Big Data is Analytics for Dummies

July 27, 2012–One of the hottest arguments in the analytics industry currently is whether ‘big data’ exists.  While it may be true that there is more data in our world and it is growing exponentially many question big data analytics identity as being something new.  The Tech Week Europe article, “Big Data? It’s Just Analytics For The Hip Kids”, believes big data is simply a rebranding of an old concept to make more appealing to the masses.

The article proposes that big data is simply analytics, repackaged:

“Cloud computing, for instance, offers much the same thing “ASPs” offered ten years before, with the difference that this time round it is going to work. Similarly, analytics has been available for many years, as a high-cost service using high value supercomputers, and operated by white-coated high priests who have come into the field from linguistics, philosophy and computer science. If you have a big data set, and the money to have it explored, analytics has been there to reveal the secret trends within you information, which might give your business an edge.”

The author is probably spot-on with his analysis of the ‘big data’ hype invading industries around the world.  Being right doesn’t change the fact that thanks to open source and cloud technologies more companies than ever before now have access to analytics.  If the sage analysts need to dumb down their definitions then so be it.  Thankfully, there are analytics providers committed to the industries and companies previously not invited into the analytics club.  Digital Reasoning works hard with the medical and financial industries, along with many others, to carefully craft data management solutions.

Catherine Lamsfuss