A data lake is capable of storing structured and unstructured data all in one centralized repository. Data is stored in its raw, unaltered format, foregoing the need to perform any data transformation during ingestion.

This allows data from line of business applications, IoT devices, social media, log files, and more to be stored in the same location. The raw, centralization of information enables you to run different types of analytics such as big data analytics, real-time analytics, and machine learning to gain new insights about your business.

For example, a data lake can combine data from your CRM platform, social media analytics, and the purchasing history from your marketing platform to identify which promotions were the most effective at increasing loyalty and engagement.

This guide helps businesses like yours understand what a data lake is and how to realize the benefits of one.

## What is a Data Lake?
A data lake is capable of storing structured and unstructured data all in one centralized repository. Data is stored in its raw, unaltered format, foregoing the need to perform any data transformation during ingestion. 

This allows data from line of business applications, IoT devices, social media, log files, and more to be stored in the same location. The raw, centralization of information enables you to run different types of analytics such as big data analytics, real-time analytics, and machine learning to gain new insights about your business.

For example, a data lake can combine data from your CRM platform, social media analytics, and the purchasing history from your marketing platform to identify which promotions were the most effective at increasing loyalty and engagement.

## Benefitting from a Data Lake
Use this checklist as a guide to determining whether or not your business can benefit from a data lake. If you answer yes to any of these questions, you can benefit from a data lake. 

- I need to store non-relational and relational data from sources such as social media, IoT devices, or mobile apps
- I want to capture any amount of data in real time
- My data needs to be accessed by Data Scientists, Data Developers or Business Analysts
- I am interested in generating new insights about my business via machine learning techniques
- I want to enable my teams to access data with the analytics tools and frameworks of their choosing
- I’d like to discover new data points and trends about my business by integrating a Business Intelligence platform

## About Levvel
Levvel helps clients transform their business with strategic consulting and technical execution services. We work with your IT organization, product groups, and innovation teams to design and deliver on your technical priorities.

Our App Dev team is made up of technology agnostic enthusiasts with a wide array of knowledge in popular modern and legacy languages such as Java, .NET, Ruby on Rails, Node.js & JavaScript, Python, and PHP.

We firmly believe that mentoring can be integrated with delivery. Our main focus is on saving our partners as much as possible on the lifetime-total-cost of ownership and maintainability of their systems. For more information, contact us at hello@levvel.io.

Six ways to know if your company can benefit from a data lake

Can My Business Benefit from a Data Lake?

This checklist is designed to help organizations understand what a data lake is and if they can benefit from one.

Can My Business Benefit from a Data Lake?

Six ways to know if your company can benefit from a data lake

Can My Business Benefit from a Data Lake?

Read the Checklist