MIS 2502 Extra Credit: Big Data
What is Big Data?
Big Data essentially refers to a collection of data that is either structured or unstructured and can be mined for information. It is typically described by the “3v’s”: the large Volume of data, the wide Variety of data types, and how the data is processed at such a quick Velocity. There is no specific size of data that is considered big data, but it is usually terabytes or larger.
How Does This Relate to MIS 2502?
Big data relates to different topics covered in MIS 2502 in many ways. First, the data that is collected is stored in places such as SQL databases. These databases are much larger and more complicated than the databases that are used in MIS 2502 however. Also, information gets extracted from the data using a concept called “data mining” which is discussed in MIS 2502. Big data is a great example of how data mining is used on a very large scale. Lastly, this information that is mined would be used to make certain decisions. Basically, companies use programs that use advanced statistics, which is a very heavily discussed topic in MIS 2502, in order to make predictions about the user based on the gathered information.
Real Life Example
Big data is commonly used by different types of social media businesses. A great example is YouTube. YouTube stores all their user’s information, such as search history and video history, in a database. They then have programs that analyze the data in order to predict what their user’s want. By doing this, they can suggest videos for their user’s that they think their user’s would like to watch. In return, this increases the time their user’s spend on their site. This then increases their website activity and the price of putting an advertisement on their website. Essentially, by storing and analyzing this big data, they can greatly increase their revenue. This certainly satisfies all 3 “V’s”, therefore classifies as big data.
References:
What is big data ? – Definition from WhatIs.com. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2017, from http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/big-data-Big-Data
Chad Brooks, Business News Daily Senior Writer. (2013, May 21). What is Big Data? Retrieved April 28, 2017, from http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4522-big-data.html