Is it Big-Data or 5S-Data?...

I am not sure who has coined the term ‘Big Data’.  The word ‘Big’ gives a sense of being large in size and volume. And ‘Big Data’ is not about the size or volume alone.

This buzzword ‘Big Data’ signifies the amount of data being generated every second by billions of devices connected today over digital network. It seems we had more than 8.7billion devices connected over the Internet in 2012. The data sources are no more limited to computing platforms; rather it is extended to automated machines, sensors, robots, social media platforms and so-called ‘internet of things’. These varieties of sources throw data in several formats and structures. Added to this, the speed at which the data is gathered brings complexity in terms of harnessing and understanding the insight. Hence it is not the volume alone, rather speed, structure and source that defines this buzzword.

Storage is the simple answer to handle the volume of data. But more than storage, one needs software tools, which can collect, manipulate, analyze and create insights from these unstructured data in several formats. And there are not many. Current analytic tools under the umbrella of ‘Business Intelligence’ are not adequate as they operate in a defined boundary of data where the source, format, structure, content are known and complexity of analysis lies in handling the volume.

Now most important is the business scenario where ‘Big Data’ has some role to play. It is not that every business needs to invest in ‘Big Data’. And it is not cheap either. Businesses where operation and strategy depend on feedback from large base of execution, spread of equipment & machinery, massive customer base across geographies; analysis of the data collected through feedback loop near real time is meaningful to understand the parameters around operation, market perceptions and behavior. This insight then can be relevant and valuable to business for course correction deriving competitive advantage. Examples can be large mine, Oil & Gas upstream, Retail chain, Banking, Insurance etc.

Hence 4s i.e. Speed, Structure, Source and Scenario apart from Size defines our much-hyped buzzword and it may be renamed as “5S-Data” rather than ‘Big Data’.