Navy needs to go to the cloud to handle big data | RAND

Data Flood: Helping the Navy Address the Rising Tide of Sensor Information | RAND

In the U.S. Navy, there is a growing demand for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) data, which help Navy commanders obtain situational awareness and help Navy vessels perform a host of mission-critical tasks. The amount of data generated by ISR sensors has, however, become overwhelming, and Navy analysts are struggling to keep pace with this data flood. Their challenges include extremely slow download times, workstations cluttered with applications, and stovepiped databases and networks — challenges that are only going to intensify as the Navy fields new and additional sensors in the coming years.

Unmanned ISR Assets reach multi-Petabytes

Indeed, if the Navy does not change the way it collects,  processes, exploits, and disseminates information, it will reach an ISR  "tipping point" — the point at which its analysts are no longer able to  complete a minimum number of exploitation tasks within given time  constraints — as soon as 2016.

More data from BAMS chokes image analysts

The authors explore options for solving the Navy's "big data" challenge, considering changes across four dimensions: people, tools and technology, data and data architectures, and demand and demand
management. They recommend that the Navy pursue a cloud solution — a strategy similar to those adopted by Google, the Intelligence Community, and other large organizations grappling with big  data's challenges and opportunities.