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Big Data is About Predictions. Period.

Big Data is a term that many throw around out of context thanks to the likes of the marketing teams at EMC, SAP, IBM and other large companies with concise, three-letter acronyms.  Big Data, fundamentally, is about predictions.  Sure, you can use the term to talk about large data sets, unstructured data, multiple data sources, etc., but all of that is ultimately leading to better decision making through the analysis.

The shift that is at the heart of Big Data is the change from using data sampling to run analysis to using entire data sets.  Computing power is affordable.  So is storage.  With all of the available resources, there’s not need to compromise by using a sample… just crunch the whole thing!  But why are you crunching?  Ultimately because you want to see how one thing leads to another, which is a prediction.  People who buy brown shoes buy black shoes next.  People who buy gas on a Friday almost always stick to Fridays.  These are the types of predictions that we need to inform our marketing decisions and Big Data is at the heart of how we get there.