Title: Analysis of Big Data vendors for SMEs

Authors: Pedro Caldeira Neves; Jorge Bernardino

Addresses: ISEC – Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra, Polytechnic of Coimbra, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal ' ISEC – Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra, Polytechnic of Coimbra, Rua Pedro Nunes, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal; CISUC – Centre for Informatics and Systems of University of Coimbra, Rua Sílvio Lima, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal

Abstract: Big Data is a cutting-edge research topic that provides ways to store and process massive volumes of data. The paradigm became an ever-increasing business as some companies focus on providing Big Data platforms and analytical tools to extract information from available data. Such features are in accordance with the interests of small and medium business, since it allows them to implement sophisticated decision support systems and outsmart their opponents. Hiring a Big Data service avoids the initial IT investment, however, choosing a vendor is not an easy task and the lack of understanding over Big Data technology is very high, especially among small businesses. Therefore, this paper provides insights over Big Data, discusses the functionalities of nine major Big Data vendors - Amazon AWS, Cloudera, Hortonworks, IBM, Intel, MapR, Microsoft, Pivotal and Teradata; and presents the best solutions regarding current offering, strategy and market presence of each of the vendor.

Keywords: Big Data for SMEs; Big Data vendors; Big Data platforms.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2017.085170

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2017 Vol.25 No.4, pp.456 - 473

Received: 20 Oct 2015
Accepted: 23 Jan 2016
Published online: 16 Jul 2017 *

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