What is Big Data ?

Big Data is to industries what oxygen is to humans. In simple words, it is the large and complex set of data gathered by business entities using new mediums of data collection. Collection of data and using it has existed for a long time but this new data known as Big Data is so huge, fast & complex that it is not easy to access, store and process this data via traditional methods, platforms like Hadoop & Data lakes have made it easier to carry out these activities. Big Data also helps industries identify the hidden patterns and thus enhance their operations by making more informed and smart decisions.

In 2001 Gartner stated: Big data is a variety of data that comes in at an ever-increasing rate and the volume of which is constantly growing (Gartner, 2001) 

Types of Big Data:

• Structured Data: Over the years computer technology has developed to store access and process some data in a particular format and also derive value out of it, this is referred to as Structured Data.
  For eg.: A Student table in college Database with information consisting of ID, Name, Subjects, D.O.B, and marks.

• Unstructured Data: Any data without a form or structure and from which deriving value is a challenging process is called Unstructured data. This is completely raw data and the perfect example of it is texts, videos, images on social media sites.

• Semi-structured Data: This consists of both types, structured and unstructured data, it can be structured but without a form.
  For eg.: An XML file. 

Whereas, now the availability of data is in abundance but the optimum & efficient use of that data still poses as a challenge to many organizations.

In the next blog, we'll talk about the 3 V's of Big Data and some organizations that use Big Data.

You can share your views, suggestions, and questions in the comment box below.

References:
'What is Big Data'(no date). Available at: https://www.oracle.com/ie/big-data/guide/what-is-big-data.html (Accessed: 20 January 2020).
'Big Data What it is and why it matters' (no date). Available at: https://www.sas.com/en_ie/insights/big-data/what-is-big-data.html (Accessed: 21 January 2020).