ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives

The Untapped Potential of Data Preparation

Posted by David Menninger on 29 December 2017

Ventana Research recently published the findings of our benchmark research on Data Preparation, which examines the practices organizations use to accomplish data preparation. We view data preparation as a sequence of steps: identifying, locating and then accessing the data; aggregating data from different sources; and enriching, transforming and cleaning it to create a single uniform data set.... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Analytics, Data Preparation

SAP Data Hub Orchestrates Data for Business and IT

Posted by David Menninger on 14 December 2017

I recently attended SAP TechEd in Las Vegas to hear the latest from the company regarding its analytics and business intelligence offerings as well as its data management platform. The company used the event to launch SAP Data Hub and made several other data and analytics announcements that I’ll cover below. SAP Data Hub is designed to help organizations deal with the variety of databases and... Read More

Topics: Big Data, SAP, Machine Learning, Analytics, Data Preparation, SAP TechEd

At Strata Data NY, Focus is on Machine Learning and AI

Posted by David Menninger on 19 November 2017

The Strata Data Conference is changing and it’s changing in a good way. At the recent Strata Data Conference in New York, Mike Olson, chief strategy officer at Cloudera, which co-sponsored the event, commented that at prior events we used to talk about the “Hadoop zoo animals,” meaning the various components of the Hadoop ecosystem of which I have written previously. Following last fall’s Strata... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Machine Learning, Analytics, Hadoop, Artificial intelligence

Is Hadoop Disappearing?

Posted by David Menninger on 09 November 2017

There’s been some speculation in the market that Hadoop may be disappearing. Some of this speculation has been driven by vendors that have recently downplayed Hadoop in their marketing efforts. For example, the Strata+Hadoop World conference is now known as the Strata Data Conference. The Hadoop Summit is now known as the Dataworks Summit. In Cloudera’s S-1 filing with the SEC for its initial... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Analytics, Hadoop

Hortonworks Helps IBM Big Data Potential with Hadoop

Posted by David Menninger on 04 September 2017

Recently Hortonworks announced some significant additions to its products at the DataWorks Summit. These additions reflect the fact that the big data market continues to evolve, as I have previously written. Along with this evolution, the focus is changing from the technical aspects of storing and managing very large amounts of data to applying analytics to the data to improve business outcomes.... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Machine Learning, Analytics

Natural Language Generation Broadens the Reach of Analytics and BI

Posted by David Menninger on 01 September 2017

Natural language generation (NLG), the process of generating text or narratives based on a set of data values, can reach a broader audience. NLG narratives can be used for a variety of purposes, but in this perspective I focus on how NLG can be used to enhance business intelligence (BI) processes. In the case of BI, NLG can be used to explain what has happened and why it is happening, and even... Read More

Topics: Machine Learning, Natural Language, Analytics, Business Intelligence

Datawatch Gets Social with Data Preparation

Posted by David Menninger on 24 August 2017

Many organizations continue to struggle with preparing data for use in operational and analytical processes. We see these issues reported in our Data and Analytics in the Cloud benchmark research, where 55 percent of organizations identify data preparation as the most time-consuming task in their analytical processes. Similarly, in our Next-Generation Predictive Analytics research, 62 percent of... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Collaboration, Data Preparation, Datawatch

Choose Your IoT Technologies Wisely

Posted by David Menninger on 03 July 2017

This is my second analyst perspective based on our IoT Benchmark Research. In the first, I discussed the business focus of IoT applications and some of the challenges organizations are facing. Now I’ll share some of the findings about technologies used in IoT applications and the impact those technologies appear to have on the success of users’ projects. The IoT market has developed unevenly up... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Analytics, Business Intelligence, IOT, NoSQL

The Year of Machine Learning

Posted by David Menninger on 01 June 2017

This year various types of organizations are embracing machine learning like it is going out of style – or maybe it would be better to say coming into style. And now with a little investigation on LinkedIn finds over half million professionals with machine learning in their job title. Machine learning is the application of specific data science algorithms that become more accurate as the system... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Data Science, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing, Machine Learning Digital Technology

Informatica Asserts Its Commitment to the Cloud and Machine Learning

Posted by David Menninger on 27 May 2017

Informatica reintroduced itself to the world at its recent customer conference, Informatica World, in San Francisco. The company took advantage of the event to showcase its new branding in an effort to change the way customers think about the company. Informatica has been providing information services in the cloud for more than a decade. Even though cloud revenue comprises a minority of... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Data Science, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Data Governance, Data Integration, Data Preparation, Information Optimization, Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing, Machine Learning Digital Technology

MicroStrategy Deepens Potential of Analytics and BI Platform

Posted by David Menninger on 17 May 2017

I recently attended the MicroStrategy World conference, which was held in Washington, D.C. and it celebrate its 20th anniversary, which is why MicroStrategy hosted the event near its headquarters. Over the past 20 years, the market and technology for business intelligence and analytics have significantly changed, and in several changes, MicroStrategy has been at the forefront. Now is a good time... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Mobile Technology, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Digital Technology

Domo Innovates Analytics for Business

Posted by David Menninger on 15 April 2017

Some 3,000 people attended Domo’s recent customer event, called Domopalooza. That’s nearly double the attendance of the previous event, which my colleague Mark Smith covered. Formerly a bit “stealthy,” Domo has started sharing more information, some of which I’ll pass along, as well as observations about product announcements made at the event. As Mark Smith observed, Domo is not a typical... Read More

Topics: Data Science, Mobile, Mobile Technology, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Collaboration, Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing, Machine Learning Digital Technology

SAS Brings Portfolio of Data Science with Viya

Posted by David Menninger on 05 April 2017

I recently attended SAS Institute’s analyst relations conference. There the company provided updates on its financial performance and its Viya platform and a glimpse into some of its future plans. Financially the company reported another year of growth for 2016, growing 4 percent in constant dollars. Although it is slight in U.S. dollars (1.3%), that growth in constant dollars represents... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Data Science, Mobile Technology, business intelligence, Analytics, Cloud Computing, Collaboration, Data Governance, Data Integration, Data Preparation, Internet of Things, Information Optimization, Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing, Machine Learning Digital Technology

IoT Challenges Organization and Technological Readiness

Posted by David Menninger on 14 March 2017

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a technology that extends digital connectivity to devices and sensors in homes, businesses, vehicles and potentially almost anywhere. This advance enables virtually any device to transmit its data, to which analytics can then be applied to facilitate monitoring and a range of operational functions. IoT can deliver value in several ways. It can provide organizations... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Wearable Computing, Analytics, Internet of Things, Digital Technology

2017 Big Data Prediction: A’s Replace V’s

Posted by David Menninger on 01 March 2017

Big data initially was characterized in terms of “the three V’s,” volume, velocity and variety. Nearly five years ago I wrote about the three V’s as a way to explain why new and different technologies were needed to deal with big data. Since then the industry has tackled many of the technical challenges associated with the three V’s. In 2017 I propose that we focus instead on a different letter,... Read More

Topics: Data Science, Machine Learning, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Collaboration, Data Preparation, Internet of Things, Information Optimization

Research Agenda Will Track Big Data and Information Management in 2017

Posted by David Menninger on 15 February 2017

Big data has become an integral part of information management. Nearly all organizations have some need to access big data sources and produce actionable information for decision-makers. Recognizing this connection, we merged these two topics when we put together our recently published research agendas for 2017. As we plan our research, we focus on current technologies and how they can be used to... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Data Science, Analytics, Data Governance, Data Integration, Data Preparation, Information Management, Internet of Things, Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing, Machine Learning Digital Technology

Research Agenda Will Guide Business Analytics in 2017

Posted by David Menninger on 08 February 2017

Ventana Research analysts recently published our research agendas for 2017. As we put together these plans we think about the forces that are shaping the markets that we cover and then craft agendas that study these issues to provide insights for our community. I’ve been working in the business intelligence (BI) and analytics market for nearly 25 years, and throughout that time the industry has... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Data Science, Mobile Technology, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Collaboration, Internet of Things, Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing, Machine Learning Digital Technology

Pentaho 7.0 Brings Visualization and Data Preparation

Posted by David Menninger on 27 January 2017

The business intelligence market is bounded on one side by big data and on the other side by data preparation. That is, to maximize their performance in using information, organizations have to collect and analyze ever increasing volumes of data while the tools available are constantly evolving in the big data ecosystem that I have written about. In our benchmark research on big data analytics,... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Collaboration, Data Integration, Data Preparation, Information Management, Internet of Things

MapR Takes Road Less Traveled to Big Data

Posted by David Menninger on 19 January 2017

The big data market continues to evolve, as I have written previously. Vendors are attempting to differentiate their offerings as they seek to encourage customers to pay for technology that they could potentially download for free. MapR is one of those big data vendors. It entered the market in 2011 with a Hadoop distribution that used an alternative, POSIX-based file system that also offers HDFS... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Internet of Things, Information Optimization

IBM and The World of Watson

Posted by David Menninger on 16 December 2016

IBM recently held its inaugural World of Watson event. Formerly known as IBM Insight, and prior to that IBM Information on Demand, the annual event, attended by 17,000 people this year, showcases IBM’s data and analytics and the broader IBM efforts in cognitive computing. The theme for the event, as you might guess, was the Watson family of cognitive computing products. I, for one, was glad to... Read More

Topics: Big Data, Data Science, Machine Learning, Analytics, Cloud Computing, Data Governance, Data Integration, Internet of Things, Information Optimization, Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing