The Importance of the Application of the Big Data Concept for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Business operations of companies in modern conditions are subject to enormous market, social and especially technological pressures from the environment. Information and communication technologies have become so incorporated both in our everyday life and in the operations of every company, that without them we feel almost lost and helpless. Big Data, as a theoretical (philosophical) concept has existed for decades, but only recently, thanks to the extraordinarily rapid development of information and communication technologies, it has become applicable in practice, and as a business concept it has been recognized as a unique opportunity for success in the business world. Like all organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises can find a unique opportunity to improve their own business in the application of this concept. The number of users is growing exponentially, generating a huge amount of different data every second through different sources (YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google, Skype, Internet, E-mail). All those unimaginably large amounts of data need to be stored somewhere: processed, analyzed, presented and interpreted, and then propose (suggest) specific business solutions based on those results. Realization of those activities in real or reasonable time, and often unexpected and surprising conclusions, are made possible by the Big Data concept. This article aims to shed light on the concept and technology of Big Data and its application at the level of small and medium enterprises. Big Data is a theoretical and technological concept, which is able to revolutionize the way of decision-making in companies and achieve extraordinary and concrete results. A secondary, but no less important, goal of writing this paper is to point out the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises, which outnumber the large ones. Most of them strive for a stable, dominant and high market position, so it can be concluded that they are extremely important for development and progress of each country.