Lesson 3 - ANALYSIS OF UNSTRUCTURED DATA Should unstructured data be analysed?

Step 1 of 4

As J. Kelly[1] said, “If you do not use data and information to make better decisions and increase your efficiency, you will stay behind. This applies to businesses, governments, hospitals and indeed any organization. That is why, it is so important.” The concept of unstructured data does not mean that it does not have any structure, but this is data that does not fit into any database, nor can it be part of the relational data model in the company. We try to arrange it somehow to provide analysis, but the problem is that it does not arrive on time to employees who need it to be productive. Often, in the theory of decision it is said about such situations that we are dealing with incomplete information[2]. Once, until the 90s, it meant that there was no such information, and today - that we did not get to it in time. That is why it is very important to pass on relevant information to the right people at the right time and in the appropriate format. According to the Gartner[3], search for documents by professional staff takes 10-50% of their working time, and reading documents in order to obtain from them the necessary data is another 5-15% of their working time. Delving further into the statistics[4], we see that on average about 80% of the data in companies considered to be unstructured, and over half of the latest information technology purchases of companies in 2014-2015 was related to information management systems (knowledge) including decentralized model, under which it is possible to share data and perform own analyses. This is also confirmed by the producers of solutions of ECM class(Enterprise Content Management) , who emphasize in their reports that only about 20-25% of data in organizations is structured and can be managed by using the current tools (ERP, CRM, SCM, PLM, etc. )[5]. According to the MIT Centre for Digital Business, the companies that will operate on the basis of unstructured data and use not only structural data in decision-making will enjoy the productivity and performance 5-6% higher than it would be expected based on other investments and used technology.

Research[6] shows that the companies that want to better understand the processes anticipate upcoming events respond to the threat and use opportunistic chances need to improve information systems through the use of unstructured data. It is also forced by the turbulence of the environment through project work requiring dispersion of information and increasing the speed of their movement within the corporate network. In addition, research conducted by the EMC Forum 2013[7] indicates that:

  • 39% of entrepreneurs believe that unstructured data management ensures the success of the company,
  • 19% of entrepreneurs believe that by managing unstructured data has reached a competitive advantage,
  • 36% of entrepreneurs believe that the introduction of unstructured data management increased the safety and security the data available.