Hadoop is an Apache Software Foundation project with its own ecosystem of database and storage systems that is indebted to Google. There are a growing number of companies building applications around Hadoop and its ilk, and they are getting a lot of investment . But there are other players, too, like the fast-growing MongoDB, which recently got a $150 million injection . And CouchBase, a company that just raised $25 million , and quite a few other packages.
More data
big-data-growth
Where does this incredible amount of data come from? Of course, the internet provides a lot of data, such as user behavior that is recorded for web analytics. The Large Hadron Collider at CERN is the standard scientific example.
Companies that offer SaaS and cloud services need large and quickly accessible data storage. Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks also store a lot of complex data. These examples show that there is money to be made by analyzing big data. Big data seems to play a major role in the development of new services, not only because of the large number of bytes but certainly also because these services must provide more and more real-time information. I find internet banking on my phone very convenient, and I am certainly not the only one, because in a short time this has become the most popular way of banking.
Mobile banking
My experience is that mobile banking is quite slow. I suspect that this is because banks are still relying on their old relational databases and they have a hard time processing all that traffic. It is therefore not surprising to say that the growth of data also has to do with the increase in devices that are connected to the internet, such as the billions of smartphones and tablets.
chart-of-the-day-the-ipads-disruption-of-the-windows-pc-marketOne thing that illustrates this is the significant decline in the number of PCs sold, in favor of the much higher tablet sales. All those millions of apps that constantly consult the cloud generate a tsunami of data. If smartwatches, cars, smart TVs, media centers and wearable devices are added to this, you can imagine that the demands on technology change dramatically.
The invasion is coming
You don't have to be a visionary to see the consequences of this. You can count on many startups from the United States now trying to gain a foothold in Europe . Berlin is the hot spot at the moment, partly due to the low establishment costs. But the Netherlands is also seen as a favorable location because of the good digital infrastructure and our language skills. Perhaps a point of attention for our policymakers, because the IT education level and that language skills are in my opinion subject to erosion.
Changing workplaces
In the B2B market, it is likely that more and more PC workstations will make way for workers equipped with a tablet or smartphone. So that they have access to large amounts of data at any time and any place.
fig-countryrankings
Vibrancy of VC markets by country. Source: Global Venture Capital oman mobile phone number list and Private Equity Country Attractiveness Index 2009–2010.
Soon, nursing staff, caregivers and production staff will consult tablets instead of always reporting to the office with the PC. That is of course already the reality, certainly in the United States, but I think that this development will continue. Also to less obvious functions, now that tablets are so cheap compared to a PC workplace.
Both the demand for and the supply of data are only increasing under the influence of the multitude of devices. As an enterprising IT company looking for investors, it is a necessity to prepare for this. I am surprised by the fact that investments are so much more enthusiastic in the United States than here. The Dutch IT industry lacks its own Sand Hill Road with Dutch versions of Andreessen Horowitz , AngelList and Y-Combinator .
The IT train continues to roll on and the landscape is now defined by scalability, the proliferation of wearable devices and the associated growing amount of data, which is visible in the way startups are being invested in.
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