大数据如何助力小企业的成功丨双语

原作者：Rick Delgado

编译：T客汇 李哲

关键词：大数据、小企业、云计算

企业都希望从大数据中获益。近些年来，大公司一直将大数据分析作为提高公司收益和效率的方式。

而小企业，似乎感觉自己被这一趋势甩在了后面。毕竟，大数据听起来像是一种运用最新科技来发掘洞察力的复杂战略。也就是说，小企业似乎觉得，大数据对它们来说是可望不可即的。其实，这是一种误解。由于成本的下降和对大数据应用理解的进一步加深，小企业已经完全可以采用大数据解决方案了。

小企业面临的大问题是，如何将大数据用到最好。有如此多的方案可供选择，小企业应该采用什么样的战略，来确保大数据方案的成功呢？当然，没有一种战略是万无一失的，但小企业仍然可以采用一些指导原则来提高成功率。

对于小企业来说，大数据战略的采用，必将改变它们的运行节奏。大数据有可能彻底改变一家公司的运营方式和关注焦点。正因为如次，首次采用大数据的小企业不能好高骛远，要把目标设定在可以掌控的范围之内。数据的来源多种多样，但是如果小企业能够缩小其重点范围，它们就可以锁定应用大数据的具体方法。

其中一种方法，就是通过增强小企业现有的知识和数据。它们不需要安装物联网传感器来收集数据，因为任何的小企业都有大量的数据可供分析，从销售数据到社交媒体上的数据。深入挖掘这些信息将是小企业大数据战略顺利迈出的第一步。

专一性是所有大数据方案的共同特点。小企业需要清晰地定义它们的目标，明确它们想要达成的结果。缺少清晰的方向，它们会浪费大量的时间，毫无目的地收集和分析数据。

即使有了这些指导原则，小企业也不一定能够顺利实施大数据解决方案。因为很多时候，它们对可供使用的工具并不了解，更不要说如何正确地使用这些工具了。在这一点上，云计算或许可以帮助它们。同许多其他服务一样，很多云服务提供商可以提供大数据分析服务。其中一些是免费的，还有一些需要支付适度的费用，但这些服务都会赋予小企业一些它们自身不具备的能力。

从云端获取大数据，使得小企业不再需要投入大量的资金用于软件和硬件建设。基于模块化数据中心的云服务，可以帮助小企业将现有的数据数字化，并把它们存储起来，用于分析以获取大数据的洞察力。

所以归根结底，还是要找到并采用一款合适的工具。可供选择的工具有很多，但适用于小企业的应该是用户友好型的工具，学习曲线较短。小企业很可能缺乏大数据专家，因此选择一款易于使用的分析仪表盘，对于大数据方案的成功会很有帮助。合适的工具有助于小企业整合资源，更好地利用现有的数据。

大数据如此的复杂，没有哪种方法可以让企业一举成功。但是遵循以上提示，大数据方案或许会更加富有成效。尽管每一家小企业的目标不同，但大数据都会对它们有所帮助。所以，对于小企业，大数据并不是可望而不可即的。而此时此刻，正是小企业放手一试的最好时间。

英文原文：

How small businesses can succeed with their big data projects

It’s no secret that businesses are excited about the possibilities they can gain from big data; large corporations have been tapping big data analytics for years as a way to increase revenue and improve efficiency.

Small businesses, on the other hand, may feel a bit left out of the trend. Big data, after all, sounds like a complex strategy using the latest technology to discover important insights. In other words, it’s something that feels like is out of reach. But that would be a mistake. Small businesses now have access to big data solutions thanks to decreasing costs and greater understanding of its uses.

The big questions small businesses have is how best they can use it. With so many possibilities ripe for the taking, what strategy can they pursue to ensure their big data projects are successful? While no strategy is fool proof, there are a number of guidelines small businesses can adopt to increase their chances for success.

Adopting a big data strategy will certainly be a change of pace for a small business. Big data has the potential to completely change how a company operates and what they focus on. Due to this factor, it’s important that small businesses trying out big data for the first time don’t aim too big. Keep expectations manageable. Big data can be collected from a vast array of sources, but if a small business narrows its focus, it will be able to pinpoint specific ways in which it can use big data.

One good place to start is through augmenting the knowledge and data that a small business already has. There’s no need to install Internet of Things sensors to collect data for a company to analyse. Any small business should already have lots of data to examine, from sales data to social media interactions. Mining that information for helpful insights is a good first step before growing a big data strategy.

Specificity is something that applies to all big data projects. Small businesses need to be able to clearly define their goals while also specifying the results they want to achieve. Without clear direction, companies will spend a lot of time collecting and analysing data with no real purpose. Organisations must declare the business cases they’re going after with their big data projects. With this in mind, they’ll be able to proceed with confidence.

Even with these guidelines, small businesses may still struggle implementing big data solutions. In many cases, they’ll have little knowledge of the tools available at their disposal, let alone how to use them in the right way. The answer may be found in the cloud. Just as with many other services, big data analytics is something offered by many cloud service providers. Some of the options are free, while others can be purchased through modest monthly fees, but they all can grant small businesses certain capabilities they’ve never had before.

With big data available through the cloud, small businesses don’t have to worry about investing large sums of money into new software and hardware. Cloud services with amodular data centre can also help smaller companies digitise their existing data, essentially putting them in a form where they can finally be analysed for big data insights.

It all comes down to finding and adopting the right tools. There are a lot of tools available out there, so small businesses need to find one that is user friendly and features a short learning curve. Chances are a small business doesn’t have much in the way of big data experts, so picking an easy-to-use analytics dashboard goes a long way toward promoting a successful big data project. The right tool will help small businesses unify their sources, aiding them in getting the most out of the data already in their hands.

With something as complex as big data, no single solution will provide the pathway to immediate success, but big data projects can be more effective with the above tips in mind. Every small business will have different goals and objectives, but the one unifying aspect is that big data can help them all. Small businesses don’t have to feel like big data is out of reach. If anything, there has been no better time to give it a shot than right now.

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