Semi Vs. Structured Vs. Unstructured Data

Why is Data so vital for any company(Structured Data vs Unstructured Data)?

Data is everywhere!

Were you aware that a human brain receives 10 million bits of information in one second? It's similar to a computer when it downloads a single piece of document from the web over the internet.

But did you know that information processed by the brain is only 30 bits per second¹? So 70% of it is ideally lost!

The same goes for an organization.

Did you know that according to Forbes, there are 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created each day, and only 0.5% of data is analyzed! That is definitely mind-boggling, isn't it?

How is it used?

Data firstly helps you understand your current ongoing business process (derivation of data) and help you make suitable decisions to overcome losses, reduce risks and make good investments in the future.

Right from the product design until the customer support and sustainability, you as a company will be dealing with millions of data in the form of information for deriving respective results and making extremely crucial decisions for your company.

Understanding semi, structured and unstructured data

Data can be classified primarily into three types: structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data.

But did you know that of the total data your company has access to, approximately 80-90% of it is unstructured? But what is unstructured data? And how are the different types of data classified into? Let’s look further into this today.

All Data in varied formats can be classified into Semi, Structured, and Unstructured Data.
Let’s elaborate on the specifications of each for better understanding.

Defining-

Structured Data

• Structured Data is predefined to a set structure before it is placed in Data storage.
• It can be easily utilized by business users. They can be addressable by their database for reporting or retrieval of information.
• It has limited storage options, and due to predefined limits of structured data, its usage options are also limited and only for the intended purpose for which it was set.

Semi Structured Data

• Semi structured Data is a form of structured data that does not follow the tabular format of data models in correlation with relational databases, however, it contains markers to separate semantic elements.
• Data, as it is not entirely structured, is portable and doesn’t follow a fixed structure of Data. Understanding the relationship between data is difficult due to no separation between data and schema.

Unstructured Data

• Unstructured Data is stored in its native format, which is not processed. It comes in varied file formats, i.e., social media posts, Emails, Satellite imagery, Presentations, Charts, etc.
• Data is not organized in a pre-defined structure or data model, and it doesn't have an identifiable structure, thus, it cannot be used by a computer program easily. Therefore, it is not a good fit for a mainstream relational database in its original form. So despite its valuable content, it is unfit for use and needs external sources to make it fit and usable.

Source: Tutorialspoint

Unstructured Data is a common hurdle faced by companies today?

We need to find opportunities to manage and derive actionable insights from the 2.5 quintillions of data being generated every day to be on par with our competitors. As most of the organizations have 80-90% unstructured data, it is vital suitable means and methods are used to create hard and soft benefits and production of tangible business value.

With the estimation of the unstructured data growing at a staggering rate of 55-65% each year, it becomes imperative that suitable solutions are catered to by the organizations all around to create sustainable outputs.

How can Straive help you?

This is exactly where Straive comes to play!

Straive helps unlock the potential of unstructured data with its proprietary Straive Data Platform (SDP). The end-to-end data management platform provides – faster time to market, better data coverage, consistent quality, and scalability – through a structured approach and an automated platform.

In addition, we have excellent means to maximize profitable outcomes via faster intelligent document processing of –

• Contracts/Documents/PDFs/Invoices/Customer Feedback
• Emails/ News/Webpages/ social media
• Images/Videos
• Annual Report/Proxy & IR Report
• External & Alternative data/Other Data

We Deliver benefits that your organization needs!

Reference

¹ www.npr.org/2020/07/14/891140598/understanding-unconscious-bias