A successful big data project could be a big win for your organization and your career. Focus on the wrong priorities, however, and your big data project will be over before it even begins. Prioritizing data veracity, visualization and value is the key to success.

Ask anyone the top challenges for a big data project and you’ll hear a response so common it’s beginning to border on cliché: volume, velocity, variety. The three V’s have become virtually synonymous with big data and it seems that everyone from the CEO down is focusing the strategy on them alone. While legitimate challenges, the long term, strategic value of big data will not be delivered from these first three V’s. There are three other V’s that will make the difference between success and failure.

Much like eCommerce changed the fundamentals of business forever, Information Leaders must drive change by prioritizing big data in an entirely new way. Volume, variety and velocity are legitimate concerns, but they primarily address the needs of architects and developers. But big data promises more than just IT efficiency and cost savings -it’s a path to greater insight and competitive advantage. So shouldn’t you focus on its business worthiness rather than its technical characteristics?

The New Three V’s That Information Leaders Should Own and Drive

Big Data will fail to gain business interest, prioritization and real momentum if these next three “V’s” are not properly accounted for and embedded in any Big Data strategy (no matter the use case):

• Veracity. If you’re like most organizations, you’ve already invested a lot in insuring the trustworthiness of your data. The introduction of big data shouldn’t throw that trustworthiness out the window. Insights gleaned from any Big Data analysis must be trusted and used in context for whatever business decisions or activities it’s being relied upon to deliver.
• Visualization. Access to big data is one thing. Serving it up for widespread business consumption is another. Variety does come into the picture, particularly when you consider how you are going to make it accessible and usable by those that need it. Make sure you not only deliver big data to those that need it but also focus on ensuring it can be used to its full potential with highly flexible, configurable and user friendly visualization capabilities.
• Value. The rubber meets the road for any technology investment when you clearly articulate and prove the business impact from the investment. Focus on the ultimate value to the business that your Big Data initiative will deliver. Build a compelling business case that demonstrates how Big Data investments can increase revenue, improve efficiencies and reduce costs (for both business and IT operations), reduce risk, improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, or strategically differentiate your business from competitors. That is how Big Data will go from sandbox pilot projects to widespread adoption across all organizations.

Achieve success with your big data initiative by throwing conventional wisdom out the window and looking at it in a whole new light. Then, take a proven approach to big data to ensure you drive real business value and position yourself at the center of your organization’s next strategic business transformation. Read this white paper from Informatica’s Big Data expert John Haddad titled “The Safe On-Ramp to Big Data”.