Big Data has been used a a term to describe sets of information that may be too large for traditional methods such as spreadsheets that are unable to handle. This type of data can be anything from link views to websites or a tracker of delivery of products you have ordered.Big Data is not only the efficiency of the data collection but the information that is collected as well. 

Big data is used in many organizations to allow them to improve their decision-making and operational efficiency. Such as a retail store that can track the purchases of all of their customers, which will show what is the current trend or favorite of products that are being purchased. This type of data allows that company to produce and release more units of that specific type of product. 

Businesses will use other special tools to help with big data, such as tools that are designed to handle larger and more unique sets of data that will allow for pattern finding and report creation. Such as cloud-based platforms, they allow companies to process and store data without the need of overly expensive equipment and maintenance. 

The benefit of big data is very clear, with how it will provide a more efficient usage of decision -making, and opportunities to grow. With this, there are also challenges, such as the overlooking of accurate data and also over complication of the data that is stored. As long as this is managed correctly, bid data will and can create a competitive advantage by turning this raw data into very useful information for future company growth. 

Labrinidis, A., & Jagadish, H. V. (2012). Challenges and opportunities with big data. Proceedings of the VLDB Endowment, 5(12), 2032-2033.

Sagiroglu, S., & Sinanc, D. (2013, May). Big data: A review. In 2013 international conference on collaboration technologies and systems (CTS) (pp. 42-47). IEEE.