Big Data Solution Implementation
Plan, Tools, and Costs
Working with big data technologies since 2013, ScienceSoft designs and implements secure and scalable big data solutions for businesses in 30+ industries.
Big Data Solution Implementation: The Essence
Big data implementation gains strategic importance across all major industry sectors, helping mid-sized and large organizations successfully handle the ever-growing amount of data for operational and analytical needs. When properly developed and maintained, big data solutions efficiently accommodate and process petabytes of XaaS users' data, enable IoT-driven automation, facilitate advanced analytics to boost enterprise decision making, and more.
- Key steps of big data solution development: feasibility study, conceptualization and planning, architecture design, development and QA, deployment, support and maintenance.
- Team: Project manager, business analyst, big data architect, big data developer, data engineer, data scientist, data analyst, DataOps engineer, DevOps engineer, QA engineer, test engineers.
- Costs: from $200K to $3M for a mid-sized organization, depending on the project scope.
For 9 years, ScienceSoft designs and builds efficient and resilient big data solutions with scalable architectures able to withstand extreme concurrency, request rates, and traffic spikes.
Key Components of a Big Data Solution
Below, ScienceSoft’s big data experts provide an example of a high-level big data architecture and describe its key components.
- Data sources are the initial point of the big data pipeline. It can be real-time data from social media, payment processing systems, IoT sensors, etc., as well as historical data from relational databases, web server log files, etc.
- Data storage, also referred to as a data lake, holds voluminous data of different formats for further processing. Its main difference from a data warehouse (DWH) is that a data lake stores structured, unstructured, and semi-structured, while a DWH stores structured data only.
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Note: If you want to learn more about the purpose and differences of data lakes and DWHs, check out the article on the topic by Alex Bekker, ScienceSoft’s Head of Data Analytics Department. |
- A stream ingestion engine receives real-time messages from the data sources and immediately directs them to real-time (stream) processing. The key advantage of this component is the high data ingestion speed that is required to quickly analyze and react to messages such as readings from industrial IoT sensors or consumer activity on an ecommerce website. Apart from undergoing stream processing, real-time messages get accumulated in the data lake to be used for batch processing according to the computation schedule.
- Batch processing deals with huge volumes of historical data using parallel jobs. Stream data processing deals with real-time data, which means that it is processed in smaller volumes as soon as it is captured. Depending on your big data needs, a specific solution might enable only batch or only stream data processing, or combine both types as shown in the sample architecture above.
Batch processing of data at rest
Best for: processing large datasets and running repetitive non-time-sensitive jobs that facilitate analytics tasks (for billing, revenue reports, daily price optimization, demand forecasting, etc.).
- Enables processing of large volumes of data.
- May require less computing power to run simple batch jobs.
- The results aren’t immediately available because of high latency. The time from when a message is received to when it is processed ranges from minutes to days.
Stream processing of real-time events
Best for: tasks that require immediate data processing, such as payment processing, traffic control, personalized recommendations on ecommerce websites, or burglary protection systems.
- Suitable for processing data of lower volume.
- More computing power is required for the stream processing solution to be active at all times (for on-premises solutions).
- The processed data is always up-to-date and ready for immediate use due to low latency (milliseconds to seconds).
- Once processed, data can go to a data warehouse for further analytical querying or directly to the analytics modules.
- Lastly, the analytics and reporting module helps reveal patterns and trends in the processed data, then use these findings to enhance decision-making or automate certain complex processes (e.g., management of smart cities).
- With orchestration that acts as a centralized control to data management processes, repeated data processing operations get automated.
Big Data Implementation Roadmap
Real-life big data implementation steps may vary greatly depending on the business goals a solution is to meet, data processing specifics (e.g., real-time, batch processing, both), etc. However, from ScienceSoft’s experience, there are six universal steps that are likely to be present in most projects.
Analyzing business specifics and needs, validating the feasibility of a big data solution, calculating the estimated cost and ROI for the implementation project, assessing the operating costs.
Big data implementation is a long-term process that may entail unnecessary expenses if its feasibility is not properly investigated from the start. ScienceSoft’s big data consultants prepare a comprehensive feasibility study report with tangible gains and possible risks, and communicate the findings to all project stakeholders. This way, our customers can be sure that each dollar spent will bring value.
- Defining the type of data (e.g., SaaS data, SCM records, operational data, images and video) to be collected and stored, estimated data volume and the required data quality metrics (for data consistency, accuracy, completeness, auditability, etc.).
- Forming a high-level vision of the future big data solution, outlining:
- Data processing specifics (batch, real-time, or both).
- Required storage capabilities (data availability, data retention period, etc.).
- Integrations with the existing IT infrastructure components (if applicable).
- The number of potential users (e.g., from 100+ for an enterprise solution to 1M+ for a customer-oriented app).
- Security and compliance (e.g., HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR) requirements.
- Analytics processes (e.g., data mining, predictive analytics, machine learning) that need to be introduced to the solution, and more.
- Choosing a deployment model: on-premises vs. cloud (public, private) vs. hybrid.
- Selecting an optimal technology stack.
- Preparing a comprehensive project plan with timeframes, required talents, and budget outlined.
- Creating the data models that represent all data objects to be stored in databases, as well as associations between them, to get a clear picture of data flows, the ways data of certain formats will be collected, stored, and processed in the solution-to-be.
- Mapping out data quality management strategy and data security mechanisms (data encryption, user access control, redundancy, etc.).
- Designing the optimal big data architecture that enables data ingestion, processing, storage, and analytics.
As your business grows, the number of big data sources and the overall volume of data produced is likely to grow as well. For instance, Uber’s big data platform stored tens of terabytes of data in 2015, but by 2017, its volume exceeded 100 petabytes. This makes scalable architecture the cornerstone of efficient big data implementation that can save you from costly redevelopments down the road.
- Setting up the environments for development and delivery automation (СI/CD pipelines, container orchestration, etc.).
- Building the required big data components (e.g., ETL pipelines, a data lake, a DWH) or the entire solution using the selected techs.
- Implementing data security measures.
- Performing quality assurance in parallel with development. Conducting comprehensive testing of the big data solution, including functional, performance, security and compliance testing. If you’re interested in the specifics of big data testing process, see expert guide by ScienceSoft.
- Preparing the target computing environment and moving the big data solution to production.
- Setting up the required security controls (audit logs, intrusion prevention system, etc.).
- Launching data ingestion from the data sources, verifying the data quality (consistency, accuracy, completeness, etc.) within the deployed solution.
- Running system testing to validate that the entire big data solution works as expected in the target IT infrastructure.
- Selecting and configuring big data solution monitoring tools, setting alerts for the issues that require immediate attention (e.g., server failures, data inconsistencies, overloaded message queue).
- Delivering user training materials (FAQs, user manuals, a knowledge base) and conducting Q&A sessions and trainings, if needed.
- Establishing support and maintenance procedures to ensure trouble-free operation of the big data solution: resolving user issues, refining the software and network settings, optimizing computing and storage resources utilization, etc.
- Evolution may include developing new software modules and integrations, adding new data sources, expanding the big data analytics capabilities, introducing new security measures, etc.
Implementation consulting
- Business case delivery and feasibility study.
- Creating a detailed project roadmap, time and budget estimations.
- Selecting a deployment model (on-premises, cloud, hybrid) and optimal technology stack, designing the architecture of the solution-to-be.
- PoC delivery (for complex projects).
- Recommendations on big data quality and security management, regulatory compliance measures.
- Actionable insights on optimization of computing resources and cloud storage (if applicable).
Development
- In-depth analysis of your big data needs.
- Holistic conceptualization of a big data solution: architecture design, tech stack selection, a comprehensive project plan with tangible KPIs.
- End-to-end big data solution development and testing.
- Deploying the big data solution into the existing IT infrastructure, developing the necessary integrations and establishing required security controls.
- User training.
- Support, maintenance, and continuous evolution (if required).
Our Customers Say
We needed a proficient big data consultancy to deploy a Hadoop lab for us and to support us on the way to its successful and fast adoption. ScienceSoft's team proved their mastery in a vast range of big data technologies we required: Hadoop Distributed File System, Hadoop MapReduce, Apache Hive, Apache Ambari, Apache Oozie, Apache Spark, Apache ZooKeeper are just a couple of names. ScienceSoft's team also showed themselves great consultants. Whenever a question arose, we got it answered almost instantly.
Kaiyang Liang Ph.D., Professor, Miami Dade College
Why Choose ScienceSoft for Big Data Implementation
- 10 years in big data solutions development.
- 34 years in data analytics and data science.
- Experience in 30+ industries, including manufacturing, retail, healthcare, education, logistics, banking, energy, telecoms, and more.
- 700+ experts on board, including big data solution architects, DataOps engineers, and ISTQB-certified QA engineers.
- A Microsoft partner since 2008.
- An AWS Select Tier Services Partner.
- Strong Agile and DevOps culture.
- ISO 9001 and ISO 27001-certified to ensure robust quality management system and the security of the customers' data.
- For the second straight year, ScienceSoft USA Corporation is listed among The Americas’ Fastest-Growing Companies by the Financial Times.
Project manager
Plans and oversees a big data implementation project; ensures compliance with the timeframes and budget; reports to the stakeholders.
Business analyst
Analyzes the business needs or app vision; elicits functional and non-functional requirements; verifies the project’s feasibility.
Big data architect
Works out several architectural concepts to discuss them with the project stakeholders; creates data models; designs the chosen big data architecture and its integration points (if needed); selects the tech stack.
Big data developer
Assists in selecting techs; develops big data solution components; integrates the components with the required systems; fixes code issues and other defects on a QA team’s notices.
Data engineer
Assists in creating data models; designs, builds, and manages data pipelines; develops and implements a data quality management strategy.
Data scientist
Designs the processes of data mining; designs ML models; introduces ML capabilities into the big data solution; establishes predictive and prescriptive analytics.
Data analyst
Assists a data engineer in working out a data quality management strategy; selects analytics and reporting tools.
DataOps engineer
Helps streamline big data solution implementation by applying DevOps practices to the big data pipelines and workflows.
DevOps engineer
Sets up the big data solution development infrastructure; introduces CI/CD pipelines to automate development and release; deploys the solution into the production environment; monitors solution performance, security, etc.
QA engineer
Designs and implements a quality assurance strategy for a big data solution and high-level testing plans for its components.
Test engineer
Designs and develops manual and automated test cases to comprehensively test the operational and analytical parts of the big data solution; reports on the discovered issues found and validates the fixed defects.
Technologies ScienceSoft Uses to Develop Big Data Solutions
Distributed storage
By request of a leading market research company, we have built a Hadoop-based big data solution for monitoring and analyzing advertising channels in 10+ countries.
Database management
Our Apache Cassandra consultants helped a leading Internet of Vehicles company enhance their big data solution that analyzes IoT data from 600,000 vehicles.
We leverage Azure Cosmos DB to implement a multi-model, globally distributed, elastic NoSQL database on the cloud. Our team used Cosmos DB in a connected car solution for one of the world’s technology leaders.
We use Amazon Redshift to build cost-effective data warehouses that easily handle complex queries and large amounts of data.
We use Amazon DynamoDB as a NoSQL database service for solutions that require low latency, high scalability and always available data.
ScienceSoft has helped one of the top market research companies migrate its big data solution for advertising channel analysis to Apache Hive. Together with other improvements, this led to 100x faster data processing.
We use HBase if your database should scale to billions of rows and millions of columns while maintaining constant write and read performance.
With ScienceSoft’s managed IT support for Apache NiFi, an American biotechnology corporation got 10x faster big data processing, and its software stability increased from 50% to 99%.
Data management
Data streaming and stream processing
We use Kafka for handling big data streams. In our IoT pet tracking solution, Kafka processes 30,000+ events per second from 1 million devices.
With ScienceSoft’s managed IT support for Apache NiFi, an American biotechnology corporation got 10x faster big data processing, and its software stability increased from 50% to 99%.
A large US-based jewelry manufacturer and retailer relies on ETL pipelines built by ScienceSoft’s Spark developers.
Batch processing
Data warehouse, ad hoc exploration and reporting
ScienceSoft has used PostgreSQL in an IoT fleet management solution that supports 2,000+ customers with 26,500+ IoT devices. We’ve also helped a fintech startup promptly launch a top-flight BNPL product based on PostgreSQL.
We use Amazon Redshift to build cost-effective data warehouses that easily handle complex queries and large amounts of data.
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7 years
ScienceSoft sets up Power BI to process data from any source and report on data findings in a user-friendly format.
Programming languages
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10 years
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50+
Workforce
30
ScienceSoft's Python developers and data scientists excel at building general-purpose Python apps, big data and IoT platforms, AI and ML-based apps, and BI solutions.
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110+
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40+
ScienceSoft's Java developers build secure, resilient and efficient cloud-native and cloud-only software of any complexity and successfully modernize legacy software solutions.
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34 years
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40
ScienceSoft's C++ developers created the desktop version of Viber and an award-winning imaging application for a global leader in image processing.
Big Data Solution Implementation Costs
The total cost of a big data project depends on multiple factors, and is estimated after in-depth analysis of project specifics. Among key cost considerations are:
- The type and complexity of business objectives the solution needs to meet (e.g., providing fault-tolerant streaming services, handling extreme customer demand, fraud prevention, price optimization).
- The solution’s performance, availability, scalability, security, and compliance requirements.
- The number and diversity of data sources, the complexity of data flows.
- The volume and nature (structured, semi-structured, unstructured) of data to be ingested, stored, and processed by the solution.
- The type of data processing (real-time, batch, both), the data quality thresholds (consistency, accuracy, completeness, etc.) that need to be achieved.
- The number and complexity of required big data solution components.
- The testing efforts required, the ratio of automated and manual testing, etc.
- The team members’ seniority level, the chosen sourcing model.
The cost of end-to-end development of a big data solution may vary from $200K to $3M for a mid-sized organization. However, if one or several modules of a big data solution are needed, the costs will be much lower.
Want to find out the cost of your big data project?
About ScienceSoft
ScienceSoft is a global IT consulting and software development company headquartered in McKinney, TX. Since 2013, we have been delivering end-to-end big data services to businesses in 30+ industries. Being ISO 9001 and ISO 27001-certified, we ensure robust quality management system and full security of our customers’ data.
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