The Big Data question – who said what and when, and why should I care?

The concept of Big Data, and its role in guiding business intelligence, has grown over the years.

In 1926, Nikola Tesla predicted the invention of an easily portable device which would access huge amounts of data. During World War Two, the UK developed the Colossus computer to analyze vital information and unravel Nazi codes.

In the early 1990s, John R. Mashey, an American computer scientist, spoke about ‘Big Data’ stretching the boundaries in computing.

At around the same time, NASA researchers described the challenge of visualizing huge amounts of information as ‘Big Data’.

Today, ‘Big Data’ refers to huge, diverse datasets that come in increasing volumes and at a fast pace. These datasets demand special storage and analysis methods. That definition was first used by Roger Mougalas from O’Reilly in 2005.

The volume and speed with which data is generated has grown massively, and it’s still growing.

Traditional data processing software can’t cope with Big Data.

Data Management Practitioners, though, can predict behavior using Big Data. They do this by asking questions, recognizing patterns, and making informed decisions.

The business benefits of those decisions can’t be over-stated.

That’s something we should all care about.