“Big data” is the term for a collection of large and complex data sets, that makes it difficult to process using relational database management tools or traditional data processing applications. It is difficult to capture, curate, store, search, share, transfer, analyze, and visualize Big data. Big Data has emerged as an opportunity for companies. Now they can successfully derive value from their data and will have a distinct advantage over their competitors with enhanced business decisions making capabilities.
Tip : It will be a good idea to talk about the 5Vs in such questions, whether it is asked specifically or not!
Volume : The volume represents the amount of data which is growing at an exponential rate i.e. in Petabytes and Exabytes.
Velocity : Velocity refers to the rate at which data is growing, which is very fast. Today, yesterday’s data are considered as old data. Nowadays, social media is a major contributor to the velocity of growing data.
Variety : Variety refers to the heterogeneity of data types. In another word, the data which are gathered has a variety of formats like videos, audios, csv, etc. So, these various formats represent the variety of data.
Veracity : Veracity refers to the data in doubt or uncertainty of data available due to data inconsistency and incompleteness. Data available can sometimes get messy and may be difficult to trust. With many forms of big data, quality and accuracy are difficult to control. The volume is often the reason behind for the lack of quality and accuracy in the data.
Value : It is all well and good to have access to big data but unless we can turn it into a value it is useless. By turning it into value I mean, Is it adding to the benefits of the organizations? Is the organization working on Big Data achieving high ROI (Return On Investment)? Unless, it adds to their profits by working on Big Data, it is useless.
As we know Big Data is growing at an accelerating rate, so the factors associated with it are also evolving.
