Big Data Definition

Big Data

Big data refers to extremely large, overwhelming volumes of data that are too massive to be organized and analyzed using traditional methods. Traditional relational databases struggle to capture, manage, and process these data sets.

Big data is often defined by the three V’s: Volume, Velocity, and Variety. Volume refers to the sheer scale of data in a modern enterprise, with structured and unstructured data, internal and external data sources, hundreds of API sources, contemporary and historical data, combining to generate billions and trillions of data points.

Velocity refers to the speed at which data is now received and interacted with, including advances such as streaming data, change data capture (CDC), real-time data points, as well as the near-instantaneous application of that data to drive business results.

And, lastly, variety is defined by all the different data types enterprises now handle: structured/unstructured, CRM, ERP, IoT, numeric, text, audio, product usage, and so much more. Although big data does not have to satisfy all of the three V’s, the categories are helpful assessments for classification.

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