Abstract

Big data is a broad term for data sets so large or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate. Challenges include analysis, capture, data curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, visualization, querying and information privacy. Big Data is one of the latest emerging topics in the field of business information systems and is marketed as being the key to companies future success. Many analytic solutions are offered by IT companies to help other businesses with the flood of data that is generated within and outside of a company. Despite the extensive use of the notion of Big Data for marketing purposes, there is no common understanding of how to characterize the elements of the Big Data concept. The authors contribute to the clarification of this concept with a methodologically enriched literature review by deriving characteristic dimensions from existing definitions of Big Data.