How to Lie with Data
Back in the early Nineties, I was working on a Ph.D applying a tool called a Geographic Information System (GIS) to the challenge of modelling archaeological deposits under cities. For those of us worrying about these things, Mark Monmonier‘s then-newly published first edition of How to Lie with Maps was required reading. It wasn’t so much a handbook […]
Microsoft Corporate Vice President Quentin Clark discusses data, data platforms, and more
The Data Platform Group at Microsoft does a lot, from SQL Server and their Hadoopey HDInsight offering through to Business Intelligence and analytics capabilities which sit in or on top of the humble Excel spreadsheet. I’ve touched upon pieces of this whole before, in a 2009 podcast on Azure with Amitabh Srivastava (then Corporate VP […]
Teradata Labs President Scott Gnau discusses the evolving data analytics market
With all the noise around newer technologies such as Hadoop, it would be easy to assume that the data analytics space is new — and totally dominated by the NewSQL/ NoSQL tools pouring out of the world’s startups. It would be easy. But it would also be wrong. Data analytics, business intelligence, and related ideas are not new. […]
Chasing That Killer Application Of Big Data
I often get asked, “what is the killer application of Big Data?” Unfortunately, the answer is not that simple. In the early days of enterprise software, it was the automation that fueled the growth of enterprise applications. The vendors that eventually managed to stay in business and got bigger were/are the ones that expanded their […]
Seeking Simplicity’s Sweet Spot
Albert Einstein, you may have heard, was a clever man. He scribbled equations on blackboards, thought big thoughts, and all of that. But, allegedly, he also said Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. These words have resonated with me recently, as I’ve heard pitches from one company after another, all […]
Justifying Big Data Investment
Traditionally companies invest into software that has been proven to meet their needs and has a clear ROI. This model falls apart when disruptive technology such as Big Data comes around. Most CIOs have started to hear about Big Data and based on their…
Visualisation – the key that unlocks data’s value?
As the Big Data hype machine continues its relentless attempt to gobble everything in its path, new business units and entire new domains buying into the promise find themselves faced with unanticipated data volume and complexity. They see the potential for data-based decision making, but still face (short-term?) challenges in actually managing, analysing or interpreting […]
Indicee Launches Analytics for Chatter
I’ve been using Salesforce Chatter for a few years now, I’ve also used other so-called enterprise social tools – Yammer and Socialcast for instance. While these tools are useful for small teams directly engaged in projects, it has always struck me that there is a lot of value left on the table when it comes […]
Big Data–Over Hyped Buzzword or Enterprise Focus?
Of all the myriad of terms that the tech industry throws around at the moment, none is as often subverted for marketing spin as “big data”. So much so that few people can actually agree on what big data is. For me, I’ll revert to Wikipediaand it’s definition which states; big data is a collection […]
Day #2 => Cloud Expo, A Few Pictures & Associated Thoughts
This first one is of Effective UI a company out of Denver, Colorado. You’re probably asking yourself, why are they at a cloud conference? I asked the same question and they brought up a really good point. Most cloud computing interfaces are horrible. I have to agree, most are or at least have been pretty […]
Does Your Organization Face Data Obesity Problem?
Recently, I wrote a report for GigaOm Pro (behind Paywall) commemorating their Structure:Big Data conference and introduced a term which is going to hurt many organizations in a big way in the near future. I thought I will write about it here and get the thoughts of practitioners and vendors on the problem. In the world […]
4 Big Data Myths – Part II
This is the second and the last part of this two-post series blog post on Big Data myths. If you haven’t read the first part, check it out here. Myth # 2: Big Data is an old wine in new bottle I hear people say, “Oh, that Big Data, we used to call it BI.” One […]
Big Data needs Big Collection and Big Execution
Big Data is the new buzz it seems, and I must say I have been sceptic of it since I first saw the very word – or phrase, what is it? As an IT architect, I’ve always equaled data to databases, and information to applications – and knowledge to the people on top of these […]
Modern Day Enterprise Software: Workday Example
Even before cloud computing became the household name, enterprise software industry has started seeing disruption. Even though legacy software still holds enterprise market to ransom, companies like Salesforce.com, Workday, Netsuite, Google, etc. are carving out a path towards the modern day enterprise software. From my point of view, any modern enterprise software should offer social […]
Customer Focus: the Constellation Supernova Awards
Constellation Research, founded by fellow Enterprise Irregular and star analyst Ray Wang has just announced the ambitious Supernova Awards program, focusing on – what a twist! – customer champions of innovation, rather than vendors. Krish and I both feel honored to have been invited as Judges for the Cloud Computing category. Below is the official […]
