Characteristics of big data - a Delphi study

Abstract

Big Data has become increasingly important to organizations in various industries. Big Data is collected, stored and processed to obtain valuable insight and to support decision making and action. However, the question “what constitutes Big Data?” does not have a clear or singular answer. As Big Data is a developing phenomenon, concepts and constructs such as 3Vs, 4Vs, 5Vs, 6Vs, 7Vs and 9Vs have introduced by organizations and researchers. As a result, there is a lack of consensus on what constitutes the core characteristics of Big Data. Using four rounds of Delphi study, followed by a verification survey, this research aims to identify the core characteristics of Big Data as determined by practitioners and researchers and, among the key characteristics, which are deemed to be more important Though Volume, Velocity, and Variety are frequently mentioned as the 3Vs of Big Data, this study identifies Volume, Value, and Velocity to be the top three important characteristics of Big Data. Additionally, Visualization emerged as an important characteristic ranked much higher than Variety. We hope that the outcome of this study can contribute to better understand the key characteristics of Big Data.