Talk to advocates in the health information management (HIM) field, and you will quickly find out how important unstructured data is to the profession. For years, this industry has been edging toward the transition to full-scale electronic health records across the country; however, the difficulty in managing unstructured data has led to a number of roadblocks. The ability to derive usable medical information from big data would be of very great value to this field.
Another area where unstructured data is likely to be highly valued is in the financial services industry, where unstructured data is in abundance yet largely under-analyzed and rarely put to use (Squirro). While this might be a cue to some that financial institutions do not value big data, nearly half of these institutions are planning activities with unstructured data in the next 24 months. Clearly, those in the financial services sector feel that this untapped information would provide value.
Because about 80 percent of data is unstructured (meaning only about 20 percent is being used across industries), it is hard to determine a real-world value for the data that often goes unstored, unpreserved, or under-utilized. What kinds of textual, numerical, or factual information is waiting for us on the other side?
One not-for-profit health care facility tapped into unstructured clinical information to identify triggers for re-admission rates, which helped them develop interventions with return patients and reduce compliance costs and fines (information management).
A large financial institution leveraged unstructured information and combined it with more traditional data to zero in on the evolving banking needs of its customers.
Some businesses are finding ways to access and use unstructured types of data to improve products or services, making the data of obvious value to not only these businesses but also the end users.
This leads us to the conclusion that it is difficult to assign a real value to unstructured data. Yet where it is possible to unearth relevant information, the value lies in the degree to which it can ultimately impact the way we do business and enrich our lives.
Vedams was able to bring the necessary expertise and resources to meet our business objectives. What I like the most is its flexibility in their business model to meet our needs.
Our partnership with Vedams has been highly successful. The Vedams team is extremely productive and dedicated to ensuring success. Their willingness to go above and beyond has resulted in consistently meeting schedules with high quality releases despite several challenges that needed to be overcome.
They conduct their work and business relationship with the highest degree of honesty and integrity.
Vedams is a highly valuable addition to Xyratex’s own global product test organization. With product availability and reliability requirements being key differentiators for Xyratex in its markets, the need for exhaustive, rigorous and in-depth functional testing is critical.
The knowledge required to perform at this level, being very data storage focused, is not easily obtained but I have been impressed by the way these skills have been cultivated and the low levels of staff turnover.
Vedams was able to bring the necessary expertise and resources to meet our business objectives. What I like the most is its flexibility in their business model to meet our needs.
Vedams’s global delivery model is strongly supported by their onshore project management. Because of the seamless communication maintained by the local project managers, we were able to keep our customer’s aggressive schedules on time and on budget.