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Data collection has become a core function for many businesses. From gaining consumer insights to developing and improving on AI/ML models in the business, fresh data is regularly required.

However, manual data collection can be challenging, especially when the use case is unique and complex.

Automating your data collection process can help bypass some of those challenges by streamlining the process. Prior to leveraging automation in your data pipelines, learning its pros and cons can be worthwhile before initiating any investments in automation tools.

To help you better understand data collection automation, this article explores:

What is data collection automation?

What are its pros and cons?

What are the methods of automation data collection?

What is data collection automation?

Automated data collection involves harvesting data from multiple sources without any human intervention.

This is done with automation software powered by machine learning. The machine learning model is trained through an algorithm that extracts the required type of data from online sources. Usually, in data collection automation, various methods are used to automatically extract data from online websites.

This data can be structured or unstructured. In the latter case, the unstructured data is collected and processed into structured data. This can also be automated by combining RPA and OCR.

What are some data collection automation pros and cons?

This section highlights some pros and cons of automating data collection in your business:

Pros of data collection automation 1. Reduced human errors

To err is human. Manually collecting data can be tedious and error-prone, leading to:

Mistyping of data,

Duplication of data,

Missing out data, etc.

It can be commonplace. Automation can eliminate such errors.

2. Improved data quality

Reducing the aforementioned errors can have a significantly positive impact on the overall quality of the dataset. This will ultimately result in more accurate results in data-hungry projects, such as a higher-performing machine learning model. To learn more about data collection quality assurance, check our this quick read.

3. Saved time and maintenance costs

Gathering data is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task if done in-house, especially in use cases where the data required is diverse.

For instance, if you wish to implement a speech recognition model in China, assigning your workforce to record audio data in Mandarin Chinese can be a challenge. Automating this can save your team’s time and allow them to tend to higher-value tasks.

Using data collection automation tools also reduces maintenance costs. This is because the data needs to be regularly updated. If this is done manually, the data collector will have to recruit new contributors to maintain the dataset, which will increase the costs.

Using automation tools can save the time that is consumed in maintaining such datasets.

Cons of data collection automation 1. Quality issues

While automated data collection tools reduce human errors, they can also reduce the quality of the overall dataset. This is because raw data requires a quality screening process. For instance, when automated tools are gathering large-scale data without any human intervention, it can become difficult to screen the data for quality.

2. Costs of automating

While automation can be cost-effective in the long run, implementing automation tools can be expensive, and not everyone can afford them. Although the costs vary from the scale of the solutions that are being bought, Therefore, it is important to calculate ROI on such investments, and if the costs are unjustifiable, then other options should be considered.

Recommendations

If quality screening and costs are important factors for your data-hungry project, then working with third-party data collection service providers can be beneficial.

What are the three methods of data collection automation?

There are a few different methods of automating data collection, but the three most common are:

1. Data or web scraping

This method is used to extract data from sources that are not intended to be accessed or read by machines. Web scraping can be done manually but is often automated through the use of scraping bot that can mimic human interactions with a website or application.

2. Data or web crawling

Web crawling is a technique that involves automatically visiting websites and extracting data from them. This is different from web scraping because web crawlers will typically follow links from one page to another, while web scrapers will only extract data from the pages they are explicitly told to access.

See our guide on web crawling vs. web scraping to learn more about the differences between them.

3. Using APIs

Another common method is using APIs to extract data from online sources. Most data sources provide an API that can be used to access their data. This is the most direct way to collect data from a source and is usually the easiest to automate. That’s because data is typically collected in a structured format that can be easily parsed by a computer.

For example, an API can be used to retrieve data from a remote database and then format it in a way that is usable by the local software program. This can save a lot of time and effort that would otherwise be required to manually collect and process the data.

However, some data sources do not have an API, or the API is not well documented, making it difficult to use this method.

You can also check our data-driven list of data collection/harvesting services to find the option that best suits your project needs.

For more in-depth knowledge on data collection, feel free to download our whitepaper:

Pros And Cons Of Vps Hosting

A VPS, or virtual private server, is a cost-effective way to host websites, gaming servers, and other projects. These products, available from many cloud services providers, offer benefits for a variety of situations, including both professional and personal applications. If you’re looking for a way to move your hosting from personal hardware, a VPS is usually a good choice. Additionally, if you’re seeking a method for keeping your hosting costs down, you may also want to consider this product.

VPS technology is essentially a form of digital resource sharing, where a single server is divided into separated instances for hosting. In this article, we’ll review some of the main benefits of using a VPS and go over a few situations in which you may want to consider using a dedicated server instead. First, let’s go over the basics of using a virtual private server to uncover if this hosting solution is right for you.

What is a VPS?

A virtual private server is a partitioned portion of a server’s hardware and resources, with a specific memory, storage, and bandwidth capacity. An inexpensive VPS for hosting something like a gaming server or a personal website can cost as little as $6 per month. A VPS with the highest potential computing power for hosting often starts around $40, with a handful of options for upgrading.

The hardware that runs your virtual private server will play host to a handful of other customers’ VPS. However, the isolated, instanced nature of the VPS ensures that there’s no crossover. The hardware, including the SSD drive and processor, is usually top-of-the-line. However, with a VPS, you’re essentially only paying for a portion of that computer power. Most VPS operates on monthly plans, so you can cancel whenever. However, there may be startup fees associated with your product, depending on the cloud services provider you’re working with.

Dumping Steve Ballmer: Microsoft’s Pros And Cons

At least one Microsoft investor isn’t happy with chief executive Steve Ballmer’s performance. David Einhorn, hedge fund manager for Greenlight Capital, called for the Microsoft chief to step down on Wednesday during a speech at an investor conference. Ballmer’s presence is the biggest drag on Microsoft’s stock, according to Einhorn. The high-profile investor also blamed Ballmer for wasting billions on research and referred to Bing as a “sinkhole,” according to The New York Times. Microsoft’s stock is widely considered undervalued at under 10 times its expected earnings, according to Reuters.

Calls to rid Ballmer from Microsoft’s helm are nothing new, and similar issues were raised as recently as late 2010 after Microsoft’s board reportedly penalized Ballmer by slashing his annual bonus by 50 percent. The board reportedly punished Ballmer in response to Microsoft’s shrinking smartphone market share and the Kin fiasco.

But is dumping Ballmer a good idea? Here’s a look at a few pros and cons.

Con: It Could Be Worse

Pro: Ballmer’s Solid

Despite the downward spiral of Microsoft’s stock, the company is still making money and producing some great products. The company reported a 31 percent jump in revenue for the quarter ending March 31. Kinect recently became the fastest-selling consumer electronics device of all time. Windows Phone 7, despite its lackluster popularity with users compared to Android and the iPhone, is still a solid platform that’s on the verge of getting a massive upgrade with Mango. Windows 7 sold 350 million licenses in a shorter time frame than Vista, and the hype around Windows 8 is getting bigger every day.

These are all strengths that don’t appear to be reflected in Microsoft’s stock price. Let’s not forget Einhorn is complaining mostly about the value of Microsoft as an investment. Problem is, stock prices are more about perception than balance sheets.

Con: Microsoft is Missing the Boat

Con: Jobs-itis

If Microsoft has a hard time finding a Ballmer alternative, the company might be tempted to look for a Steve Jobs-like figure to run the software giant. Jobs is seen as a visionary and a brilliant product guy, which is exactly what Microsoft needs to reinvigorate the company, right? Apple is often pointed to as the source of all the company’s woes with hot products such as the iPhone and iPad threatening Microsoft’s mobile and desktop computer businesses. Einhorn said during his talk that Ballmer failed to see Apple’s popular iOS devices as a threat to Microsoft. It might seem like the best strategy, then, to reach for a Steve Jobs clone.

Despite frequent comparisons between the two companies, however, what works for Apple is unlikely to work for Microsoft. But with so much adulation heaped on the chief executive of your historical rival, it would be hard not to try and seek out a Microsoftian equivalent.

Pro: No More Sweaty Steve

Can you tell the difference? I can tell the difference, can you tell the difference?

Con: No More Sweaty Steve

Will 2011 be Ballmer’s last stand? Maybe, but let’s not forget people were making similar arguments about Ballmer in 2006 and the world’s most excitable CEO is still standing.

Connect with Ian Paul (

@ianpaul

) and

Today@PCWorld

Buying A Refurbished Phone: The Pros And Cons

A quality smartphone can set you back a significant amount of money. Indeed, the latest phones regularly cost over £1000 if you’re buying a new device – and that’s before you factor in your contract or sim card costs. However, if you want a quality phone without paying such a high amount, you could consider buying a refurbished phone. Below, we explore the pros and cons.

What is A Refurbished Phone?

A refurbished phone isn’t just your normal second-hand phone. This is a handset that’s been sent to the manufacturer or to a second-hand seller to be repaired and cleaned, before being sold. Usually, someone will sell their phone here when they’re looking for an upgrade. As a result, when you buy a refurbished phone, there’ll be no trace of the previous user and you’ll receive your handset in a fresh box with a warranty. By searching for refurbished iPhones online, you can purchase a fully-functional iPhone for a much lower cost than the new retail price.

Pros

Cons

On the other hand, there are some downsides compared to a new phone. For a start, no matter how thorough the refurbishment job has been, there will likely be small scuff marks or grazes on the phone – it won’t be brand new. Beyond this, your warranty will also be shorter than that of a new phone. If you want a refurbished phone to last for a long time, then you’ll need to look after it. Buying a refurbished phone can bring you many benefits. You’ll be able to get some quality tech at a low price, all while doing your bit to become more sustainable.

Pros And Cons: Different Roles Of Crypto Trading Bots

Pros of crypto trading bots:

Lack of emotional attachment: Investors are humans with different kinds of emotions attached to the cryptocurrency market. Being a highly volatile market, cryptocurrency trading is very risky to deal with emotional attachments. Thus, one of the pros of crypto trading bots is that these bots lack the emotional attachment— an automated machine-centric process to avoid serious consequences. Crypto trading efficiently: Crypto trading bots has made the process of cryptocurrency trading more efficient owing to their multitasking functionalities while providing investors with ample opportunities and data analysis for making smart decisions at crucial times Simple investment: The cryptocurrency market is very complicated for investors who are at the beginner’s level. They face problems in having a clear understanding of complicated charts, data analysis, price analysis, and many more. But crypto trading bots can transform the complicated process of investment into a simple investment through automation. This is one of the top pros of using crypto trading bots.

Cons of crypto trading bots:

Limited cryptocurrencies: There are more than hundreds of cryptocurrencies in the cryptocurrency market for efficient cryptocurrency trading. But, one of the cons of these crypto trading bots is the access to limited cryptocurrencies. These are known as specialized software tools that work with limited digital exchanges. Unexpected decisions: Crypto trading bots work automatically throughout 24*7*365. But this tends to be one of the cons of crypto trading bots— it takes unexpected decisions on the behalf of investors leading to a minor gain or loss, depending on the cryptocurrency prices

The cryptocurrency market is thriving in the financial sector by operating the whole day throughout the years for efficient cryptocurrency trading. Investors from different levels across the world are highly interested in investing time and money in a volatile venture. But, investors need to check the current cryptocurrency prices constantly to gain higher revenue and avoid a massive loss within a short period of time. That is when the emergence of crypto trading bots comes to cover the round-the-clock structure for these investors in this fast-paced life. Cryptocurrency bots are known crypto trading bots that can provide meaningful analysis of the current cryptocurrency trading across the world. Chatbots are known for automating tasks and serving customer queries for enhancing customer experience. Crypto trading bots also consist of the same features— place orders to exchange automatically in the cryptocurrency market while investors can focus on their mental health.Investors are humans with different kinds of emotions attached to the cryptocurrency market. Being a highly volatile market, cryptocurrency trading is very risky to deal with emotional attachments. Thus, one of the pros of crypto trading bots is that these bots lack the emotional attachment— an automated machine-centric process to avoid serious consequences.Crypto trading bots has made the process of cryptocurrency trading more efficient owing to their multitasking functionalities while providing investors with ample opportunities and data analysis for making smart decisions at crucial timesThe cryptocurrency market is very complicated for investors who are at the beginner’s level. They face problems in having a clear understanding of complicated charts, data analysis, price analysis, and many more. But crypto trading bots can transform the complicated process of investment into a simple investment through automation. This is one of the top pros of using crypto trading bots.There are more than hundreds of cryptocurrencies in the cryptocurrency market for efficient cryptocurrency trading. But, one of the cons of these crypto trading bots is the access to limited cryptocurrencies. These are known as specialized software tools that work with limited digital exchanges.Crypto trading bots work automatically throughout 24*7*365. But this tends to be one of the cons of crypto trading bots— it takes unexpected decisions on the behalf of investors leading to a minor gain or loss, depending on the cryptocurrency pricesWhile the functionality of automating tasks can be time-saving but setting up the whole process of implementing crypto trading bots is a time-consuming process for learning to manage the tools efficiently without any potential error

The Pros And Cons Of Working As A Subcontractor

In the construction industry, working with subcontractors is a daily part of completing and managing a project. These sub-hired contractors are typically used to carry out specific activities that others do not have the skill or resources to do.

The Pros Develop a Specialised Skill Set

More often than not, contractors will expect subcontractors to have a specialized skill set that their own team of workers cannot address. For example, a contractor may hire you to focus on specific tasks such as outdoor plumbing. Therefore, you can focus on developing your skills in the areas you are truly interested in.

Be Your Own Boss

Choose Which Jobs to Accept

As we noted, you can be your own boss. This also means you get to choose what jobs you would like to do. If you’re asked to jump on a project that is too demanding or not paid well enough, you are at your liberty to refuse. Similarly, you can simply take time off work whenever you want and get back to looking for gigs when you’re ready.

The Cons You Depend on General Contractors

Responsible For Your Taxes

Nobody likes dealing with taxes, however, as a freelancer, it’s your responsibility to ensure you pay your dues. There are several self-employment fees you’ll need to cover, which may not be worth your effort if you aren’t receiving a steady influx of high-paid jobs. Nevertheless, you can always hire some external help to assist you in the process of filing taxes.

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