#3: Discourage Data Search Parties

Think Big frowns on projects without well-defined goals. There's a certain amount of business consulting attached to most big data work, focused on determining which key performance indicators matter to the client. From there, an integrator can build momentum by creating a phased roadmap.

"We're involved in product projects that are having an impact on our customer' business," Bodkin said.

One example is a solution that Think Big created for HGST, a Western Digital company, which reduces the amount of time the drive manufacturer's engineers need to spend searching for information. It also addresses design inefficiencies, which in turn reduces scrap created during manufacturing, Bodkin said. "It exposes the root cause of why something isn't optimal," he said.

Generally speaking, Think Big delivers milestones toward a big data project on a cadence of approximately every eight weeks. "It's not like implementing an ERP system where you're just thankful when you're done and you don't have to do anymore work on it," Bodkin said. "Investment in big data is a journey and as companies make those investments and start to see results from it, they are motivated to do more."

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