argued Intel's Intelligent Systems Framework is capable of facilitating the movement of unstructured big data between these systems.
He also used his session at the Computing Big Data Summit to demonstrate how Intel technology has aided the optimisation of big data processing for its customers, arguing that technology available now has cut down the time it takes to sort of 1TB of data from four hours to just seven minutes. Organisations including China Unicom, China Mobile, Texas Advanced Computer Center are among those benefiting from it.
Intel is also applying big data analysis to microprocessor manufacturing, shaving a few seconds off the time it takes to make each chip. In the long run, that boost in productivity brings huge benefits.
However, like others at the Computing Big Data Summit, Priestley warned that jumping into a big data solution without planning is dangerous, with organisations urged to define the benefits they're looking for before going too far with big data.
