What exactly is the concept of big data?

Big Data is larger, more complex data sets, especially from new data sources. These data sets are so voluminous that traditional data processing software just can’t manage them. But these massive volumes of data can be used to address business problems you wouldn’t have been able to tackle before.

Although the concept of big data itself is relatively new, the origins of large data sets go back to the 1960s and '70s when the world of data was just getting started with the first data centres and the development of the relational database.

Around 2005, people began to realize just how much data users generated through Facebook, YouTube, and other online services. Hadoop (an open-source framework created specifically to store and analyze big data sets) was developed that same year. NoSQL also began to gain popularity during this time.

Big Data is a phrase used to mean a massive volume of both structured and unstructured data that is so large it is difficult to process using traditional database and software techniques. In most enterprise scenarios the volume of data is too big or it moves too fast or it exceeds current processing capacity.

Big data gives you new insights that open up new opportunities and business models. Getting started involves three key actions:

1. Integrate

2. Manage

3. Analyze