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by Ed Luczak
An information explosion is underway, giving rise to an era of extreme data. New types of data, generated by new devices, and being used in new ways are enabling new business processes, interpersonal connections, and knowledge for business, government, communities, and individuals.
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In this world, organizations need to understand and leverage their data opportunities, putting information to work for them like never before.
Part of the extreme data story is the sheer volume of data being generated. Nearly all organizations are coping with an explosion of documents, presentation slides, spreadsheets, e-mail messages, and instant messages. New data is being measured in exabytes (1018).
According to a study by the University of California at Berkeley, some five exobytes of new data were created and stored in 2002 — enough information to fill 37,000 libraries the size of the US Library of Congress book collections.1
It wasn’t always like this. The organization’s data used to be centralized inside the data center, where it was guarded and managed. It was structured, well-defined data, and it was official — generated by the corporation and tracked. Today, data has broken free and is operating freely outside corporate boundaries. The “I” in IT is changing.
Data everywhere
There is a strong consumer component to extreme data. Consumer devices crammed with data and functionality are pressuring the enterprise to put more of its data everywhere.
There is a slew of consumer devices out there: mobile phones, camera phones, sophisticated PDAs, digital cameras, digital video recorders, digital audio recorders, and digital music players. Many of these devices are already being deployed in the enterprise and are driving the rethinking of business processes. With that comes a shift in IT power, as employees’ use of consumer devices at home influences IT decisions in the enterprise.
Everyone should remember the PC, which started out as a toy for hobbyists and was shunned by the enterprise. Consumers led the way, and a company called Microsoft became the number one software maker. Today’s consumer devices are challenging the enterprise to figure out how to put its data at the edge of the network, closer to customers and where work gets done.
Time and Place
Putting data where work gets done means using non-consumer technologies, too. Location detection technologies such as global positioning systems (GPS) and radio frequency identification (RFID) are being used for more than inventory.
1. This data includes Internet, TV, telephone, and radio. For more information, see UC Berkeley’s School of Information Management and Systems report, “How Much Information? 2003.”
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IT Departments Need to Live by New Rules as Users Get Smarter
by Douglas Neal
 Read Article
Download the full Extreme Data report.
Tapping the Power of Social Networks
Web-based networks like LinkedIn and Friendster may be new, but there is nothing new about the social connections they build on. Some people contend that the way work really gets done in organizations is through informal social networks.
Social network analysis is a burgeoning branch of management science that examines how people share and obtain information in large distributed groups. Social network analysts look beneath the organization chart to identify important gaps in connections between employees and determine ways to improve connections.
To conduct a social network analysis, researchers collect information from individuals about whom they consult for information and advice, as well as who comes to them seeking the same. Based on this information, network graphs are generated that depict the connections among people in the organization. The graphs are analyzed to identify problem areas and improve organizational performance.
Social network analysis is at the intersection of organizational behavior and information technology. In a world of extreme data, where organizational boundaries are routinely crossed via electronic networks, it is important to understand how people are, or need to be, working together.
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