IBM Focuses on Big Data Analysis
November 12, 2012
In their special Big Data section, InformationWeek tells us that “IBM Accelerates Big Data Analysis.” Big Blue made a rash of big data-related announcements at their 2012 Information On Demand conference in Las Vegas. We find it interesting; IBM owns proprietary analytics companies Cognos, SPSS, and now Vivisimo. Is IBM now making a too-little-too-late play to catch up with other firms in big data analytics? Perhaps they should have asked Watson what to do.
Whatever the case, IBM is now forging ahead in this brave new realm. The article states:
“What the announcements have in common is that they’re all about parts of IBM’s Big Data Platform, which is Big Blue’s umbrella term for a diverse collection of data-management and analysis technology bridging the relational database and Hadoop worlds.”
Just what we need—another bridge between relational databases and the venerable, open-source Hadoop. Ah, well; IBM knows it doesn’t matter if you don’t do it first if you can do it better.
The first set of announcements involve IBM’s BigInsights platform, which links proprietary tools like BigSheets to a distribution of Hadoop. The new twist here is the inclusion of analytics accelerators for text and social media data. Of course. Another addition to BigInsights addition, InfoSphere Data Explorer, sounds useful. The write up explains:
“Unlike BigSheets, which lets you explore Hadoop data in a spreadsheet-like interface, InfoSphere Data Explorer can look across multiple data sources using data-federation and analysis technology from IBM’s Vivisimo acquisition. With access to Hadoop as well as data warehouses, data marts, and possibly other sources, the software can automatically find correlations in data across these platforms.”
Other big data developments from IBM include InfoSphere Streams for processing in real-time environments; the latest version of PureData System for Analytics (formerly known as the IBM Netezza appliance); the Big Data Solution For CMOs which combines PureData with IBM’s Unica Web analytics software; and, finally, a bundle of predictive analytics services called Analytic Answers, which runs inside IBM’s Smart Cloud. See the article for details on all these offerings.
Cynthia Murrell, November 12, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
IntelTrax Summary: November 2 to November 8
November 12, 2012
This week the IntelTrax advanced intelligence blog published some excellent article summaries regarding big data’s growing impact on the globalized workplace.
“Big Data Talent Pool Grows” explains how job seekers are embracing the big data analytics profession due to the fact that it welcomes new talent.
The article states:
“The just-released InformationWeek 2012 State of IT Staffing Survey reveals that 40% of those who cite big data and analytics as a top hiring priority say they’ll increase staffing in these areas by 11% or more during the next two years. At the same time, 53% of these companies say it will be hard to find big-data-savvy analytics experts. Respondents expect to try a mix of retraining of existing people, hiring of new employees and contracting of consultants and temporary employees to fill the gap.
Practitioners, vendors, and educators we spoke to for our Big Data IT Staffing report offer seven tips for finding the right talent.”
The article, “The Healthcare Analytics Trickle Down” shows how the pairing of healthcare and data analytics is starting to pay off for many companies and its starting to trickle down.
The article states:
“If you’re old enough to remember the Reagan administration, you remember the politically charged expression “trickle-down economics,” which referred to the theory that if you provide benefits and incentives to businesses and the wealthy, those benefits would trickle down to wage earners at lower socioeconomic levels.
In some ways, big data analytics is like trickle-down economics. Only the biggest healthcare providers with the deepest pockets can afford the kind of analytics platforms required to get useful intelligence from tens of thousands of patient records. But in theory, those benefits will trickle down to smaller providers that either don’t have the financial support or the large patient populations to do this type of data crunching on their own.”
We all knew that big data was something worth investing in, but save the world? that seems to be a little bit much. “50 Ways Big Data Can Save the World” showcases the new startup Bidgely, which aims to turn every appliance in your home into a data scientist, providing you with real time results on your energy usage.
The article states:
“Utilities worldwide are installing smart meters on homes and businesses, which means there could be as much as 50 terabytes of energy data that can emerge from a million or so homes in a year. The problem has been that there haven’t been very many ways to make good use of all this data to benefit the average consumer. But a startup called Bidgely, which raised a series A round from Khosla Ventures, says it has created algorithms that can dig into real-time smart meter energy-consumption data, can reduce consumers’ home energy use by between 4 percent to 12 percent, and can also deliver other beneficial home services to consumers.”
Whether you are looking to utilize big data to protect the environment, save lives, or boost business for your company, there are solutions available that can be very beneficial. Thanks to companies like Digital Reasoning, this technology is more affordable, accessible and customizable than ever.
Jasmine Ashton, November 12, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Metadata on Unstructured Data Increases Findability
November 9, 2012
Big data has held the media spotlight long enough to surpass any initial thought that it was a passing trend. Now the headlines trumpet how to benefit from the massive amounts of unstructured data flooding the internet and how to process it.
Computer Weekly’s article“How to Manage Unstructured Data for Business Benefit” explains how the next data evolution will be harnessing the benefits of both unstructured and structured data:
“There is as much value in unstructured data in terms of what customers are thinking on the web and what businesses can derive from other organizations’ data. It requires an understanding of the type of information the business is looking for and the kinds of insights business managers are hoping to draw from the data. The more considered the query, and the more focused the search, the better the results. This rule applies to both structured and unstructured data.”
Applying metadata to unstructured data opens up a profound new way to increase the findability of enterprise content, but the right solution is mandatory for success. Businesses looking for secure search and enterprise accessibility will find Intrafind provides customized solutions that combine to organize, tag and ultimately reveal relevant information to users of their enterprise search solutions. Powerful tools like this provide flexible options for data processing that put the power to increase efficiency and ROI back in the hands of the user.
Jennifer Shockley, November 9, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
PolySpot Takes Companies Past A Positive Point of No Return
November 9, 2012
More and more organizations have learned how to stop worrying and love big data. In fact, Econsultancy has ventured to say that as a collective, organizations and media alike are no longer questioning the major role big data will play in shaping business strategy and growth. The article “Passing the Big Data Point of No Return” describes this buy-in and how it particularly helps marketing departments.
The ability to demonstrate marketing ROI was nowhere near solidified until big data came into the picture. It has caused an increase in digital marketing spend growth from an estimated $25 billion to and anticipated $50 billion by 2015.
We also learned the following:
Marketing has been a notoriously difficult discipline to prove ROI and marketers have always been under a high level of scrutiny to demonstrate real business value. But now, we have the ability to more efficiently understand unmet needs in key customer and market segments, alongside the opportunity to test and responding to the most effective ways to stimulate customer engagement throughout the buying process. Through this Big Data can facilitate more accurate risk modeling, campaign optimization, real-time social sentiment analysis, real-time ROI measurement—and much more.
We have no doubt that ROI will drive big data even further past the point of no return. When information and insights are delivered near real-time to employees across the enterprise with software solutions like PolySpot, productivity will be hard-pressed not to increase.
Megan Feil, November 9, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
More Promises For Big Data
November 9, 2012
Info World recently announced a new big data channel, covering the latest developments in big data, in the article, “Unlocking the Value of Big Data.”
According to the article, InfoWorld’s big data channel features a blog that will provide a clear sense of how the trend is taking shape through the use of case studies that highlight the practical aspects of big data.
Writer, Eric Knorr, explains InfoWorld’s journey toward discovering big data. When explaining big data, he states:
“One way of thinking about big data is that these new technologies have arrived in the nick of time. Regulatory compliance concerns have created a “save everything” culture in the enterprise, including the fastest-growing segment: log files containing security or system events and metadata capturing the behavior of visitors as they use Web applications. InfoWorld has described the collective effect of all these new sources as the data explosion, where — according to a famous 2008 IDC report — the storage requirements of enterprises are increasing at a rate of 50 percent per year.”
Big data blogs are a very important way for enterprises to navigate the many different type of data analytics solutions currently on the market. We should know, Beyond Search has been doing it for years.
Jasmine Ashton, November 09, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Enterprise Software Solutions Enable Technologies to Deliver Information
November 8, 2012
The author of a recent ZDNet article, “Reality Check: Big Data BS” is not the first to call out the marketers and media mongers who are going nuts over the buzz surrounding big data. It could be argued, according to this source, that big data as a concept is nothing new.
This particular article brings in reinforcement in the form of other blogs and posts related to the idea that big data use cases have been around for quite some time now. Projects in the past may not have always been labeled as ‘big data’ but that doesn’t stop them from fitting the bill as such.
The article states:
As I think about this topic I cannot help but go back to the Harrahs case study from ten plus years ago where CEO Gary Loveman applied his understanding of customer loyalty, developed during his tenure at MIT Sloane to the rejuvenation of a tired gaming hall and turned it into a gaming powerhouse. He understood the value of blended real time data coming from multiple sources. More important, he understood that data has to be actionable, business models have to be refined and processes need recasting to reflect the new information and what it is revealing.
Creating and working with actionable and usable data is no longer a challenge for many businesses – rather it does not have to be a challenge anymore. Many information management software solutions, such as PolySpot, enable the technologies to deliver information and users are simply left with making the decisions.
Megan Feil, November 8, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Reliable Vendors Offer Customized Enterprise Search
November 7, 2012
Companies utilizing reliable data management software have been reaping the benefits of Big Data but developers are now scrambling to one up each other. It seems some software designers are making unrealistic promises while others proudly announce claims of software reinvention that stem from simple modifications offered by longstanding developers as a given.
SC Magazine’s article “Splunk Claims Speedier Reports with Enterprise 5” stresses how Splunk plans on winning the Big Data race by improving report speed renders:
“Splunk Enterprise already provided the ability to search, analyze and visualize machine data on tablets, smartphones, laptops and non-flash browsers. In Splunk Enterprise 4.x., skilled users could refine searches to save time, but “most users didn’t have the skill set required. An ad hoc report on ‘Web Errors broken out by URL and WebServer over the Last Month’ in a large multi-data center web environment across multiple terabytes of data might take 30 minutes to run. With report acceleration in Splunk Enterprise 5, that same report would render in less than two seconds.”
Faster does not necessarily mean better and big claims in Big Data should be swallowed with a grain of salt. Intrafind offers businesses enterprise search that is tailor made to fit specific enterprise information needs. The ability to define requirements, tweak criteria and customize search solutions increases efficiencies and provides a better ROI thanks to more targeted relevant results.
Jennifer Shockley, November 7, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
PolySpot Delivers Insights and Information From Raw Data
November 7, 2012
Media sources often plow through updates giving detailed accounts of the who, what, why, when and where for newsworthy events and developments, but it is quite refreshing when a source takes a step back and reflects upon the larger context. We give credit to GigaOM for taking that direction with their recent article, “5 Trends That Are Changing How We Do Big Data.”
The democratization of the study of data science ranks as one of the top updates in this arena. The article mentions the likes of Udacity and Coursera; these offer online courses related to big data. Apache Hadoop version 2.0 made a big splash too and now there is more to the software than just MapReduce jobs.
The article shares more information on the technical improvements big data has spurred:
One of these approaches is making big data accessible to developers, which is where startups such as Continuuity, Infochimps and even Precog (a big data BI engine, by nature) come into play. They make it relatively easy for developers to create applications that tie at least some functions into a big data backend, sometimes via a process as simple as writing a script or generating a piece of code that programmers can insert directly into their application’s code.
Apps for churning out big data insights will remain high on many companies’ wish lists. We imagine that companies like PolySpot will see quite the spike in demand for their offerings as businesses also wrap their minds around the larger picture of possibilities with big data.
Megan Feil, November 7, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
LucidWorks and Apache Lucene/Solr Resources
November 7, 2012
LucidWorks provides consulting, training, and customer support surrounding its open source search offerings, including: LucidWorks Search and LucidWorks Big Data. But LucidWorks is also devoted to the support of the underlying open source software and infrastructure. LucidWorks provides training materials for its LucidWorks products, but also for Apache Lucene/Solr on its resources page.
Read what the resource page has to offer:
“The Reference Materials section provides all developers access to the most in-depth information about installing, configuring and using Solr and LucidWorks Search. Here you will find comprehensive documentations, reference guides, tutorials, and books that are related to the Lucene/Solr and LucidWorks community.”
Among the resources featured are books, white papers, and webinars from big names in enterprise and open source including: Erik Hatcher, Otis Gospodnetic, and Grant Ingersoll. Additionally, 9 out of the 27 core committers for the Apache/Lucene project are LucidWorks employees. Lucene/Solr is highly touted and widely respected. Implementing this industry-vetted technology through a company that will support and train its customers, like LucidWorks, seems like a no brainer. Visit the LucidWorks Product Suite to learn more.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 07, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Enterprise Content Management in the Big Data Era is Complex
November 6, 2012
The evolution of ECM through the past years can be tough to follow, and the future can be even harder to predict. The challenges range from digitizing paper documents to constant process changes. The article “Maturing ECM Technology Tested by Increase in Data” on PropertyCasualty360 speaks on the various problems that can arise in the Big Data era, like analyzing and managing content in data warehouses and the cloud.
The article continues and elaborates on the future of enterprise content management:
“Through web services, carriers will call out to the ECM systems to restore, retrieve, and search through documents. They are not necessarily interacting with the ECM solution, but the new core system as the front end.
‘There are different approaches being taken and the effort going forward and finding how these systems work together and how the workflows work together is proving to be a big job for carriers,’ says [David Packer, a principal for the technology consulting group X by 2.]”
Enterprise content management has multiple layers and they are complex, and the systems are likely to remain elaborate. Working with vendors such as Intrafind that offer secure access and robust search is a good business practice that can help alleviate some of the complexity.
Andrea Hayden, November 6, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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