Businesses are discovering the huge potential of big data analytics across all dimensions of the business, from defining corporate strategy to managing customer relationships, and from improving operations to gaining competitive edge. The open source Apache Hadoop project, a software framework that enables high-performance analytics on unstructured data sets, is the centerpiece of big data solutions. Hadoop is designed to process data-intensive computational tasks, in parallel and at a scale, that previously were possible only in high-performance computing (HPC) environments.

Big data isn’t about technology; it’s about business outcomes and performance. Therefore, it’s essential that you have a reasonable assurance that your business needs and demands will be met— before investing your first dime. The logical starting point for any new initiative should stem from a set of business needs, questions or opportunities that have measurable results, such as improved customer satisfaction, increased profit margins or faster decision making.