transaction processing, the computer took on a role of importance never before
envisioned.

With online transaction processing, the organization was able to build reservation systems
—airline, car rental, and other reservation systems. With online transaction processing,
there appeared online bank teller systems and ATMs. In a word, online transaction
processing systems enabled a business to do what had heretofore been impossible.

At this point, IBM had a firm grip on the high ground of corporate processing.

Enter Teradata and MPP Processing

Enter the mix a company called Teradata. Teradata featured a database technology called
massively parallel processing (MPP). With MPP database technology, Teradata could
process significantly more data than IBM. The architecture of MPP technology was such
that IBM's IMS-based technology simply could not keep pace when it came to processing
volumes of data. Suddenly, Teradata took the high ground.

But Teradata's entrance into the marketplace was not an immediate and resounding
success. IBM had very good account control and was able to resist Teradata's intrusion
for a long time. But Teradata persevered, and after much marketing, much sales effort,
and much technology advancement, Teradata began to win over clients. Now, Teradata
was beginning to capitalize on the holding of the high ground.

Then Came Hadoop and Big Data

Almost innocently into the fray came Hadoop technology. Hadoop was a response to the
need to handle even more data than Teradata. In actuality, the limit to Teradata's
management of data was an economic limitation more than a technological limitation. But
Hadoop was addressing the problem of optimizing a database management system on
management of volumes of data, not on the ability to manage every field of data. There
was a change in emphasis on the management of volumes of data from the management
of units of data within the environment.

Hadoop was the heart of big data. With Hadoop's technology, big data went from a dream
to a reality.

Hadoop catered to just a few large-scale clients with specialized needs. Hadoop and its

Chapter 4.1: A Brief History of Big Data