ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives

Oracle Addresses Combined AI and Data Platform Requirements

Posted by Matt Aslett on 13 May 2026

To mitigate cost and complexity, artificial intelligence (AI) and data initiatives must be aligned. Enterprises cannot afford fragmented approaches that duplicate effort or slow deployment, particularly as competitive pressure increases. Many providers have offered both AI platform and data platform capabilities for some time, but they have often addressed requirements with dedicated products... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Data Platforms, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

The Benefits and Risks of OLTP-On-Lakehouse Data Platforms

Posted by Matt Aslett on 05 May 2026

The emergence of cloud computing has had an enormous impact on all segments of the IT industry, including data platforms. All providers of data platform products have enabled their products to be deployed in the cloud and/or consumed as cloud-hosted managed services. To date, the cloud has arguably had the largest impact on analytic data platforms, where cloud infrastructure led to the emergence... Read More

Topics: Data Platforms, Data Lakehouse, AI & Technologies

Domo Adds Context to Platform for Analytics and AI

Posted by Matt Aslett on 29 April 2026

I have recently written about the importance of context in relation to agentic artificial intelligence, including the growing use of Model Context Protocol to enable LLMs, agents and applications to communicate with data platforms, file systems and development and productivity tools, and the importance of semantic data modeling to provide agreed definitions that reflect the meaning of entities,... Read More

Topics: Operations, Analytics, Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies

Microsoft Stretches Fabric to Operational Databases

Posted by Matt Aslett on 23 April 2026

I recently explained how providers addressing the full combination of artificial intelligence and data requirements through integrated AI and data platforms are increasingly attractive as enterprises look to accelerate initiatives and reduce costs and complexity. One example of a software provider that has combined AI and data capabilities is Microsoft with its Fabric data platform. First... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Data Platforms, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, AI and Machine Learning, Streaming & Events

The Value of Combined AI and Data Platforms

Posted by Matt Aslett on 15 April 2026

I have previously explained the critical importance of data to successful artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives, including generative and agentic AI. While enterprises have demonstrated the value of AI through small-scale initiatives, scaling these efforts has highlighted the need to coordinate AI and data programs more effectively. Providers that can address the full combination of AI and... Read More

Topics: Governance, Analytics, Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

SQL AI Functions Combine Old and New Approaches to Data Processing

Posted by Matt Aslett on 09 April 2026

I have previously written about the impact that artificial intelligence (AI) and agentic AI are having on the requirements for data platforms. AI and data platforms are intrinsically linked, with the latter providing the underlying data persistence and data processing capabilities that support model development and training, as well as the inferencing capabilities of intelligent operational... Read More

Topics: Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies

The Potential Benefits and Challenges of Vibe Analytics

Posted by Matt Aslett on 25 March 2026

I previously wrote about the potential for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to change the face of analytics and facilitate data literacy and data democratization by enabling business users without specialist analytic skills to discover and analyze data. At the time of writing, GenAI-based interfaces were already being adopted by business intelligence (BI) software providers to... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Autonomy Is Key for Effective Sovereign AI and Data Strategies

Posted by Matt Aslett on 26 February 2026

The term “sovereign AI and data” became increasingly prevalent in recent years, initially driven by cloud infrastructure providers responding to the need to support regional regulations with sovereign cloud offerings. However, the use of sovereign cloud infrastructure is not required to deliver compliance with data sovereignty regulations. In fact, our research indicates that having the autonomy... Read More

Topics: Governance, Operations, Analytics, Data Platforms, Generative AI, IT & Technologies, AI & Technologies, Cloud Infrastructure, Platforms, AI & Machine Learning

The Agentic AI Economy: Beyond Integration

Posted by Alex Bakker on 25 February 2026

The concept of software components orchestrating across boundaries is not new—it has appeared in mainframe program libraries, Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) and Enterprise Service Buses (ESBs). APIs became the next wave of this idea, powering cloud, mobile and software-as-a-service (SaaS) ecosystems. But the next generation is arriving: agentic AI. Where APIs exposed capabilities in rigid... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Data Platforms, Intelligent Automation, AI & Technologies, Buyer Behavior

Assessing Organizational Approaches to Data and Analytics

Posted by Matt Aslett on 03 February 2026

I previously stated that too many enterprises allow the IT department to be wholly responsible for data and analytics, with the risk that strategies become divorced from business objectives and KPIs. I also stated that a pragmatic approach to organizing and operating data, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives is essential to treating data as a business discipline. There are... Read More

Topics: Governance, Operations, Analytics, Data Platforms, Generative AI, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, Streaming & Events, AI & Machine Learning

AI Forecasting and Predictions are a Matter of Time With InfluxData

Posted by Matt Aslett on 22 January 2026

Time is a critical element in business decision-making. To make decisions at the speed of business, it is fundamentally important that enterprises have access to relevant data in a timely manner. It is also essential, however, that data is processed and analyzed in the correct time sequence. In order to decide when to buy or sell, a trader needs to be sure that the price data they are analyzing... Read More

Topics: Data Platforms, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Actian Combines Data Intelligence and Observability

Posted by Matt Aslett on 20 January 2026

I previously described data intelligence as fundamental to providing data analysts and business users with governed self-service access to data across an enterprise by delivering information about how data is produced and consumed across the organization. Data intelligence relies on a combination of technical and business metadata and functionality for knowledge graph, data inventory, data... Read More

Topics: Governance, Operations, Data Platforms, Generative AI, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, AI & Machine Learning

Yugabyte Addresses AI Requirements for Operational Data Platforms

Posted by Matt Aslett on 17 December 2025

I recently wrote about the evolving requirements for operational data platforms to support artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. Operational data platforms providers are rapidly updating their products, driven by the development of intelligent applications infused with contextually relevant recommendations, predictions and forecasting that are in turn driven by machine learning (ML), generative... Read More

Topics: Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies

SAP Business Data Cloud Addresses Intelligent Data Products

Posted by Matt Aslett on 11 December 2025

A little over two years ago, I observed that the pendulum of fashion in the data management sector was swinging away from multiple best-of-breed tools and toward consolidated platforms. Enterprise software portfolios take time to evolve, but the trend toward consolidation has clearly been evident in the product strategies of large data management providers since then. Many providers have combined... Read More

Topics: Governance, Operations, Analytics, Data Platforms, Generative AI, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, AI and Machine Learning

Cloudera Evolves Its Open Data Lakehouse

Posted by David Menninger on 03 December 2025

Cloudera recently hosted its EVOLVE25 event in New York, introducing updates that reinforce its commitment to open data architectures and hybrid data management. The announcements centered on a unified platform across cloud and on-premises deployments. Cloudera also announced the Iceberg REST Catalog and Cloudera Lakehouse Optimizer, both of which extend the provider’s ability to manage and share... Read More

Topics: Governance, Data Platforms, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, AI and Machine Learning

DataOps.live Enables Data Engineering Acceleration

Posted by Matt Aslett on 26 November 2025

I have previously written about the critical importance of data management to the development of artificial intelligence (AI) applications and agentic AI. The importance of data management is nothing new, but automation of business processes and decision-making raises the stakes in terms of the expectations and the risks. The need for enterprises to have trust in their data governance and data... Read More

Topics: Governance, Operations, Data Platforms, Generative AI, AI & Technologies, AI and Machine Learning

Why Data Software Providers Are Embracing Model Context Protocol

Posted by Matt Aslett on 19 November 2025

I have written several times this year about Model Context Protocol (MCP) and its importance in enabling agentic artificial intelligence (AI) use cases. Numerous data platform, data management, data operations and real-time data software providers have added support for MCP to their products in recent months. MCP has become so ubiquitous, in fact, that it is easy to forget the protocol was only... Read More

Topics: Governance, Operations, Analytics, Data Platforms, Generative AI, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, AI and Machine Learning, Streaming & Events

InterSystems Addresses AI and Data Silos With Data Studio

Posted by Matt Aslett on 06 November 2025

As I recently explained, treating data as a business discipline—rather than a technical one—is a critical component of delivering competitive advantage through investment in data processing, analytics and artificial intelligence. As enterprises embrace data as a business discipline, it is increasingly important that the products used for data processing and management enable collaboration between... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Data Platforms, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies

IBM Enhances Data Intelligence and Data Integration

Posted by Matt Aslett on 02 September 2025

I previously wrote about IBM’s strategy of consolidating analytics, data and artificial intelligence (AI) functionality from various products under its watsonx brand, which was launched in 2023 to address the AI development life cycle, as well as data storage processing and AI governance. The company has added two more offerings to its watsonx portfolio in recent months, combining established... Read More

Topics: Governance, Operations, Analytics, Data Platforms, Data Intelligence, AI & Technologies, AI and Machine Learning

Assessing AI Requirements for Operational Data Platforms

Posted by Matt Aslett on 12 August 2025

I have written several times recently about the importance of data in supporting artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI (GenAI) and agentic AI. From a data platforms perspective, this is most evident in the role that analytic data platforms play in supporting the training and fine-tuning of AI models. Operational data platforms also have a role to play in supporting enterprise AI... Read More

Topics: AI, Data Platforms, AI & Technologies, Agentic AI