Data Procurement
The acquisition of Big Data solutions themselves can be economical, due to the availability of open-source platforms and tools and opportunities to leverage commodity hardware. However, a substantial budget may still be required to obtain external data. The nature of the business may make external data very valuable. The greater the volume and variety of data that can be supplied, the higher the chances are of finding hidden insights from patterns.
External data sources include government data sources and commercial data markets. Government-provided data, such as geo-spatial data, may be free. However, most commercially relevant data will need to be purchased and may involve the continuation of subscription costs to ensure the delivery of updates to procured datasets.