Big data is a broad term for data sets so large or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate. Some of the challenges that companies can face include analysis, capture, data curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, visualization, and information privacy.
The problem is that unless a company has enough resources devoted to the challenges mentioned above, the data is so massive that, in effect, it becomes useless. At this point, data management is what separates a company having information that can be considered as useful. Demand for faster analytics and data security is leading companies to find a better solution.
TABB Group is an advisory firm whose focus is on financial markets' research and strategy for capital markets. The firm’s goal is to help senior business leaders gain a truer understanding of financial markets issues and trends, as well as develop workable roadmaps and approaches for future growth.
TABB Group’s FinTech Research Practice focuses on providing actionable thought leadership and insight into the technology that drives and supports the institutional capital markets. According to a new Tabb Group FinTech research report titled “Enterprise Data Platforms: Evaluating Vendor Solutions,” a key factor is faster analysis of unstructured data sources and security of that data.
Unfortunately, it does seem that while there is a huge demand, capital markets have been quite slow on the follow up. There is a need to want to keep the process in-house, but as the amount of data continues to grow, the staff does not. The obvious cost-saving answer is vendor solutions.
According to the report’s author, Shagun Ball, “The need to combine and integrate various data sources is leading firms to invest in significantly more complex data architectures. The need to leverage existing and new data sets efficiently to generate alpha is not going away. Firms need to invest in the right technology to deliver value at a lower cost to overcome these challenges and capitalize on new opportunities – or risk falling behind.”
Over the past year or so, we have seen several companies that have developed analytical tools for big data offering cloud-based services. Being able to organize the vast amounts of data being collected today so that it can be analyzed, brought into perspective, and presented in a visual way that makes sense to everyone, is important.
Capital markets that take advantage of these cloud-based services instead of attempting to develop them in-house will not only realize cost savings, they will also find that they can achieve faster results through automation.
The list of vendors capable of delivering these services is growing with each having unique capabilities that fit defined institutional requirements. By taking advantage of such opportunities, capital markets will find that their data sets actually become useful information.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson