At its annual forum, The Green Grid has emphasized how suddenly 'Big Data' has exploded onto the technology scene with new applications, new products, new terminology, and lots of hype. But what does 'Big Data' really connote at the level of practical infrastructure and, moreover, what does it mean for the IT professional? During the above session at The Green Grid's 2013 Forum, industry experts and big data practitioners talked about how technology is developing to support big data applications, what it means to those who have to make them work, and the potential career impacts of the emerging field of data science.