Chapter 1 WHAT ARE BIG DATA AND ANALYTICS?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing this chapter, you should be able to do the following:
• Identify the three different types of data.
• Recall what type of data volume Big Data represents.
• Recognize Big Data terminology.
INTRODUCTION
In the early 20th century, businesses kept track of financial and operational results using paper and ink. It was difficult enough just to record the date of the transactions, let alone summarize information with financial statements. The main form of automation that helped improve the efficiency of accounting clerks was limited to innovations in carbon copy paper, mimeograph machines, copy machines, and the like. When computers finally were available for operational and financial use, the systems were based on a batch recording of transactions. Again the focus was on capturing internal data to help an organization understand its financial and operational results. As computers advanced and became more powerful, the focus increased in obtaining more internally generated operational and financial information as well as analyzing the myriad information as a result of increased computing power, increased data, and more user-friendly tools.
Prior to the advent of the Internet, an organization worked mainly with its internal data. With the subsequent advances in Internet use in the latter half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, external information became accessible ...