Enterprise Information Delivery Strengthened with Solid Library of Connectors
February 13, 2013
Now that many organizations have begun to employ big data initiatives we are seeing many more surveys that are examining what stage of the process these companies are at. An article from ReadWrite discusses the results of a survey conducted by Infochimps and SSWUG.org, a community site for IT professionals. “Big Data: Many CIOs Completely Clueless” offers solid insight into what kind of technologies these companies need in order to succeed with their initiatives.
The article states:
The greatest challenge with Big Data is getting at the data trapped in various business applications across an organization, the survey found. Pooling this huge amount of information is necessary in order to run the necessary analytics to find ways to cut costs and run a more efficient business. But before that can happen, all the data has to be converted into a usable format.
Understanding a more complex picture, at a bird’s eye view above the individual enterprise applications, is likely to be much easier when the proper tools are employed. We have had our eyes on one such possibility, PolySpot. Enterprises benefit from the heightened information access and enriched information that comes with a product featuring such a strong library of connectors like this technology offers.
Megan Feil, February 13, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search.
DataStax Attempts Security with NoSQL
February 13, 2013
DataStax, a company based on the Cassandra NoSQL database, has announced the release of DataStax Enterprise 3.0. The new platform is not just an upgrade; it is really an overhaul. Kristin Bent covers the release for CRN in the story, “DataStax Merges Enterprise Security, NoSQL In Big Data Platform.”
The article states:
“Big data applications vendor DataStax said this week it will start shipping its next-generation data management platform on Feb. 25, a release the company says melds the flexibility of NoSQL databases with enterprise-level security. The new platform, dubbed DataStax Enterprise (DSE) 3.0, is targeted at organizations looking to adopt NoSQL databases — a type of next-generation, non-relational database optimized for big data — without sacrificing the robust security features native to more traditional SQL databases, explained Robin Schumacher, vice president of products at DataStax.”
Most NoSQL solutions do not have built in security. But enterprises have grown used to advanced security features. DataStax hopes to bridge the gap by bringing enterprise security solutions to the NoSQL base. However, some may not trust the first version of such a blended solution. Many will still trust traditional enterprise search solutions built on trusted names, for instance, LucidWorks and its usage of Apache Lucene and Solr technologies.
Emily Rae Aldridge, February 13, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Connectors in Big Data Solutions Link Data Necessary for Comprehensive Picture
February 12, 2013
A recent article from GigaOM furthers the conversation in the midst of what some describe as a data backlash in “Why Big Data Matters and Data-ism Doesn’t.” New York Times columnist David Brooks is credited with coining the term data-ism to characterize the common phenomenon where people reduce everything in the world to statistics and this GigaOM writer agrees that data-ism is something to stay far away from.
While many data enthusiasts are simply content with lists of data and statistics for the sake of the data, it is important to see beyond the mere data points. Big data and the technological tools available are helping to further the possibilities and opportunities that data offers every field from research to business.
The author of this article states:
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the real value of data isn’t just in uncovering statistical realities, but in finding methods for doing so where it was hitherto impossible and in creating entirely new products that change the way we interact with our world. Big data is a technological revolution centered around collecting, storing and processing more data of more types than ever before.
One way we are seeing the larger connections hidden within the various and high volumes of data points that make big data arise to the surface is through solutions like PolySpot. This technology scores big in the realm of connectors with over one hundred different types.
Megan Feil, February 12, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search.
PolySpot Solutions Enable Data Scientists to Arrive at More Accurate Conclusions
February 11, 2013
We all know that big data means more information but as a recent article “Beware the Errors of ‘Big Data’” from Wired points out, there is also the potential for more false information to arise because of big data.
Antifragile, a concept explored in the article, is having the unique position and ability to be be capable of benefiting from uncertainty and complexity at the expense of others. Big data researchers or data scientists have the power to choose to stop their research and inquiries when they have the right result that they need.
We learned more about this perspective that more data does not automatically produce meaningful and correct information:
But beyond that, big data means anyone can find fake statistical relationships, since the spurious rises to the surface. This is because in large data sets, large deviations are vastly more attributable to variance (or noise) than to information (or signal). It’s a property of sampling: In real life there is no cherry-picking, but on the researcher’s computer, there is. Large deviations are likely to be bogus.
While there is certainly the potential for improper conclusions to be drawn from data due to the nature of decision-making, this could mean that data scientists need to rely further on technology to aid them in this process. Solutions like PolySpot enable departments across the enterprise to tap into the insights produced by big data and the organization wide access offers the transparency and accountability organizations are looking for.
Megan Feil, February 11, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search.
IBM Servers Marketed to Emerging Markets
February 11, 2013
As Big Data solutions become more accessible for medium and small sized enterprises, new markets are emerging for providers of servers and storage space. One side effect of the Big Data boom is the subsequent market for infrastructure. IBM is hoping to capitalize on that new market. The ZDNet story, “IBM Targets Emerging Markets, Offers Cheap Servers,” tells how.
The article begins:
“IBM will begin offering a new Power Systems server and storage range this month, aimed at both SMBs and emerging markets . . . Rod Adkins, a Senior Vice President in IBM’s Systems & Technology Group told Reuters: ‘Big data and cloud technologies that were once only affordable to large enterprises are now available to the masses. With these new systems, IBM is forging an aggressive expansion of its Power and Storage Systems business into SMB (small- and medium-sized businesses) and growth markets.’”
The hardware and infrastructure to support Big Data is important, but hardware is nothing without the software to do the work. For instance, LucidWorks Big Data is a strong contender in the Big Data market. LucidWorks has a cloud-hosted option for those who cannot yet invest in the hardware. As a major bonus, LucidWorks is a trusted industry standard in open source search, so the movement into Big Data solutions is a smart and natural one.
Emily Rae Aldridge, February 11, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Information Connectivity Enabled Across the Enterprise with PolySpot
February 8, 2013
One of the reasons that big data is so big is because of the large number of devices in which data can be generated. An infographic from Techi popped up recently that describes how “Big Data is Bigger than Most Realize and discusses this and the larger implications. The article references IBM‘s report that says 90 percent of the world’s data has been accumulated in the last two years.
Peer to peer communication and social networking data make up the largest chunk of the zettabytes that are out there. The infographic attempts to relay an overarching perspective on how far technology has come by sharing that one zettabyte book would require 3 times the number of trees in the world for paper.
The infographic was framed in the following context:
On the tail of the release of a report that showed how synthetic DNA could be used to store zettabytes of data in the palm of our hand, it’s important to understand just how much information that really is. The term “big data” is already appearing to be the most overused word of the year in 2013 and it’s only January, so grasping the size of how big it all really is makes for an interesting visualization.
While many organizations will never need to crunch zettabytes this year, they will undoubtedly benefit from storing and analyzing petabytes and exabytes. Solutions like those from PolySpot aid in an organization’s ability to connect data from various sources and churn out meaningful insights from pieces in order to make a whole.
Megan Feil, February 8, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search.
Half Our Medical Treatments May or May Not Work
February 8, 2013
It seems like we should be past this point by now. The Washington Post reports, “Surprise! We Don’t Know if Half Our Medical Treatments Work.” Where are the big-data breakthroughs in this, one of humanity’s most crucial subject matters?
The British Medical Journal recently undertook a project called simply Clinical Evidence, which examined some 3,000 treatments that have been studied in controlled, randomized studies. For fully half, the studies are inconclusive. It is important to note that this doesn’t mean that half the time we are using treatments of unknown effectiveness, but rather that we don’t know the worth of half the number of treatments out there, including those rarely used. Still, that is a disturbing gap in our body of knowledge.
The report says the mystery-value treatments are those “for which there is insufficient data or data of inadequate quality.” That’s the part that is hard for me to wrap my head around. I guess the data management pros have some work to do in this area.
The lack of information can impact very concrete decisions. Writer Sarah Kliff reminds us:
“When health policy wonks talk about ending unnecessary care, they usually mean targeting these types of treatments — the ones where we have no idea whether they’re making us any healthier, but still increase spending.
“There are specific bodies dedicated to figuring out whether these 1,500 treatments actually work. That includes the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, or PCORI, which was created by the health-care law to study comparative effectiveness research. . . . This Clinical Evidence research suggests they’ll have no shortage of medical treatments to study.”
Indeed. Let us hope our lack of intel does not send any hidden medical miracles into the dustbin of time.
Cynthia Murrell, February 08, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Information Access and Analytics are Vital in Subjective World of Big Data
February 7, 2013
Are decisions in the business world ultimately based on rational and objective facts? Or are they based on intuition? University of Virginia, Darden School Professor Robert Carraway weighs in on the subject in his recent guest post on Forbes. The article “Meeting the Big Data Challenge: Don’t Be Objective” expands on these questions.
Carraway reports that the Corporate Executive Board of U.Va.’s Darden School of Business created a new tool called Insight IQ. This tool is used to assess the tendency of managers to rely on intuition versus analysis. It turns out that 19% of over 5,000 managers in major global corporations are “Visceral decision makers” that rely almost exclusively on intuition.
The author argues that big data and more logical, objective analytical tools and frameworks places even more weight on the role of intuition.
This is one reason why I think so many CEO’s say they are far more likely to rely on intuition than analysis in making decisions. Almost by definition, the issues they deal with are complex and multi-faceted, impossible to completely model or holistically analyze. My experience is that every CEO I know DOES use analysis, but what is far more visible to them is how they have to rely on intuition to fill in the gaps, and this is what they self-report.
If intuition is inevitable in the process of making decisions then it is even more important to rely on technological solutions to offer the analysis which intuition becomes informed by. We suggest taking a look at PolySpot solutions for enterprise information access.
Megan Feil, February 7, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search.
Decision Making Only Becomes Easier for CMOs with PolySpot
February 6, 2013
Last year, Gartner forecasted that by 2017, the CMO would be spending more on IT than the CIO. The landscape of office politics has caused what Forbes is calling “Big Data Star Wars: The CMO/CIO Wars Continue.” Money drives the decisions in external business affairs and clearly the same is the case for internal issues as well.
Acknowledging that IT budgets are shrinking and CMO desires to tap into insights from unstructured data platforms is only increasing, the article purports the trend as a continuing one.
The article states:
Marketers want to do more with big data in 2013, which probably means they will increase the pressure on the IT department or by-pass it with cloud-based resources. More than half of the survey respondents said they have already started implementing real-time data and plan to make greater use of it in 2013 to drive more personalized marketing campaigns, with another 30 percent saying they plan on using it for the first time or consider using it.
Many of the technology resources available to organizations aid in connecting departments across the enterprise with information access to insights churned from big data solutions. One such technology that we have seen make waves in this area is PolySpot. Their library of over one hundred connectors makes decision making for business professionals a cinch.
Megan Feil, February 6, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search.
Ai-One Touts Intelligent Agent Advantage
February 6, 2013
Is it another breakthrough in the analysis of unstructured text? Ai-one provides a detailed account of its data-analysis platform ai-BrainDocs in, “Big Data Solutions: Intelligent Agents Find Meaning of Text.” The write-up begins with an summary of the familiar problems many organizations face when trying to make the most of the vast amounts of data they have collected, particularly limitations of the keyword approach. Ai-one describes how they have moved beyond those limitations:
“Our approach generates an ‘ai-Fingerprint’ that is a representational model of a document using keywords and association words. The ‘ai-Fingerprint‘ is similar to a graph G[V,E] where G is the knowledge representation, V (vertices) are keywords, and E (edges) are associations. This can also be thought of as a topic model. . . .
“The magic is that ai-one’s API automatically detects keywords and associations – so it learns faster, with fewer documents and provides a more precise solution than mainstream machine learning methods using latent semantic analysis. Moreover, using ai-one’s approach makes it relatively easy for almost any developer to build intelligent agents.”
The write-up tells us how to build such “intelligent agents,” delving into the perspectives of both humans and conventional machine learning (including natural language processing and latent analysis techniques). It concludes by describing the creation of their ai-BrainDocs prototype. The article is rich in detail—a worthwhile read for anyone interested in such mechanics.
Founded in Zurich in 2003, ai-one is now headquartered in La Jolla, California, with research in Zurich and European operations in Berlin. The company licenses their software to developers around the world, who embed it in their own products.
Cynthia Murrell, February 06, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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