Buzz around Big data

Buzz around Big data is getting louder and louder these days. I found a succinct definition of Big Data from a research paper published from McKinsey Global Institute:

“Big data” refers to datasets whose size is beyond the ability of typical database software tools to capture, store, manage, and analyze.

Data sets are becoming bigger and bigger and the same time it is becoming cheaper to store data. I can relate to some of it. Quite a few years ago my desktop had only 540MB of disk space. This year, I bought a 1TB disk for my desktop. Interestingly, I am filling up my new disk quickly with all the video files I am downloading from camcorder and camera.

With sensors collecting zillions of data, millions of social network users sharing humongous volume of data, “big data” is very close to home. So, what was a subject of discussion in research labs is quite main stream now. But storing the data is only one challenge. If we don’t have the right tool to analyze big data sets, we may not get the value out of it.

Although, all sectors are poised to gain from application of Big Data, Some sectors may benefit more from the rest of the industry. Retail, Healthcare and Government sectors are predicted to reap the benefit of utilizing Big Data.