The term Big Data refers to digital stores of information that have a high volume, velocity and variety. Big Data Analytics is the process of using software to uncover trends, patterns, correlations or other useful insights in those large stores of data.

Data Analytics isn't new. It has been around for decades in the form of business intelligence and data mining software. Over the years, the software has improved dramatically so that it can handle much larger data volumes.

Big Data analytics applications often include data from both internal systems and external sources, such as weather data or demographic data on consumers compiled by third party information providers.