If I asked you for the defining characteristic of a big data customer, you’d probably say they’re sitting on large amounts of data. If I asked for the defining characteristic of a NoSQL customer, you might answer they require high levels of concurrency.
Well, if that’s the total market for NoSQL and big data, then both MongoDB, Inc., as well as the various companies supporting Hadoop should probably shut their doors and call it a day.
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In truth, opting for Hadoop is in many ways an economic decision. If a company has deep pockets and daunting amounts of data, then it can throw money at a high-end MPP solution from IBM, SAP, or Teradata — in fact, most large companies have already made that sort of investment. But not all of us hang out with the 1 percent and light our cigars with $100 bills. Even those that do then have to make business decisions “up front” on whether the exorbitant costs of keeping data and deciding what to do later.
