UNIT-1

Types of Digital data: Classification of Digital Data,

Introduction to Big Data: Evolution of Big Data, definition of big data, Traditional
Business Intelligence vs BigData, Coexistence of Big Data and Data Warehouse.

Big Data Analytics: introduction to Big Data Analytics, What Big Data Analytics Isn’t,
Sudden Hype Around Big Data Analytics, Classification of Analytics, Greatest Challenges
that Prevent Business from Capitalizing Big Data, Top Challenges Facing Big Data, Big Data
Analytics Importance, Data Science, Terminologies used in Big Data Environments.

Types of Digital data:

Classification of Digital Data

Big Data refers to the enormous volume of data that is generated, processed, and analyzed to
achieve business intelligence. It encompasses both the data itself and the technologies used to
handle and extract valuable insights from it.

Types of digital Data

 Structured data
 Semi-structured data
 Quasi-structed data
 Unstructured data

Structured Data

 Structured data is one of types of big data, characterized by its organized and
systematic format.
 Structured data is defined as a clear framework, typically represented in tables, rows,
and columns.
 Suitable for traditional database systems and facilitates efficient storage, retrieval, and
analysis.
Examples:

 Tables in relational databases.

 Spreadsheets.
 Formated Dates or Time and information like account numbers.

Merits:

 The organized format helps to define data fields and establish relationships for
efficient retrieval.
 Structured query languages (SQL), enable precise and rapid querying which
accelerates data analysis.
 Promotes data consistency and accuracy while minimizing errors and discrepancies
that could arise during data entry or processing.
 Seamless data migration between systems and platforms, allowing interoperability
and integration across diverse applications.
 Quantitative analysis, statistical calculations, and aggregation are easier with
structured data.

Limitations:

 Rigidity: The predefined structure can be limiting when dealing with complex,
dynamic, or evolving data types.
 Data Loss: The structured approach might force oversimplification, leading to the
omission of potentially valuable information and overlooking fine grained detail.
 Scalability Challenges: As data volumes grow exponentially, maintaining the
structural integrity while scaling of data becomes increasingly challenging due to
performance bottlenecks.

Semi-Structured Data

 Semi-structured data is one of the types of big data that represents a middle ground
between the structured and unstructured data categories.
  It combines elements of organization and flexibility, allowing for data to be partially
structured while accommodating variations in format and content.
 This type of data is often represented with tags, labels, or hierarchies, which provide a
level of organization without strict constraints.

Examples:

 XML Documents
 JSON Data
 NoSQL Databases

Merits:

 Semi-structured data is flexible and can represent complex relationships and

hierarchical structures. It can accommodates changes to data formats without
requiring major alterations to the underlying processing systems.
 Semi-structured data can be stored in ways that optimize space utilization and
retrieval efficiency.

Limitations:

 Data Integrity: The flexible nature of semi-structured data can lead to issues related
to data integrity, consistency, and validation.
 Query Complexity: Analyzing and querying semi-structured data might require more
complex and specialized techniques compared to structured data.
 Migration: Migrating or integrating semi-structured data across different systems can
be challenging due to variations in data representations and semantics.

Quasi-structured Data

 Quasi-structured is one of the types of big data that occupies a unique space between
structured and unstructured data types, introducing a degree of order while
maintaining a level of flexibility.
 Quasi-structured data has some consistent patterns while allowing for variations in
content.
  This data type is commonly encountered in various digital formats, requiring
specialized approaches for effective management and analysis.

Examples:

 Email headers
 Log files
 Web scraped data.

Merits:

 Quasi-structured data is flexible, allowing for a more comprehensive representation of

real-world scenarios.
 Analyzing quasi-structured data can benefit from automation techniques, such as
pattern recognition, while still accommodating control for varying content.
 Quasi-structured data approaches can handle evolving data formats without
requiring drastic changes to storage or processing systems.

Limitations:

 Data Integration: Integrating quasi-structured data from various sources can be

complex due to variations in patterns and formats.
 Querying Complexity: Quasi-structured data may require specialized querying
techniques, striking a balance between structured and unstructured querying methods.
 Data Validation: Ensuring data integrity and validation can be challenging due to the
mix of structured and unstructured elements.

Unstructured Data

 Unstructured data is one of the types of big data that represents a diverse and often
unorganized collection of information.
 It lacks a consistent structure, making it more challenging to organize and analyze.
 This data type encompasses a wide array of content, including text, images, audio,
video, and more, often originating from sources like social media, emails, and
multimedia platforms.
Example:

 Social media posts data.

 Customer reviews and feedback, found on e-commerce platforms, review sites, and
surveys.
 Medical images, such as X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, are examples of unstructured
data.

Merits:

 Unstructured data can capture more information and qualitative aspects that
structured data might overlook.
 The diverse nature of unstructured data mirrors real-world scenarios more closely, and
can be valuable for decision-making and trend analysis.
 Unstructured data fuels innovation in fields like natural language processing, image
recognition, and machine learning.

Limitations:

 Data Complexity: The lack of a predefined structure complicates data organization,

storage, and retrieval.
 Data Noise: Unstructured data can include noise, irrelevant information, and outliers.
 Scalability: As unstructured data volumes grow, managing and processing this data
becomes resource-intensive.

Compare Structured vs Unstructured vs Semi-Structured

Structured data, unstructured data, and semi-structured data are the types of big data each
with their strengths and weaknesses.
  Structured data provides order and efficiency in processing, making it suitable for
well-defined tasks and analysis.
 Unstructured data offers a wealth of insights from diverse sources, albeit with
challenges in extraction and interpretation.
 Semi-structured data strikes a balance, offering flexibility and organization for
complex data models.

The following tabulation compares the three types of big data:

 Introduction to Big Data

Big data refers to extremely large and complex data sets that cannot be easily managed or
analyzed with traditional data processing tools, particularly spreadsheets. Big data includes
structured data, like an inventory database or list of financial transactions; unstructured data,
such as social posts or videos; and mixed data sets, like those used to train large language
models for AI.

Big data has only gotten bigger as recent technological breakthroughs have significantly
reduced the cost of storage and compute, making it easier and less expensive to store more
data than ever before. With that increased volume, companies can make more accurate and
precise business decisions with their data. But achieving full value from big data isn’t only
about analyzing it—which is a whole other benefit. It’s an entire discovery process that
requires insightful analysts, business users, and executives who ask the right questions,
recognize patterns, make informed assumptions, and predict behavior.

Traditionally, we’ve recognized big data by three characteristics: variety, volume, and
velocity, also known as the “three Vs.” However, two additional Vs have emerged over the
past few years: value and veracity.

 Volume. The amount of data matters. With big data, you’ll have to process high volumes
of low-density, unstructured data. This can be data of unknown value, such as X (formerly
Twitter) data feeds, clickstreams on a web page or a mobile app, or sensor-enabled
equipment. For some organizations, this might be tens of terabytes of data. For others, it
may be hundreds of petabytes.
 Velocity. Velocity is the fast rate at which data is received and (perhaps) acted on.
Normally, the highest velocity of data streams directly into memory versus being written
to disk. Some internet-enabled smart products operate in real time or near real time and
will require real-time evaluation and action.
 Variety. Variety refers to the many types of data that are available. Traditional data types
were structured and fit neatly in a relational database. With the rise of big data, data comes
in new unstructured data types. Unstructured and semistructured data types, such as text,
audio, and video, require additional preprocessing to derive meaning and support
metadata.
 Veracity. How truthful is your data—and how much can you rely on it? The idea of
veracity in data is tied to other functional concepts, such as data quality and data integrity.
Ultimately, these all overlap and steward the organization to a data repository that delivers
high-quality, accurate, and reliable data to power insights and decisions.
 Value. Data has intrinsic value in business. But it’s of no use until that value is
discovered. Because big data assembles both breadth and depth of insights, somewhere
within all of that information lies insights that can benefit your organization. This value
can be internal, such as operational processes that might be optimized, or external, such as
customer profile suggestions that can maximize engagement.

Big Data Benefits

Big data services enable a more comprehensive understanding of trends and patterns, by
integrating diverse data sets to form a complete picture. This fusion not only facilitates
retrospective analysis but also enhances predictive capabilities, allowing for more accurate
forecasts and strategic decision-making. Additionally, when combined with AI, big data
transcends traditional analytics, empowering organizations to unlock innovative solutions and
drive transformational outcomes.

More complete answers mean more confidence in the data—which means a completely
different approach to tackling problems.

 Better insights. When organizations have more data, they’re able to derive better insights.
In some cases, the broader range confirms gut instincts against a more diverse set of
circumstances. In other cases, a larger pool of data uncovers previously hidden
connections and expands potentially missed perspectives. All of this allows organizations
to have a more comprehensive understanding into the how and why of things, particularly
when automation allows for faster, easier processing of big data.
 Decision-making. With better insights, organizations can make data-driven decisions with
more reliable projections and predictions. When big data combines with automation and
analytics, that opens an entire range of possibilities, including more up-to-date market
trends, social media analysis, and patterns that inform risk management.
 Personalized customer experiences. Big data allows organizations to build customer
profiles through a combination of customer sales data, industry demographic data, and
related data such as social media activity and marketing campaign engagement. Before
automation and analytics, this type of personalization was impossible due to its sheer
scope; with big data, this level of granularity improves engagement and enhances the
customer experience.
 Improved operational efficiency. Every department generates data, even when teams
don’t really think about it. That means that every department can benefit from data on an
operational level for tasks such as detecting process anomalies, identifying patterns for
maintenance and resource use, and highlighting hidden drivers of human error. Whether
technical problems or staff performance issues, big data produces insights about how an
organization operates—and how it can improve.

Big Data Use Cases

Big data can help you optimize a range of business activities, including customer experience
and analytics. Here are just a few.

1. Retail and ecommerce. Companies such as Netflix and Procter & Gamble use big data to
anticipate customer demand. They build predictive models for new products and services by
classifying key attributes of past and current products or services and modeling the
relationship between those attributes and the commercial success of the offerings. In addition,
P&G uses data and analytics from focus groups, social media, test markets, and early store
rollouts to plan, produce, and launch new products.
2. Healthcare. The healthcare industry can combine numerous data sources internally, such
as electronic health records, patient wearable devices, and staffing data, and externally,
including insurance records and disease studies, to optimize both provider and patient
experiences. Internally, staffing schedules, supply chains, and facility management can be
optimized with insights provided by operations teams. For patients, their immediate and long-
term care can change with data driving everything such as personalized recommendations and
predictive scans.
3. Financial services. When it comes to security, it’s not just a few rogue attackers—you’re
up against entire expert teams. Security landscapes and compliance requirements are
constantly evolving. Big data helps you identify patterns in data that indicate fraud and
aggregate large volumes of information to make regulatory reporting much faster.
4. Manufacturing. Factors that can predict mechanical failures may be deeply buried in
structured data—think the year, make, and model of equipment—as well as in unstructured
data that covers millions of log entries, sensor data, error messages, and engine temperature
readings. By analyzing these indications of potential issues before problems happen,
organizations can deploy maintenance more cost effectively and maximize parts and
equipment uptime.
5. Government and public services. Government offices can potentially collect data from
many different sources, such as DMV records, traffic data, police/firefighter data, public
school records, and more. This can drive efficiencies in many different ways, such as
detecting driver trends for optimized intersection management and better resource allocation
in schools. Governments can also post data publicly, allowing for improved transparency to
bolster public trust.

Big Data Challenges

While big data holds a lot of promise, it’s not without challenges.

First, big data is … big. Although new technologies have been developed to facilitate data
storage, data volumes are doubling in size about every two years, according to analysts.
Organizations that struggle to keep pace with their data and find ways to effectively store it
won’t find relief via a reduction in volume.

And it’s not enough to just store your data affordably and accessibly. Data must be used to be
valuable, and success there depends on curation. Curated data—that is, data that’s relevant to
the client and organized in a way that enables meaningful analysis—doesn’t just appear.
Curation requires a lot of work. In many organizations, data scientists spend 50% to 80% of
their time curating and preparing data so it can be used effectively.

Once all that data is stored within an organization’s repository, two significant challenges still
exist. First, data security and privacy needs will impact how IT teams manage that data. This
includes complying with regional/industry regulations, encryption, and role-based access for
sensitive data. Second, data is beneficial only if it is used. Creating a data-driven culture can
be challenging, particularly if legacy policies and long-standing attitudes are embedded
within the culture. New dynamic applications, such as self-service analytics, can be game
changers for nearly any department, but IT teams must put the time and effort into education,
familiarization, and training; this is a long-term investment that produces significant
organizational changes in order to gain insights and optimizations.

Finally, big data technology is changing at a rapid pace. A few years ago, Apache Hadoop
was the popular technology used to handle big data. Then Apache Spark was introduced in
2014. Today, a combination of technologies are delivering new breakthroughs in the big data
market. Keeping up is an ongoing challenge.

Evolution of Big Data

1. DataWarehousing:
In the 1990s, data warehousing emerged as a solution to store and analyze large
volumes of structured data.
2. Hadoop:
Hadoop was introduced in 2006 by Doug Cutting and Mike Cafarella. Distributed
storage medium and large data processing are provided by Hadoop, and it is an open-
source framework.
3. NoSQLDatabases:
In 2009, NoSQL databases were introduced, which provide a flexible way to store and
retrieve unstructured data.
4. CloudComputing:
Cloud Computing technology helps companies to store their important data in data
centers that are remote, and it saves their infrastructure cost and maintenance costs.
5. MachineLearning:
Machine Learning algorithms are those algorithms that work on large data, and
analysis is done on a huge amount of data to get meaningful insights from it. This has
led to the development of artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
6. DataStreaming:
Data Streaming technology has emerged as a solution to process large volumes of
data in real time.
7. EdgeComputing:
dge Computing is a kind of distributed computing paradigm that allows data
processing to be done at the edge or the corner of the network, closer to the source of
the data.
1. Pre-Big Data Era (Before 2000)

 Data Characteristics: Mostly structured and manageable using relational databases

(RDBMS).
 Storage & Processing: Limited by hardware; storage was expensive, and processing
was slow.
 Use Cases: Enterprise data like accounting, inventory, and CRM systems.
 Tools: SQL, ERP systems.

2. The Emergence of Big Data (Early 2000s)

 Trigger: Explosion of internet usage, social media, and mobile devices.

 Challenges: Traditional systems couldn’t handle the 3 Vs:
o Volume: Massive amounts of data.
o Velocity: Real-time or near-real-time data flow.
o Variety: Structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data.
 Key Innovation: Google’s MapReduce paper (2004), leading to Apache Hadoop.
 Tools: Hadoop, HDFS, NoSQL databases.

3. Big Data 2.0 (2010s)

 Focus: Real-time analytics, in-memory computing, and machine learning.

 New Capabilities:
o Distributed computing (e.g., Spark)
o Stream processing (e.g., Kafka, Flink)
o Cloud-based data lakes and platforms
 Data Sources: IoT, wearables, clickstreams, sensors, social media.
 Tools: Apache Spark, Hive, Cassandra, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud

4. Modern Big Data (2020s - Present)

 Trends:
o Integration with AI & ML for predictive and prescriptive analytics.
o Use of edge computing for real-time decisions at data sources.
o DataOps and MLOps to manage data and model lifecycles.
o Emphasis on data privacy, ethics, and governance (GDPR, CCPA).
 Technologies: Data mesh, Kubernetes, serverless data platforms, graph analytics,
generative AI.

What’s Next? (Future of Big Data)

 Quantum computing for massive parallelism.

 Self-service analytics powered by natural language processing.
 Hyper-personalization through real-time behavioral analytics.
 Autonomous systems driven by real-time data insights.

Impact of Big Data on Database Management System:

In recent years, Big Data has become increasingly important in various industries, and this
has led to huge changes in the way we manage data. Database Management Systems (DBMS)
have evolved to handle the growing demand for data storage, processing, and analysis. In this
article, we will discuss the impact of Big Data on DBMS and the changes that have taken
place in the field.

Scalability:
The main impact of Big Data on DBMS has been the need for scalability. Big data requires a
DBMS to handle large volumes of data. Traditional DBMSs were not designed to handle the
amount of data that Big Data generates. As a result, DBMSs must be able to scale
horizontally and vertically to meet the growing demand for data storage and processing.

Distributed Architectures:
This architecture helps the organizations to manage their vast amount of data which are
clustered into different nodes. This provides better fault tolerance, availability, and
scalability.

Distributed Architectures can be categorized into two types: shared-nothing and shared-
disk.

o In shared-nothing architectures, each node in the cluster is independent and has its
own storage and processing power.
o In shared-disk architectures, all nodes share the same storage, and each node has its
own processing power.
Both types of architecture have their advantages and drawbacks, and the choice of
architecture depends on the need of the application.

NoSQL Databases:
The growth of Big Data has led to the emergence of NoSQL databases. NoSQL databases
provide a flexible way to store and retrieve unstructured data.NoSQL database does not have
any fixed structure or schema like other DBMS have. This makes them ideal for handling Big
Data, which often has a variable schema. NoSQL databases can be categorized into four
types: document-oriented, key-value, column-family, and graph. Each type of database has its
advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of the database depends on the specific
requirements of the application.

Real-time Processing:
Big data requires DBMSs to provide real-time processing of data. Real-time Processing
allows applications to process data as it is generated. This requires DBMSs to support in-
memory data processing and streaming data processing. In-memory data processing allows
applications to store data in memory instead of on disk, which provides faster access to the
data. Streaming data processing allows applications to process data as it is generated, which
provides real-time insights into the data.

Advanced Analytics:
DBMSs must be able to handle advanced analytics such as data mining, machine learning,
and artificial intelligence. This requires DBMSs to provide support for these types of
algorithms and tools.
 o Data Mining is a way of discovering patterns in data.
o Machine learning is the way in which a computer learns itself from the given data.
o Artificial intelligence is the way in which machines do the work, which is not possible
without the human brain.

Definition of big data

Big data is a combination of structured, semi-structured and unstructured data that

organizations collect, analyze and mine for information and insights. It's used in machine
learning projects, predictive modeling and other advanced analytics applications.

Systems that process and store big data have become a common component of data
management architectures in organizations. They're combined with tools that support big data
analytics uses. Big data is often characterized by the three V's:

 The large volume of data in many environments.

 The wide variety of data types frequently stored in big data systems.

 The high velocity at which the data is generated, collected and processed.

Doug Lany first identified these three V's of big data in 2001 when he was an analyst at
consulting firm Meta Group Inc. Gartner popularized them after it acquired Meta Group in
2005. More recently, several other V's have been added to different descriptions of big data,
including veracity, value and variability.

Traditional Business Intelligence vs BigData

Data is information that helps businesses and organizations make decisions. Based on
volume, variety, velocity, and mode of handling data, traditional data, and big data. It is
quite helpful for organizations to understand these key dissimilarities to enable them to
select the right approach in data storage, data processing, and data analysis.
Traditional data is the kind of information that is easy to organize and store in simple
databases, like spreadsheets or small computer systems. This could be things like customer
names, phone numbers, or sales records.
Big data, however, is much larger and more complex. It includes huge amounts of
information from many different sources, such as social media, online videos, sensors in
machines, or website clicks. Big data is harder to organize because it’s so large and comes
in different forms, making it difficult for traditional tools to handle. In this article, we are
going to discuss the different between traditional data and big data in detail.
What is Traditional Data?
Traditional data is the structured data that is being majorly maintained by all types of
businesses starting from very small to big organizations. In a traditional database system, a
centralized database architecture is used to store and maintain the data in a fixed format or
fields in a file. For managing and accessing the data Structured Query Language (SQL) is
used.
Traditional data is characterized by its high level of organization and structure, which
makes it easy to store, manage, and analyze. Traditional data analysis techniques involve
using statistical methods and visualizations to identify patterns and trends in the data.
Traditional data is often collected and managed by enterprise resource planning (ERP)
systems and other enterprise-level applications. This data is critical for businesses to make
informed decisions and drive performance improvements.
Advantages of Traditional Data
 Stored, managed easier with regular database systems.
 Great efficiency in data access and manipulation arises from having a structured data
models.
 It is relatively inexpensive in storing and processing of data or datasets that are
relatively small in size.
Disadvantages of Traditional Data
 This tends to be only applicable in structured formats and can therefore limit flexibility.
 This does not work well for unstructured data types such as text, images or videos.
 Worse when the number of inputs becomes too large and hence difficult to scale.
The Main Differences Between Traditional Data and Big Data as Follows
 Volume: Traditional data typically refers to small to medium-sized datasets that can be
easily stored and analyzed using traditional data processing technologies. In contrast,
big data refers to extremely large datasets that cannot be easily managed or processed
using traditional technologies.
 Variety: Traditional data is typically structured, meaning it is organized in a predefined
manner such as tables, columns, and rows. Big data, on the other hand, can be
structured, unstructured, or semi-structured, meaning it may contain text, images,
videos, or other types of data.
 Velocity: Traditional data is usually static and updated on a periodic basis. In contrast,
big data is constantly changing and updated in real-time or near real-time.
 Complexity: Traditional data is relatively simple to manage and analyze. Big data, on
the other hand, is complex and requires specialized tools and techniques to manage,
process, and analyze.
 Value: Traditional data typically has a lower potential value than big data because it is
limited in scope and size. Big data, on the other hand, can provide valuable insights into
customer behavior, market trends, and other business-critical information.
Some Similarities Between Traditional Data and Big Data
 Data Quality: The quality of data is essential in both traditional and big data
environments. Accurate and reliable data is necessary for making informed business
decisions.
 Data Analysis: Both traditional and big data require some form of analysis to derive
insights and knowledge from the data. Traditional data analysis methods typically
involve statistical techniques and visualizations, while big data analysis may require
machine learning and other advanced techniques.
 Data Storage: In both traditional and big data environments, data needs to be stored
and managed effectively. Traditional data is typically stored in relational databases,
while big data may require specialized technologies such as Hadoop, NoSQL, or cloud-
based storage systems.
 Data Security: Data security is a critical consideration in both traditional and big data
environments. Protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access, theft, or
misuse is essential in both contexts.
 Business Value: Both traditional and big data can provide significant value to
organizations. Traditional data can provide insights into historical trends and patterns,
while big data can uncover new opportunities and help organizations make more
informed decisions.

What is Business Intelligence?

Business Intelligence (BI) refers to transforming data into actionable insights that help
businesses make informed decisions. It is a set of tools and techniques that organizations use
to analyze data and create reports, dashboards, and visualizations that provide insights into
their performance. BI tools typically include data visualization, data warehousing, and online
analytical processing (OLAP).

To give an example, consider a retail store. The store collects data on sales, inventory, and
customer behavior. This data is used to create reports and dashboards that provide insights
into the store's performance. For instance, the store might analyze sales data to determine
which products are selling the most and which are not.

Coexistence of Big Data and Data Warehouse

The coexistence of Big Data and Data Warehouse is a modern approach where
organizations integrate both systems to leverage their individual strengths. Instead of
replacing one with the other, they complement each other in a hybrid architecture.
 Traditional Data Warehouse

 Purpose: Store structured, high-quality, cleaned, and historical data for reporting
and business intelligence (BI).
 Architecture: Centralized, schema-on-write (data is structured before storing).
 Tools: Oracle, SQL Server, Teradata, Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery

A data warehouse is a centralized repository that consolidates data from multiple sources to
support business intelligence and analytics. It's designed for query and analysis rather than
transaction processing, and often stores historical data. Data warehouses provide a
comprehensive view of business operations and performance, enabling more informed
decision-making.

Key Characteristics:

 Centralized:
Data is stored in a single, unified location, making it easier to access and analyze.
 Historical:
Data warehouses typically store historical data, allowing users to track trends and patterns
over time.
 Integrated:
Data from multiple sources is integrated and made consistent, ensuring a reliable and
accurate view of the data.
 Subject-oriented:
Data is organized around specific business subjects or areas, such as sales, marketing, or
customer service.
 Nonvolatile:
Once data is loaded into the warehouse, it is not typically modified, providing a stable and
reliable data source.
 Time-variant:
Data warehouses capture data changes over time, allowing for trend analysis and historical
comparisons.
Purpose and Benefits:

 Business Intelligence (BI):

Data warehouses are a core component of BI systems, enabling users to analyze data,
generate reports, and gain insights into business performance.
 Data Analysis:
 They provide a platform for conducting in-depth data analysis, identifying trends, and
uncovering valuable insights.

 Decision Making:
By providing a comprehensive and reliable view of data, data warehouses enable better
decision-making at all levels of the organization.
 Improved Efficiency:
Separating analytical processes from operational systems can enhance the performance of
operational systems and enable faster data access for analysts.
 Cost Savings:
By centralizing and streamlining data management, data warehouses can reduce data
redundancy and storage costs.
Examples of Data Sources:

 Operational databases: Such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and CRM (Customer
Relationship Management) systems.
 Databases: Relational databases and other data stores.
 External sources: Web APIs, social media feeds, and other external data sources.
Tools and Technologies:

 ETL (Extract, Transform, Load):

Software tools used to extract data from various sources, transform it into a consistent
format, and load it into the data warehouse.
 Cloud-based data warehouses:
Platforms like Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, and Snowflake offer scalable and cost-
effective data warehousing solutions.
 Business Intelligence tools:
Software like Tableau, Qlik Sense, and Power BI are used to visualize and analyze data
stored in the data warehouse.
Big Data Systems

 Purpose: Handle large volumes of varied, fast-moving, and semi/unstructured

data.
 Architecture: Distributed, schema-on-read (structure is applied during analysis).
 Tools: Hadoop, Spark, NoSQL (MongoDB, Cassandra), Kafka
Integration: Best of Both Worlds

 Data Lakehouse: Combines data lake (big data) flexibility with data warehouse
performance.
 ETL/ELT Pipelines:
o Raw data ingested into data lakes
o Transformed and loaded into data warehouse for structured analysis
 BI Tools can now query both systems using federated queries or data
virtualization.

Use Case Example

 Retail Company:
o Uses a data warehouse for tracking sales KPIs, customer profiles
o Uses a big data system for analyzing clickstreams, social media, and sensor
data
o Insights from big data feed into the warehouse for enriched analysis

Big Data Analytics

Introduction to Big Data Analytics

Gartner defines Big Data as Big data is high-volume, high-velocity and/or high-variety
information that demands cost-effective, innovative forms of information processing that
enable enhanced insight, decision making, and process automation.

Big Data is a collection of large amounts of data sets that traditional computing approaches
cannot compute and manage. It is a broad term that refers to the massive volume of complex
data sets that businesses and governments generate in today's digital world. It is often
measured in petabytes or terabytes and originates from three key sources: transactional data,
machine data, and social data.
Big Data encompasses data, frameworks, tools, and methodologies used to store, access,
analyse and visualise it. Technological advanced communication channels like social
networking and powerful gadgets have created different ways to create data, data
transformation and challenges to industry participants in the sense that they must find new
ways to handle data. The process of converting large amounts of unstructured raw data,
retrieved from different sources to a data product useful for organizations forms the core of
Big Data Analytics.

Steps of Big Data Analytics

Big Data Analytics is a powerful tool which helps to find the potential of large and complex
datasets. To get a better understanding, let's break it down into key steps −

Data Collection

This is the initial step, in which data is collected from different sources like social media,
sensors, online channels, commercial transactions, website logs etc. Collected data might be
structured (predefined organisation, such as databases), semi-structured (like log files) or
unstructured (text documents, photos, and videos).

Data Cleaning (Data Pre-processing)

The next step is to process collected data by removing errors and making it suitable and
proper for analysis. Collected raw data generally contains errors, missing values,
inconsistencies, and noisy data. Data cleaning entails identifying and correcting errors to
ensure that the data is accurate and consistent. Pre-processing operations may also involve
data transformation, normalisation, and feature extraction to prepare the data for further
analysis.

Overall, data cleaning and pre-processing entail the replacement of missing data, the
correction of inaccuracies, and the removal of duplicates. It is like sifting through a treasure
trove, separating the rocks and debris and leaving only the valuable gems behind.

Data Analysis

This is a key phase of big data analytics. Different techniques and algorithms are used to
analyse data and derive useful insights. This can include descriptive analytics (summarising
data to better understand its characteristics), diagnostic analytics (identifying patterns and
relationships), predictive analytics (predicting future trends or outcomes), and prescriptive
analytics (making recommendations or decisions based on the analysis).

Data Visualization

Its a step to present data in a visual form using charts, graphs and interactive dashboards.
Hence, data visualisation techniques are used to visually portray the data using charts, graphs,
dashboards, and other graphical formats to make data analysis insights more clear and
actionable.

Interpretation and Decision Making

Once data analytics and visualisation are done and insights gained, stakeholders analyse the
findings to make informed decisions. This decision-making includes optimising corporate
operations, increasing consumer experiences, creating new products or services, and directing
strategic planning.

Data Storage and Management

Once collected, the data must be stored in a way that enables easy retrieval and analysis.
Traditional databases may not be sufficient for handling large amounts of data, hence many
organisations use distributed storage systems such as Hadoop Distributed File System
(HDFS) or cloud-based storage solutions like Amazon S3.

Continuous Learning and Improvement

Big data analytics is a continuous process of collecting, cleaning, and analyzing data to
uncover hidden insights. It helps businesses make better decisions and gain a competitive
edge.

Types of Big Data Analytics

Some common types of Big Data analytics are as −

Descriptive Analytics
Descriptive analytics gives a result like What is happening in my business?" if the dataset
is business-related. Overall, this summarises prior facts and aids in the creation of reports
such as a company's income, profit, and sales figures. It also aids the tabulation of social
media metrics. It can do comprehensive, accurate, live data and effective visualisation.

Diagnostic Analytics
Diagnostic analytics determines root causes from data. It answers like Why is it
happening? Some common examples are drill-down, data mining, and data recovery.
Organisations use diagnostic analytics because they provide an in-depth insight into a
particular problem. Overall, it can drill down the root causes and ability to isolate all
confounding information.
For example − A report from an online store says that sales have decreased, even though
people are still adding items to their shopping carts. Several things could have caused this,
such as the form not loading properly, the shipping cost being too high, or not enough
payment choices being offered. You can use diagnostic data to figure out why this is
happening.

Predictive Analytics
This kind of analytics looks at data from the past and the present to guess what will happen in
the future. Hence, it answers like What will be happening in future? Data mining, AI, and
machine learning are all used in predictive analytics to look at current data and guess what
will happen in the future. It can figure out things like market trends, customer trends, and so
on.
For example − The rules that Bajaj Finance has to follow to keep their customers safe from
fake transactions are set by PayPal. The business uses predictive analytics to look at all of its
past payment and user behaviour data and come up with a program that can spot fraud.

Prescriptive Analytics
Perspective analytics gives the ability to frame a strategic decision, the analytical results
answer What do I need to do? Perspective analytics works with both descriptive and
predictive analytics. Most of the time, it relies on AI and machine learning.
For example − Prescriptive analytics can help a company to maximise its business and
profit. For example in the airline industry, Perspective analytics applies some set of
algorithms that will change flight prices automatically based on demand from customers, and
reduce ticket prices due to bad weather conditions, location, holiday seasons etc.

Tools and Technologies of Big Data Analytics

Some commonly used big data analytics tools are as −

Hadoop

A tool to store and analyze large amounts of data. Hadoop makes it possible to deal with big
data, It's a tool which made big data analytics possible.
MongoDB

A tool for managing unstructured data. It's a database which specially designed to store,
access and process large quantities of unstructured data.

Talend

A tool to use for data integration and management. Talend's solution package includes
complete capabilities for data integration, data quality, master data management, and data
governance. Talend integrates with big data management tools like Hadoop, Spark, and
NoSQL databases allowing organisations to process and analyse enormous amounts of data
efficiently. It includes connectors and components for interacting with big data technologies,
allowing users to create data pipelines for ingesting, processing, and analysing large amounts
of data.

Cassandra

A distributed database used to handle chunks of data. Cassandra is an open-source distributed

NoSQL database management system that handles massive amounts of data over several
commodity servers, ensuring high availability and scalability without sacrificing
performance.

What Big Data Analytics Isn’t

1. Just "a lot of data"

 Reality: Big data isn't only about volume. It's also about:
o Variety (different types of data)
o Velocity (speed of generation)
o Veracity (trustworthiness)
o Value (insightfulness)
 Simply having a large Excel sheet or database doesn’t qualify as big data unless those
other dimensions come into play.

2. A Single Tool or Technology

 Reality: It's an ecosystem of tools, platforms, and techniques — not a single software
or database.
 Big Data Analytics involves storage (e.g., HDFS), processing (e.g., Spark), querying
(e.g., Hive), visualization (e.g., Tableau), and ML/AI tools.

3. A Replacement for Data Warehousing

 Reality: Big data doesn’t make traditional data warehouses obsolete.

 They coexist, and often complement each other in modern analytics architectures.
4. Just Business Intelligence (BI)

 Reality: BI typically focuses on historical reporting and dashboards using structured

data.
 Big Data Analytics goes beyond that with:
o Predictive modeling
o Real-time processing
o Unstructured data analysis
o AI/ML integration

5. Only for Large Enterprises

 Reality: While originally adopted by tech giants, today even small and mid-sized
businesses can leverage big data via cloud platforms and SaaS analytics tools.

6. Guaranteed Value

 Reality: Collecting big data doesn’t automatically lead to better decisions or ROI.
 Success depends on:
o Data quality
o Skilled teams
o Clear goals and use cases
o Proper infrastructure

Sudden Hype Around Big Data Analytics

The sudden hype around Big Data Analytics didn't come out of nowhere — it’s the result
of several converging factors that made massive data analysis not just possible, but essential.

1. Explosion of Data Generation

 Social media, IoT devices, mobile apps, e-commerce, sensors, and streaming services
started generating enormous amounts of data.
 Example: Every minute in 2024, users send over 40 million messages on WhatsApp
and post over 500,000 tweets.
 The volume and variety of data skyrocketed, creating a need for tools that could
handle it.

2. Realization of Data as a Strategic Asset

 Businesses recognized that data = competitive advantage.

 Insights from data drive:
o Better customer experiences
o Operational efficiency
o New products and revenue streams
 "Data-driven decision-making" became a must-have, not a nice-to-have.
3. Rise of Cloud Computing

 Cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud made storage and processing
of big data affordable and accessible.
 You no longer need a massive on-premises server room — spin up a cluster in the
cloud and scale as needed.

4. Advancements in AI & Machine Learning

 ML and AI need huge volumes of data to learn and make accurate predictions.
 Big data became the fuel for AI — from recommendation engines to fraud detection
and autonomous systems.

5. Need for Real-Time Insights

 Businesses started needing insights as things happen — not weeks later.

 Think fraud detection, dynamic pricing, or monitoring customer sentiment in real-
time — all powered by streaming big data platforms like Kafka, Flink, and Spark.

6. Digital Transformation Across Industries

 Every sector — healthcare, finance, education, logistics — started digitizing.

 This created diverse data sources and increased demand for advanced analytics.

7. Media, Buzzwords, and Vendor Marketing

 Let’s be real — tech media and vendors helped fan the flames with buzzwords like:
o "Data is the new oil"
o "Predictive analytics"
o "Smart everything"
 While some of the hype is real, it also led to inflated expectations in some areas.

Classification of Analytics
Data analytics is an important field that involves the process of collecting, processing, and
interpreting data to uncover insights and help in making decisions. Data analytics is the
practice of examining raw data to identify trends, draw conclusions, and extract meaningful
information. This involves various techniques and tools to process and transform data into
valuable insights that can be used for decision-making.

What is Data Analytics?

In this new digital world, data is being generated in an enormous amount which opens new
paradigms. As we have high computing power and a large amount of data we can use this
data to help us make data-driven decision making. The main benefits of data-driven
decisions are that they are made up by observing past trends which have resulted in
beneficial results.
In short, we can say that data analytics is the process of manipulating data to extract useful
trends and hidden patterns that can help us derive valuable insights to make business
predictions.
Data analytics encompasses a wide array of techniques for analyzing data to gain valuable
insights that can enhance various aspects of operations. By scrutinizing information,
businesses can uncover patterns and metrics that might otherwise go unnoticed, enabling
them to optimize processes and improve overall efficiency.
For instance, in manufacturing, companies collect data on machine runtime, downtime, and
work queues to analyze and improve workload planning, ensuring machines operate at
optimal levels.
Beyond production optimization, data analytics is utilized in diverse sectors. Gaming firms
utilize it to design reward systems that engage players effectively, while content providers
leverage analytics to optimize content placement and presentation, ultimately driving user
engagement.
Types of Data Analytics
There are four major types of data analytics:
1. Predictive (forecasting)
2. Descriptive (business intelligence and data mining)
3. Prescriptive (optimization and simulation)
4. Diagnostic analytics

Predictive Analytics
Predictive analytics turn the data into valuable, actionable information. predictive analytics
uses data to determine the probable outcome of an event or a likelihood of a situation
occurring. Predictive analytics holds a variety of statistical techniques from
modeling, machine learning , data mining , and game theory that analyze current and
historical facts to make predictions about a future event. Techniques that are used for
predictive analytics are:
 Linear Regression
 Time Series Analysis and Forecasting
 Data Mining
Basic Cornerstones of Predictive Analytics
 Predictive modeling
 Decision Analysis and optimization
 Transaction profiling
Descriptive Analytics
Descriptive analytics looks at data and analyze past event for insight as to how to approach
future events. It looks at past performance and understands the performance by mining
historical data to understand the cause of success or failure in the past. Almost all
management reporting such as sales, marketing, operations, and finance uses this type of
analysis.
The descriptive model quantifies relationships in data in a way that is often used to classify
customers or prospects into groups. Unlike a predictive model that focuses on predicting
the behavior of a single customer, Descriptive analytics identifies many different
relationships between customer and product.
Common examples of Descriptive analytics are company reports that provide historic
reviews like:
 Data Queries
 Reports
 Descriptive Statistics
 Data dashboard
Prescriptive Analytics
Prescriptive Analytics automatically synthesize big data, mathematical science, business
rule, and machine learning to make a prediction and then suggests a decision option to take
advantage of the prediction.
Prescriptive analytics goes beyond predicting future outcomes by also suggesting action
benefits from the predictions and showing the decision maker the implication of each
decision option. Prescriptive Analytics not only anticipates what will happen and when to
happen but also why it will happen. Further, Prescriptive Analytics can suggest decision
options on how to take advantage of a future opportunity or mitigate a future risk and
illustrate the implication of each decision option.
For example, Prescriptive Analytics can benefit healthcare strategic planning by using
analytics to leverage operational and usage data combined with data of external factors such
as economic data, population demography, etc.
Diagnostic Analytics
In this analysis, we generally use historical data over other data to answer any question or
for the solution of any problem. We try to find any dependency and pattern in the historical
data of the particular problem.
For example, companies go for this analysis because it gives a great insight into a problem,
and they also keep detailed information about their disposal otherwise data collection may
turn out individual for every problem and it will be very time-consuming. Common
techniques used for Diagnostic Analytics are:
 Data discovery
 Data mining
 Correlations
The Role of Data Analytics
Data analytics plays a pivotal role in enhancing operations, efficiency, and performance
across various industries by uncovering valuable patterns and insights. Implementing data
analytics techniques can provide companies with a competitive advantage. The process
typically involves four fundamental steps:
 Data Mining : This step involves gathering data and information from diverse sources
and transforming them into a standardized format for subsequent analysis. Data mining
 can be a time-intensive process compared to other steps but is crucial for obtaining a
comprehensive dataset.
 Data Management : Once collected, data needs to be stored, managed, and made
accessible. Creating a database is essential for managing the vast amounts of
information collected during the mining process. SQL (Structured Query Language)
remains a widely used tool for database management, facilitating efficient querying and
analysis of relational databases.
 Statistical Analysis : In this step, the gathered data is subjected to statistical analysis to
identify trends and patterns. Statistical modeling is used to interpret the data and make
predictions about future trends. Open-source programming languages like Python, as
well as specialized tools like R, are commonly used for statistical analysis and graphical
modeling
 Data Presentation : The insights derived from data analytics need to be effectively
communicated to stakeholders. This final step involves formatting the results in a
manner that is accessible and understandable to various stakeholders, including
decision-makers, analysts, and shareholders. Clear and concise data presentation is
essential for driving informed decision-making and driving business growth.
Steps in Data Analysis
 Define Data Requirements : This involves determining how the data will be grouped
or categorized. Data can be segmented based on various factors such as age,
demographic, income, or gender, and can consist of numerical values or categorical
data.
 Data Collection : Data is gathered from different sources, including computers, online
platforms, cameras, environmental sensors, or through human personnel.
 Data Organization : Once collected, the data needs to be organized in a structured
format to facilitate analysis. This could involve using spreadsheets or specialized
software designed for managing and analyzing statistical data.
 Data Cleaning : Before analysis, the data undergoes a cleaning process to ensure
accuracy and reliability. This involves identifying and removing any duplicate or
erroneous entries, as well as addressing any missing or incomplete data. Cleaning the
data helps to mitigate potential biases and errors that could affect the analysis results.
Usage of Data Analytics
There are some key domains and strategic planning techniques in which Data Analytics has
played a vital role:
 Improved Decision-Making – If we have supporting data in favour of a decision, then
we can implement them with even more success probability. For example, if a certain
decision or plan has to lead to better outcomes then there will be no doubt in
implementing them again.
 Better Customer Service – Churn modeling is the best example of this in which we try
to predict or identify what leads to customer churn and change those things accordingly
so, that the attrition of the customers is as low as possible which is a most important
factor in any organization.
 Efficient Operations – Data Analytics can help us understand what is the demand of
the situation and what should be done to get better results then we will be able to
streamline our processes which in turn will lead to efficient operations.
 Effective Marketing – Market segmentation techniques have been implemented to
target this important factor only in which we are supposed to find the marketing
techniques which will help us increase our sales and leads to effective marketing
strategies.
Future Scope of Data Analytics
 Retail : To study sales patterns, consumer behavior, and inventory management, data
analytics can be applied in the retail sector. Data analytics can be used by retailers to
make data-driven decisions regarding what products to stock, how to price them, and
how to best organize their stores.
 Healthcare : Data analytics can be used to evaluate patient data, spot trends in patient
health, and create individualized treatment regimens. Data analytics can be used by
healthcare companies to enhance patient outcomes and lower healthcare expenditures.
 Finance : In the field of finance, data analytics can be used to evaluate investment data,
spot trends in the financial markets, and make wise investment decisions. Data analytics
can be used by financial institutions to lower risk and boost the performance of
investment portfolios.
 Marketing : By analyzing customer data, spotting trends in consumer behavior, and
creating customized marketing strategies, data analytics can be used in marketing. Data
analytics can be used by marketers to boost the efficiency of their campaigns and their
overall impact.
 Manufacturing : Data analytics can be used to examine production data, spot trends in
production methods, and boost production efficiency in the manufacturing sector. Data
analytics can be used by manufacturers to cut costs and enhance product quality.
 Transportation : To evaluate logistics data, spot trends in transportation routes, and
improve transportation routes, the transportation sector can employ data analytics. Data
analytics can help transportation businesses cut expenses and speed up delivery times.

Greatest Challenges that Prevent Business from Capitalizing Big Data

while Big Data offers incredible potential, many businesses hit real roadblocks when trying
to extract value from it. Here are the greatest challenges that prevent companies from truly
capitalizing on Big Data:

1. Data Quality Issues

 “Garbage in, garbage out.”

 Inaccurate, incomplete, inconsistent, or duplicated data leads to bad insights.
 Many companies collect massive data but don’t clean, validate, or organize it.

2. Lack of Skilled Talent

 Data scientists, data engineers, ML specialists, and big data architects are in high
demand but short supply.
 Many companies struggle to build teams with the right mix of technical and domain
expertise.

3. Security & Privacy Concerns

 Managing sensitive data (customer info, health records, etc.) is risky.

 Compliance with laws like GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA adds complexity.
 Fear of data breaches or non-compliance slows down adoption.
4. Integration with Legacy Systems

 Older systems weren’t built to handle the volume, velocity, or variety of big data.
 Integrating big data tools with ERP, CRM, or mainframes is costly and complex.

5. High Cost of Infrastructure

 Although cloud computing has lowered the entry barrier, managing large-scale
storage, compute, and analytics platforms still costs money — especially if not
optimized.
 Poorly planned projects can lead to low ROI.

6. Lack of Data-Driven Culture

 Decision-making is often based on gut feeling or tradition rather than data.

 Without executive buy-in or employee training, data projects may fail to gain
traction.

7. Failure to Identify Clear Business Use Cases

 Many companies jump into big data because it’s trendy — not because they have a
specific problem to solve.
 Without clear goals, analytics becomes tech for tech’s sake.

8. Data Silos Across Departments

 Different teams collect and store data independently.

 Without proper data integration or governance, insights are fragmented or lost.

9. Difficulty in Real-Time Analytics

 Businesses want real-time insights but lack the architecture (e.g., stream processing
tools like Kafka or Flink).
 Real-time data needs fast processing + smart filtering — not just storage.

10. Long Time to Insight

 Even with big data platforms, some companies take weeks to months to process and
analyze data.
 If insights arrive too late, they lose their value.

Top Challenges Facing Big Data

1. Cybersecurity and Privacy
Security is one of the most significant risks of big data. Cybercriminals are more likely to
target businesses that store sensitive information, and each data breach can cost time, money,
and reputation. Similarly, privacy laws like the European Union’s General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) make collecting vast amounts of data while upholding user privacy
standards difficult.
Visibility is the first step to both security and privacy. You must know what you collect,
where you store it, and how you use it in order to know how to protect it and comply with
privacy laws. Businesses must create a data map and perform regular audits to inform
security and privacy changes and ensure that records are up to date.
Automation can help. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools can continuously monitor datasets and
their connections to detect and contain suspicious activity before alerting security
professionals. Similarly, AI and robotic process automation can automate compliance by
comparing data practices to applicable regulations and highlighting areas for improvement.
2. Data Quality
Data quality—the accuracy, relevance, and completeness of the data—is another common
pain point. Human decision-making and machine learning require ample and reliable data,
but larger datasets are more likely to contain inaccuracies, incomplete records, errors, and
duplicates. Not correcting quality issues leads to ill-informed decisions and lost revenue.
Before analyzing big data, it must be run through automated cleansing tools that check for
and correct duplicates, anomalies, missing information, and other errors. Setting specific data
quality standards and measuring these benchmarks regularly will also help by highlighting
where data collection and cleansing techniques must change.
3. Integration and Data Silos
Big data’s variety helps fill some quality gaps, but it also introduces integration issues.
Compiling multiple file types from various sources into a single point of access can be
difficult with conventional tools. Data often ends up in silos, which are easier to manage but
limit visibility, limiting security and accuracy.
Cloud storage and management tools let you shift information between databases to
consolidate them without lengthy, expensive transfer processes. Virtualization can also make
integration easier—data virtualization tools let you access and view information from across
sources without moving it, which increases visibility despite big data’s volume and velocity.
4. Data Storage
Storing big data can be a challenge—and a costly one. Businesses spent $21.5 billion on
computing and storage infrastructure in the first quarter of 2023 alone, and finding room to
store big data’s rapidly increasing volumes at its rising velocity with conventional means is
challenging, slow, and expensive.
Moving away from on-premise storage in favor of the cloud can help—pay for what you use
and scale up or down in an instant, removing historical barriers to big data management while
minimizing costs. But the cloud alone won’t be sufficient to keep pace. Compression,
deduplication, and automated data lifecycle management can help minimize storage needs,
and better organization—also enabled by automation—allows faster access and can reveal
duplicates or outdated information more readily.
5. Lack of Experience
Technical issues may be the easiest challenges to recognize, but user-side challenges deserve
attention too—and one of the biggest is a lack of big data experience. Making sense of big
data and managing its supporting infrastructure requires a skillset lacking in many
organizations. There’s a nationwide shortage of jobseekers with the skills being sought by
enterprises, and it’s not getting any better.
One solution? Rather than focusing on outside hires, foster data talent from within existing
workforces. Offer professional development opportunities that pay employees to go
through data science education programs. Another is to look for low-code or no-
code analytics solutions that don’t require skilled programmers—similarly, off-the-shelf
software and open source big data solutions are more common than ever, making it easier to
embrace big data without extensive experience.
6. Data Interpretation and Analysis
It’s easy to forget that big data is a resource, not a solution—you must know how to interpret
and apply the information for it to be worth the cost and complexity. Given the sheer size of
these datasets, analysis can be time consuming and tricky to get right with conventional
approaches.
AI is the key here. Big data is too large and varied to analyze quickly and accurately
manually. Humans are also likely to miss subtle trends and connections in the sea of
information. AI excels at detail-oriented, data-heavy tasks, making it the perfect tool for
pulling insights from big data. Of course, AI itself is just a tool and is also prone to error. Use
AI analytics as a starting point, then review and refine with human expert analysts to ensure
you’re acting on accurate, relevant information.
7. Ethical Issues
Big data also comes with some ethical concerns. Gathering that much information means
increased likelihood of personally identifiable information being part of it. In addition to
questions about user privacy, biases in data can lead to biased AI that carries human
prejudices even further.
To avoid ethical concerns, businesses should form a data ethics committee or at least have a
regular ethical review process to review data collection and usage policies and ensure the
company doesn’t infringe on people’s privacy. Scrubbing data of identifying factors like race,
gender, and sexuality will also help remove bias-prone information from the equation.
While size is one of big data’s strongest assets, consider whether you need all the information
you collect—not storing details that don’t serve a specific, value-adding purpose will
minimize areas where you may cross ethical lines.

Big Data Analytics Importance

The importance of Big Data Analytics lies in its ability to turn raw, massive, and complex
data into actionable insights that drive smarter decisions, innovation, and competitive
advantage. Here’s a breakdown of why it’s such a game-changer for businesses,
governments, and society

1. Better Decision-Making

 Analyze data in real-time or historically to make informed, data-driven decisions.

 Replace gut-feeling with quantitative evidence.
 Example: Predict customer churn and take proactive action to retain them.

2. Increased Efficiency and Cost Savings

 Identify waste, inefficiencies, and areas for automation.

 Optimize supply chains, resource allocation, and operations.
  Example: Predictive maintenance in manufacturing reduces downtime and repair
costs.

3. Improved Customer Experience

 Understand customer behavior, preferences, and feedback across channels.

 Enable hyper-personalized marketing, product recommendations, and support.
 Example: Netflix suggests content based on your viewing habits using big data.

4. Competitive Advantage

 Early adopters of big data analytics can spot emerging trends, new market
opportunities, and potential threats faster than competitors.
 Example: Retailers optimize pricing dynamically based on demand and competitor
activity.

5. Risk Management and Fraud Detection

 Use big data to monitor transactions and behaviors for anomalies in real-time.
 Strengthen cybersecurity with predictive models.
 Example: Banks detect fraud by analyzing millions of transactions instantly.

6. Innovation and New Business Models

 Big data powers AI, ML, and emerging tech like digital twins, recommendation
engines, and smart assistants.
 Leads to new services, products, and even entire business models.
 Example: Uber and Airbnb rely heavily on big data analytics to match supply with
demand.

7. Societal and Scientific Impact

 Enables advancements in healthcare, climate modeling, disaster response, and

urban planning.
 Example: Big data helped model and track COVID-19 spread and vaccine logistics.

8. Real-Time Analytics for Agility

 Businesses can adapt to changes instantly, making them more agile and resilient.
 Example: E-commerce platforms adjust inventory and pricing during flash sales based
on live data.

Data Science

Data Science plays a central role in Big Data Analytics — it’s essentially the brain that
turns big data into meaningful, actionable insights. Here's how Data Science fits into Big
Data Analytics and why it's crucial:
What is Data Science in Big Data Analytics?

Data Science is the interdisciplinary field that uses mathematics, statistics, programming,
and domain knowledge to analyze and extract insights from data — especially large and
complex datasets, aka big data.

In Big Data Analytics, Data Science helps:

 Extract patterns
 Predict future trends
 Find correlations
 Automate decision-making

Core Functions of Data Science in Big Data Analytics

Data Science Function Role in Big Data Analytics

Data Collection & Cleaning Prepares massive, messy, unstructured data for analysis

Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) Identifies trends, anomalies, and patterns

Statistical Modeling Finds relationships and builds hypothesis-driven analysis

Machine Learning Predicts outcomes and powers intelligent systems

Converts raw insights into readable dashboards and

Data Visualization
charts

Decision Support Provides actionable insights for business strategies

Data Science Workflow in a Big Data Environment

1. Data Ingestion (from IoT, logs, social media, etc.)
2. Data Wrangling (cleaning, transformation)
3. Storage & Processing (Hadoop, Spark, NoSQL)
4. Model Building (ML algorithms, statistical models)
5. Insight Generation (predictive analytics, segmentation)
6. Visualization (using tools like Tableau, Power BI, Python)

Popular Data Science Tools for Big Data

 Programming Languages: Python, R, Scala

 Libraries/Frameworks: TensorFlow, PySpark, scikit-learn, Pandas
 Big Data Platforms: Apache Hadoop, Apache Spark, Databricks
 Visualization: Matplotlib, Seaborn, Plotly, Power BI

Real-World Applications

 Retail: Personalized product recommendations using customer behavior data.

  Healthcare: Predicting disease outbreaks or patient readmissions.
 Finance: Fraud detection using pattern recognition on transaction data.
 Marketing: Customer segmentation and targeted campaigns.

Terminologies used in Big Data Environments

Core Big Data Terminologies

Term Description

Massive volumes of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data that

Big Data
traditional systems can't efficiently process.

The defining characteristics of Big Data:

3Vs / 5Vs
Volume, Velocity, Variety (+ Veracity, Value)

A central repository that stores raw data in its native format until needed for
Data Lake
analysis.

Data
A structured repository for processed data, used for reporting and BI.
Warehouse

Extract, Transform, Load / Extract, Load, Transform — processes for

ETL / ELT
moving and preparing data.

An open-source framework for distributed storage (HDFS) and processing

Hadoop
(MapReduce) of big data.

Hadoop Distributed File System — stores data across many machines for fault
HDFS
tolerance and scalability.

A programming model used in Hadoop to process large datasets in parallel

MapReduce
across clusters.
Apache A fast, in-memory big data processing engine, often replacing MapReduce for
Spark many tasks.
Non-relational databases like MongoDB, Cassandra, HBase — handle unstructured
NoSQL
or semi-structured data.
Streaming Data generated in real time (e.g., IoT devices, social media) and analyzed as
Data it arrives.
Kafka A distributed messaging system used for real-time data pipelines and streaming apps.
Machine Learning Algorithms that learn from data and make predictions or decisions
(ML) without being explicitly programmed.
Data Mining Discovering patterns, relationships, and anomalies in large datasets.
Cluster Using a group of connected computers (nodes) to work as a single system for
Computing faster processing.
Managing data availability, usability, integrity, and security within an
Data Governance
organization.
Data The graphical representation of data using tools like Tableau, Power BI, or
Visualization Python libraries.
Scalability The system’s ability to handle growing data volumes without performance loss.
The time delay between data input and output/processing — critical in real-time
Latency
analytics.