Does big data really amount to anything more than the data we had all along? It all depends on how it's put to use, writes Alistair Croll in a post at O'Reilly Radar. If big data is left buried in silos, it might as well be no data.

The companies that have made the most of big data have been disruptive start-ups, Croll writes, citing Zappos, Amazon, Craigslist, eBay, Ryanair and others. "One by one, industry incumbents are withering under the harsh light of data," he writes. "Large companies with entrenched business models tend to cling to their buggy-whips."

It's hard to disrupt your own business model, but that's not simply the result of complacency. Entrenched enterprises have more to lose than start-ups have, and they can't take as great risks. While start-ups can ask forgiveness, established companies have to ask for permission, Croll writes.

Making the most of big data comes down to knowing which questions to ask, he suggests. Viewing an old problem in a new light is the path that successful start-ups take. To find value in huge volumes of data, companies have to make the right queries. "Without the right questions, there really is no such thing as big data--and today, it's the upstarts that are asking all the good questions," he writes.

For more:
- see Alistair Croll's post at O'Reilly Radar

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