The term “big data” has been prevalent over the past few years. Yet, according to Donald Feinberg, VP of Gartner’s Business Intelligence and Information Management group, the term will “disappear” in the near future.

Talking at Gartner’s Business Intelligence and Information Management summit in São Paulo, Feinberg said “The term ‘big data’ is going to disappear in the next two years, to become just ‘data’ or ‘any data.’ But, of course, the analysis of data will continue.”

Analysts and commentators have argued that the hype around “big data” has led to confusion about the term and its application for business. While Gartner reported that 64 percent of organizations are planning to invest in big data (up by 6 percent compared to 2012), the study also noted two interesting statistics that support Feinberg’s assertion: 1) 56 percent claimed to be “determining how to get value from big data,” and 2) 23 percent said that “understanding what big data is” proves to be an issue. As one Gartner researcher put it, “the vast majority is investing in big data without really knowing why.”

A team of analysts have noted that market vendors have caused part of the confusion. By trying to distinguish themselves through using terms like data mining, data scientist, BI, data discover, and indeed big data, companies have forgotten to ask why and how their investment in big data will help them. “Companies could have grown more in intelligence and analytics if they hadn’t been so distracted with big data,” Feinberg added.

In a recent interview with Dataconomy, Jim Sterne, the chairman of the Digital Analytics Association, also noted that the hype around big data is distorting people’s perception of what big data can do for them. Like Feinberg, Sterne believes that as people start to understand what big data is, their expectations of it will normalize.

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(Image Credit: Kalexander2010)