Dimensions of Big Data - The 3V's

Big data is not just large very large sets of data. While Big Data has many characteristics (Kitchin and McArdle, 2016), there must be 3 main dimensions for a dataset to get qualified as Big Data often referred as the 3V’s, namely Volume, Velocity and Variety.


To simply explain these dimensions, let’s take the example of the online retailer Amazon.com.
  1. Volume: Volume refers to the size of data that is being collected, processed, analysed and stored. For example, Amazon.com’s average monthly traffic is more than 2 billion which includes its 150 million App users who browse through the estimated 120 million products sold by around 2.5 million sellers (Oberlo.com, 2019). This huge traffic base generates a great volume of data points, in terms of orders, transactions, inventory changes, customer communications etc and need to be managed properly.


  2. Velocity:  Velocity refers to the speed with which data is collected, processed, analysed and stored. Amazon.com sells around 4000 items per minute on average and during Prime Day this will go up to 70,000 orders every minute! (Oberlo.com, 2019). These orders need to be processed in real-time or closer to real-time, as they will impact the inventory levels and the supply chain logistics as well which will have huge implications in overall operations.


  3. Variety: Variety refers to different data sources and formats that are being collected, processed, analysed and stored. In terms of Amazon, it’s not only the structured data like Orders and transactions but also unstructured data like the users’ search history, browsing history, ratings, reviews, complaints, emails, social shares, etc. that is being collected and processed (Edosio, 2014). These non-transactional data are required to personalize recommendations, boost popular products, identify bad listings and much more. (Wills, 2018)

Apart from the 3V’s mentioned above, new dimensions and characteristics like Variability, Veracity, Value etc are being added to the definition of Big Data for better classification. (Ishwarappa and Anuradha, 2015).

References:

  • Edosio, U. (2014) ‘Big Data Analytics and its Application in E-Commerce’, in.
  • Ishwarappa and Anuradha, J. (2015) ‘A Brief Introduction on Big Data 5Vs Characteristics and Hadoop Technology’, Procedia Computer Science. (International Conference on Computer, Communication and Convergence (ICCC 2015)), 48, pp. 319–324. doi: 10.1016/j.procs.2015.04.188.
  • Kitchin, R. and McArdle, G. (2016) ‘What makes Big Data, Big Data? Exploring the ontological characteristics of 26 datasets’, Big Data & Society, 3(1), p. 2053951716631130. doi: 10.1177/2053951716631130.
  • Oberlo.com (2019) 10 Amazon Statistics You Need to Know in 2020 [Amazon Infographic], Oberlo. Available at: https://ie.oberlo.com/blog/amazon-statistics (Accessed: 2 February 2020).
  • Wills, J. (2018) 7 Ways Amazon Uses Big Data to Stalk You, Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/insights/090716/7-ways-amazon-uses-big-data-stalk-you-amzn.asp (Accessed: 2 February 2020).

Comments

  1. Serial.Blogger3 February 2020 at 00:16

    Great information with the given example.

    ReplyDelete
  2. vardan arora3 February 2020 at 00:43

    Amazing write up MJ!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rishi Suvarna3 February 2020 at 05:51

    Great post MJ! The example made it easier! 😁

    ReplyDelete
  4. Elina3 February 2020 at 12:45

    MJ, I like your style of publishing information - simple, clear and with understandable examples. Special thanks for duplicating the link to the blog in LinkedIn — this is how I reach your posts. It’s very convenient in order to to miss the update :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MJ3 February 2020 at 13:09

      Thanks Elina. Yes I have shared in all my social media for maximum reach!

      Delete
  5. Carla Martins3 February 2020 at 13:22

    Amazing writing, straight forward as it has to be! Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  6. francisco.cordova3 February 2020 at 20:14

    Good article, clear point and it explain the importance of velocity, variety, and volume in big data really well used the amazon`s example.

    ReplyDelete
  7. (ADI)GIT_blog3 February 2020 at 22:20

    The importance of big data is growing so it's nice to have these characteristics on my mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MJ3 February 2020 at 22:37

      Yes! It's changing how businesses operate!

      Delete
  8. Sedcan Altundal4 February 2020 at 15:12

    Good to read to understand the basics of 3V with concrete examples. Thank you for sharing MJ.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tiago Pereira10 February 2020 at 10:38

    Good point of view, it makes clear the understanding of 3Vs of Big Data.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Manikandan Dhanapal10 February 2020 at 13:13

    MJ
    As always amazing blog for people to undertand what are those 3V's . Example gives everyone a clear picture about 3V's.
    Thanks MJ :)

    ReplyDelete

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