taking the high ground. Whatever company has the DBMS that serves the largest amount
of data is the company that enjoys a commanding advantage in the battlefield. In this
case, the battlefield is the database marketplace, and the battle is over market share. How
many customers have signed up for and are using the DBMS is the measurement of
success in the battlefield.

There are other DBMS that do not use the volume of data that can be managed as their
distinctive criteria. These DBMS have their own battlefield and their own criteria of
success in the battlefield. The battlefield for big data however is a battle field whose
hallmark is the management of the largest amount of data.

Taking the High Ground

The progression of events that has led up to big data is seen in Fig. 4.1.2.

Fig. 4.1.2 A brief marketing history of big data.

In the early dawn of the computer industry, there were many computer systems, many
applications, and many operating systems. There were many vendors, and choosing
technology was a risky and painful task. There were many problems with the early
systems. One of the primary problems was that there was no standardization—no
standardization of languages, no standardization of operating systems, and no
standardization of applications. Because there was no standardization of anything,
everything had to be made on a customized basis. Furthermore, all that custom code had
to be maintained on a custom code basis.

Chapter 4.1: A Brief History of Big Data