In May 2015, a study by Gartner pointed out that among the IT and business leaders that were surveyed, a little less than half had already invested in Hadoop or were planning to do so in the next two years. The rest of them, which formed the majority, had no plans to put money in it, and would not recommend it either. For those who have been witness to the popularity and love Hadoop enjoyed at the outset, this is either sheer disappointment or a validation to their inhibitions about its success.
This study lands us on this question: Hadoop had arrived with a bang. Is it going to end up in the trash of disillusionment?
Let us look at the possible factors behind this situation.
Dearth of skills: Big companies like Disney and Nokia have sucked dry the talent pool of skilled data scientists, which was already too small. In such a dearth of qualifications, a majority of the smaller companies have not been able to adopt Hadoop, or not been successful if they have. This is seems to be the biggest hurdle right now.
Unrealistic expectations: Another very important reason for the negative perception that Hadoop has gained is an unrealistic expectation from its abilities. Thinking that it is a magic wand for big data that will start churning out benefits just by adding it to a business legacy is too much of a simplistic view. Unless there is a specific skill set that knows how to utilize Hadoop’s potential and the clarity about what is it that a business really wants to achieve, it is quite easy to be disappointed.
However, there is a new wave of development, the Age of Applications, which is slowly changing the way Hadoop is being seen. Businesses will use applications specific to their contexts, which will make the need of specialized workforce obsolete. It means that Hadoop will more be like the backstage director who pulls the shots, while the characters dance onscreen and show cannot succeed without its director. Business users will be able to use Hadoop’s expertise as and when they want through various applications. The hurdles of lack of expertise will be no more be there. And as access and use will become easier, Hadoop will be massively useful and prove it worth at enterprise level as it originally expected.
Do you also believe in its ability to bounce back to stardom with the support of superior and upgraded technologies? Share in
