The big data architecture dilemma for ci os
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CIOs face challenges in deciding whether to buy or build big data solutions due to the ambiguity of the term 'big data' and inadequacies in vendor offerings. The discussion at a recent symposium highlighted the trend towards customized solutions, as seen with Tesla's decision to build its own ERP system, suggesting a shift from all-encompassing vendor solutions to more tailored approaches. Experts recommend focusing on specific business needs and outcomes rather than relying on blanket technology solutions, emphasizing the importance of understanding the technical requirements closely linked to business problems.
![The focus onbusinessproblemsorbusinessoutcomescannotbe overstated.AsFernandes
explained,hisorganizationhasworkedhardtomake the conceptof bigdata more concrete."What
we've seenover[the] lastseveral yearsisareal focuson specifichypothesis,specificuse case toget
away frombigdata and getreallyspecificonthe outcome,"he said."That'show we've gotten more
tractionin solvingsome of these things."
Source : searchcio.techtarget.com
Recommendedby:
JonCohn ,CTO, VP IT Architecture
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonacohn
joncohn@comcast.net
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The big data architecture dilemma for ci os
- 1. The big data architecture dilemmaforCIOs CIOsface an age-olddilemmainarchitectingforbigdata:Do I buyor build?New businessproblems, inadequate vendorsolutionsandmyriadnew technologiescomplicate the decision.Addtoall that the ambiguity of the term,bigdata, andwell ... The buzz generatedbyTeslaMotorsInc. to bringan affordable electriccarto marketby 2017 isstill growing.ButwithinITcircles,CIOsare more likelytalkingabouthow ElonMusk,CEO andproduct architectat Tesla, directedhisCIOto dothe unorthodox:buildanenterpriseresource planning systemratherthan upgrade theirsoftware fromSAP. It's a move that's makingwaves -- andnot justinreference toERP investments.Atthe MITSloanCIO Symposium,panelistsappliedbroadermeaningtoTesla'sdecision -- aswell asFacebook'splansto builditsownCRMsoftware.Theydescribedthe unconventionalchoice asa marketfailure tomeet expectationsforcustomizedsolutionsandasa potential signal thatthe pendulumis swingingaway fromstack vendorstobest-of-breedsolutionsandbeyond,particularlyasbigdataisincreasingly factoredintobusinessstrategy.Butthe keytakeawayforCIOswasperhapsbestarticulatedbyTom Davenport,professorof informationtechnologyandmanagementatBabsonCollegeinWellesley, Massachusetts. "I don't knowif Tesla'ssystemisgoingtocompete withSAPor Oracle.Thatstrikesme as sort of nuts,frankly,tosay we have to buildall of thatstuff.But buildingsomethingthatsupportsa strategic,differentiatedaspectof yourbusinesshasalwaysmade sense,"he saidduringthe Symposiumsessionhe moderatedonbigdata."Presumablythat'sstill wherewe are." As CIOsarchitectfor bigdata, they're likelytobumpupagainsta commonand longstandingIT dilemma:Tobuildorbuy?Today,big data infrastructure bottleneckscanbe specificandill-suitedfor the one-size-fits-allsolutionsthathave dominatedthe marketforyears.The betterfitmaycome fromtechnologyalternativessuchasin-memoryorNoSQLdatabases,cloud,opensource or,as is the case forFacebookand Tesla,a custombuild.Butfirst,CIOswill have toparse throughthe ambiguityof the term"bigdata" itself,juxtaposingwhathasbecome acatch-all marketingphrase withthe technical painpointsthe businessfaces.Andinthe end,they're likelytomake surgical rather thansweepingtechnologyinvestments First,whatis bigdata? The term bigdata has beenaroundforyears,but itsmeaningisstill muddied."Bigdataisan umbrellamarketingtermthatisusedto comprise mostof what's interestingthese days,"saidCurt Monash,analystand founderof MonashResearchinActon,Massachusetts. Worse,as Monash explainedina2011 blogposttitledBigdata hasjumpedthe shark,the language usedto define bigdata(includingGartner'swell-known"three Vs") isoftenmisleading,creating marketconfusion.AsMonashputit, to imagine there'sone technologystackthatcan "handle most of what'snewinIT is prettysilly." A blanketuse of the termmightbe expedientforthe vendorsdoingthe selling,butitrunsthe riskof becomingaheadache forthe potential builderorbuyer,accordingtoDarrell Fernandes,CIOof the professionalservicesgroupatFidelityInvestments. The label "canhurtusat times,"he saidduringa
- 2. bigdata panel at the MIT Symposium.That'sespeciallytrue if the connectionbetweentechnology investmentandbusinessoutcomeisfuzzy.Unlikethe CRMtech trendinthe 1990s whenyoucould connectCRM technologytoanexplicitbusinessvalue,Fernandessaid,bigdatadefinedbroadly resultsinnothingexceptgeneralizedanxietyonthe businessandthe ITside. Fernandesisn'talone indescribingwhatsome expertscall the "bigdatabacklash."Forrester ResearchInc.,for example,deliberatelyavoidsdefiningbigdataas a technologyorevenasa technologyproblem,because thosetermscancause technologiststo"missthe broadertrend," accordingto the recentForresterreport,ResetonBigData. Instead,bigdatais"closingthe gap betweenthe amountof informationthat'savailableandyourabilitytouse thatinformationfor businessinsight,"BrianHopkins,ananalystforthe Cambridge,Massachusetts-basedconsultancy and one of the report'sauthors, said."Itis a journey." Andthe journeyrequiresknowingwhyyou're makingitinthe firstplace.Forresteradvisesthat before buildingorbuyinganything,businessandITleadersdrill downintothe use cases.Sometimes these use caseswill require atechnologyinvestment,Hopkinssaid."Butsometimesyourbusiness has to overcome importantcultural issueswithhow theymake decisionsbasedondata,"he said.Big data assumesthatthe businessmodel isdata-driven.Becomingamore data-drivenorganization requiresacertainlevel of competency,andCIOswoulddowell tounderstandwherethe businessis before makinganykindof investment,Hopkinssaid. A single vendorlikelywon'tcutit Whena big data technologyinvestmentisnecessary,HopkinscautionedCIOstoavoidthinkingin name-brandterms(suchasHadoop,a broadlyusedsynonymforbigdatathese days),butinstead focuson functionality.He suggestedlookingfor"flexibleandaffordablewaystocapture,store and analyze data,"the functionsHadoopindeedprovides,he said. Most likely,atechnologystackthatcan take on all of the modern-daydataproblemsabusiness encounterswon'tcome froma single vendor."There are nonice,neatpackagesyoucan acquire," Hopkinssaid.Andbuyingfroma single vendorispricey,accordingtoMonash."It's an extremely expensive directive,"he said."Notjustintermsof money,butalsoin termsof administrativecosts and so on." That includesofferingsfrommegavendorssuchasIBM, MicrosoftandOracle whohave "a complete stack,"Hopkinssaid."ButI don'tthinkitworksas nicelyastheythink,andneithershouldthe buyer." Optingforthe opensource route,however,comeswithitsownsetof difficulties,Hopkinssaid. Vendorssuchas Cloudera,MapRand Hortonworks"are makingchoicesaboutwhichversionsof the opensource projectto support."And,insome cases,those same vendorsare buildingnew, proprietaryfeaturesthatare made redundantbythe opensource community.Customerswill have to thinkintermsof "technical buildingblocks,"Hopkinssaid."Whatbuildingblocksdoyouneedto go afterbusinessopportunitiestoclose the gap?" Monash has hisownrule of thumb:"Figure outwhat yourtoughesttechnical requirementsare,"he said."By toughest,Imeanthe parts that the fewestvendorscansatisfy.Andthose will be closely relatedtowhatyour businessproblemsare."
- 3. The focus onbusinessproblemsorbusinessoutcomescannotbe overstated.AsFernandes explained,hisorganizationhasworkedhardtomake the conceptof bigdata more concrete."What we've seenover[the] lastseveral yearsisareal focuson specifichypothesis,specificuse case toget away frombigdata and getreallyspecificonthe outcome,"he said."That'show we've gotten more tractionin solvingsome of these things." Source : searchcio.techtarget.com Recommendedby: JonCohn ,CTO, VP IT Architecture https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonacohn joncohn@comcast.net "JonCohn ExtonPA""JonCohn Exton""JonCohnEvolution"