Preface: Massive-scale analytics

Big Data refers to large datasets that are beyond the capability of traditional software tools to quickly manage,process, and analyze. The development of techniques for gaining insight from such information provides potential benefits in such arenas as business, science, and public policy. Big Data is generally characterized by its volume, variety, velocity, and veracity. This special issue of the IBM Journal of Research and Development emphasizes applications, analytics, software, and hardware technologies that form the foundational building blocks for massive-scale analytics (MSA) and the processing of Big Data.