The traditional world of relational databases and enterprise data warehouses is being challenged by growth in data volumes, the rise of unstructured and semi-structured data, and the desire to extract more valuable business insights. In order to remain competitive: we are entering the world of ‘BIG DATA’. Scale-out, commodity hardware-based solutions based on the map-reduce programming model for parallel processing on large hardware are emerging to address these BIG DATA requirements that have challenged traditional technologies. In this talk I will focus on the potential business value to be created in this area by describing the opportunities and risks arising from the recent emergence of BIG DATA Analytics technology for companies. Then I will discuss the role businesses can play in BIG DATA, and finally I will explain Telefonica’s experience in applying BIG DATA technology, both internally for enhancement of its own business processes and externally, where we are applying the technology to benefit our customers directly.