Q: How much content do you need to have before you have to start researching “big data”?
A: The same as the amount of wood a woodchuck could chuck if only he could chuck wood.
In other words, who knows! And maybe, just maybe, it’s not even the right question to ask.
Let’s start with the term Big Data – does it refer to the amount of data being managed and mined? the number and type of repositories encompassed? the speed at which the data must be processed? It sure does! And also, certainly not.
Like so many concepts du jour, it is the vocabulary that often dominates the discussion, too often with business value falling by the wayside. In this case, the jeopardy frequently is doubled, as there’s much today to be read about “big data in the cloud” – a deadly combination from a definitional standpoint, and one that almost certainly will obfuscate the value question if left unchecked.
So let’s take a stab at clarification. The view from here is that Big Data encompasses an emerging new class of tools that can handle large amounts of structured and unstructured data in real- or near real-time. In other words, it’s infrastructure, and its relevance to content (whatever that is!) depends – as such things always do – on what you’re trying to accomplish, and why.
Given the accelerating pace at which databases are multiplying and expanding, and the way business are using ever-wider varieties of information to make ever-faster decisions, I suspect that Big Data will be no hyperbolic flash in the pan. But it doesn’t have to derail your thinking by posing riddles with no answers – just stay true to your objectives and let the woodchucks chuck their wood.
Chuck a message in this direction if you have questions about Big Data, content management, or anything in between. I’ll be glad to help!