Big Data - big market or just big marketing?

It is not hard to understand why Big Data has captured the imagination of journalists, bloggers and corporations. It is easy to understand and compelling. It is a wonderful marketing buzz word. But it needs people to dig behind it to understand the implications. EMC has done a great job with this video.

The real question is what businesses, generating real revenues because they are delivering value, will coalesce around big data? I can see a number of opportunities, but none of them will be quick applications flung together in a few nights of feverish programming by undergrads fueled by Red Bull in a loft in Silicon Valley.

Sure, the platforms that are now available make it easier to bring applications to market quickly. But these are programming and delivery platforms, such as Apple, Salesforce.com, Ruby on Rails and Amazon EC2. The applications required to process and make sense of big data are large and complex. They have had many years and millions of dollars of R&D poured into them. So, they are not offered free.

Don’t be fooled by the Big Marketing. You need to look beyond Big Data for the companies who are going to make it Big.