Should I continue to use the term Big Data?

The term “Big Data” has become very popular over the past few years. Now almost every site discusses Big Data and everything connected with it. Of course, the data that is collected and analyzed for the needs of organizations or society - all this changes our lives, improves them.

True, this year the trend of Big Data is no longer as fast-growing as before. Some areas of business seem to be disappointed in the data. Today in the discussions that are going on with respect to Big Data, the voices of skeptics are heard more and more .


Data on Google Trends, Big Data statistics
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And the point is not that data analysis and corresponding software becomes less valuable for organizations. On the contrary, data analysis, as a discipline, the IT sphere, is far from exhausting its capabilities. All this is very valuable, and over time, this area is becoming increasingly accessible and valuable.

However, Big Data does not have much to do with this. It's just a term, a pattern that needs rethinking.

The need for more accurate terminology

The problem is that few people understand what exactly Big Data is. And the understanding of people in this regard is very different. Someone may say that any data set in terabytes is “Big Data”. Someone else will dispute this, considering that Big Data is only information that can be useful after processing it. However, most conversations about Big Data are conducted by hardware companies that are not too worried about giving a precise definition of a term. Most often this definition is given when it is difficult to give another.

More and more experts are now proposing to stop using the phrase Big Data as a term, and decide on which data types we are talking about: structured or not, 1 million lines or 100 million, external or internal data. This will help to understand how the information at our disposal can be useful.

Achievement of the "plateau of productivity"

Gartner's 2014 Hype Cycle Report, published last August, positions Big Data as one of the areas that are “on the road to disappointment.” This means that the initial dreams and expectations in relation to Big Data may not be justified.



Gartner experts believe that Big Data will soon reach a plateau of productivity. It should happen over a period of time from 5 to 10 years. Another interesting aspect is the rapid development of the Internet of Things and wearable electronics. This, in particular, was the reason for the acquisition of Pentacho by Hitachi for $ 500 million.

The data is not going anywhere, it is becoming more and more, and now there are new methods of analyzing information. However, the overvalued term “Big Data” needs to be allowed to rest, and instead pay attention to various areas of analytics, as well as technologies and practices that originate in data analytics.