DEJ’s summary and analysis of 19 vendor briefings conducted around the conference.
Vendor Briefing Overviews2016 Strata Conference, NYC
44%of organizations are looking for more collaboration capabilities for Big Data Analysis
Alation leverages machine learning, AI and Semantic Search concepts to enable faster access to the right data
Self-service is a major part of Alation's value proposition as it addresses some of the key obstacles for Big Data Analytics deployments
Connecting to databases is automated, which makes data discovery and search almost like Google for the Web
"Analysts need a solution that is Knowledge Management for data to help them find data, understand it and collaborate around it“
-Stephanie Langenfeld McReynolds, VP of Marketing, Alation
AlationAlation provides a Data Catalog solution that enables collaboration and improves productivity and value provided by data analysts. The solution includes a broad set of features that enable collaboration and data search such as: query sharing and discovery, popularity ratings for tables, discovering experts or tagging and workspace creation.
Forty-one percent and 56% of organizations listed collaboration and knowledge management, respectively, as key enablers for using technology as a source of competitive advantage. Alation's solution provides not only strong capabilities for cataloging data, but also applies advanced concepts from collaboration and knowledge management to maximize the impact of data analysts on business goals
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48%Reported that customer requests to engage via different channels have increased over the last 12 months
Allsight's synthesis is designed based on how data is created
The company’s approach is different than that of meta data vendors as they index all the data with elastic search
AllSight's technology can synthesize any type of data, but as of now, the focus is on customer data
"Using Data Lakes is almost like cleaning a basement. If you just clean your basement, it doesn't mean it is organized”
-David CorriganCMO & VP Product Management, InfoTrellis
AllSightAllSight, a Customer Intelligence Management (CIM) solution by InfoTrellis, enables organizations to synthesize customer data collected from a broad variety of sources and produce actionable insights into job functions, such as Marketing, Service, Sales, IT, CDOs and CAOs.
AllSight is able to hold all of the data, not just samples, and apply confidence levels on it before it is synthesized. The solution provide unique insights that range from sentiments, life events and personality to influencers, location events and customer journey insights.
The solution enhances current Data Lake deployment by providing an additional dimension of insight and intelligence that improves usability of data.
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48%Reported lack of collaboration between business users and engineers as a challenge
Alpine Data provides a unique approach for real-time analytics through its Portable Format for Analytics (PFA) standard
One of the core capabilities of Alpine Data's solution is providing a collaborative environment where engineers and business professionals get engaged
The company has a strong success engaging with business professionals, as its capabilities are well aligned with addressing key business objectives
"Machine learning is a part of contemporary corporate literacy
-Joshua LewisVice President, Product, Alpine Data
Alpine DataAlpine Data's platform is based on data science and machine learning and enables organizations to create and manage projects and facilitate collaboration between business stakeholders, data scientists and engineers. The company's PFA can express any arbitrary language of computation and can be deployed in business processes and applications which enables organizations to directly impact key business goals.
DEJ's research shows that organizations that are incorporating Big Data Analytics into business processes are 1.6 times more likely to reduce operational cost and 2.2 times more likely to improve customer engagement. Deployments of Alpine Data's PFA platform are well aligned with these practices of forward thinking organizations.
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21%of organizations will develop capabilities for collecting data from sensors in 2017
Key strengths of Basho's solution are high scalability and availability which makes it a very good fit for large enterprise deployments
Riak TS, the company's NoSQL database is optimized specifically for IoT and Time Series data
The solution integrates with Big Data technologies such as Apache Spark, Redis Caching, Apache Solr, and Apache Mesos
"Large enterprises don't want to engage with five or six different vendors and are looking for a platform more than a tool
-Stephen Condon, Senior Director of Marketing, Basho Technologies
Basho TechnologiesBasho provides Big Data database solutions that are predominantly leveraged by large enterprises in a variety of use cases such as IoT, session data, business continuity and content and documents. The solution is highly scalable and includes strong resiliency capabilities, as it is able to effectively operate despite network outages.
The company's Riak TS solution is also available as open source software that includes capabilities such as data co-location, time series data model and Spark connector. Basho's Riak solution is designed to run on commodity hardware for both public and private infrastructures.
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61%Reported correlating data from different silos as one of the key challenges for Big Data
Time to value for the solution is one of the key strengths, which is very well aligned with key selection criteria for users
The company's approach is well aligned with a trend of democratizing access to insights from the data
There is no separate message broker in this architecture which simplifies making analytics a core part of business strategy
"Analysts can ask any questions with no technical expertise needed and get the data you didn't even know exists“
-John Rueter VP of Marketing, Cambridge Semantics
Cambridge SemanticsCambridge Semantics leverages the Semantic Web approach for Analytics and data management. This approach is agnostic of data formats, sources and applications, which allows organizations to have a truly horizontal view of their data. The company's solution automates the tagging process in an intelligent fashion, applying some AI concepts, and creates ETL jobs.
Cambridge Semantics' approach is fairly distinctive in the market and allows organizations to gain unique insights from their data for a broad range of use cases. The solution is also agnostic of the type of Big Data environment where it is being leveraged, which allows user organizations to quickly adapt to changes in their markets and seamlessly analyze new types of data. The solution is easy to deploy and time-to-value is very fast.
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40%Reported speed of innovation as the key driver for deploying Big Data Analytics solutions
The company's focus on empowering people that are closest to the problem is well aligned with the needs of 56% of enterprises that are looking to achieve this goal
Continuum's solution is built on heterogeneity of languages and data sources
The company is taking a success that it experienced as an open-source solution to providing strong enterprise level offering
"Open Data Science (ODS) is the 21st century's version of literacy “
-Peter Wang, CTO and Co-Founder, Continuum Analytics
Continuum AnalyticsContinuum Analytics, a provider of Anaconda, a Python-based open data science platform, enables organizations to address some of the key goals of Big Data management such as improving collaboration, productivity and of data science teams and quickly extract business value from the data.
Fifty-seven percent of organizations in DEJ research reported performance of Big Data analytics solution to be one of the key selection criteria while 44% reported collaboration as one of the key areas they are looking to address. The company's solution is a unique convergence of high performance computing (HPC) and analytics that is well aligned with selection criteria of enterprise user organizations.
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37%Reported cost as the key reason for not deploying Big Data analytics
The solution enables organizations to package all of their data tasks as API workflows
One of the key strengths of the solution is that it is easy to use for analysts while providing coding interface for data scientists
Dataiku provides architecture for transitioning Big Data workflows from pre-production to production
"Our vision is to lower barriers to entry by reducing cost of implementing advanced analytics capabilities“
-Florian Douetteau, CEO, Dataiku
Dataiku
Dataiku provides a platform for data science, developers and analysts teams to collaborate, build data products and get insights from the data. The company's virtual data abstraction layer allows organizations to avoid unnecessary data movement, which reduces the need for additional data warehouses.
Dataiku provides a number of plugins and API connectors for a large variety of data storage systems and reduces the need to move data for processing, which enables organizations to simplify their Big Data management tasks.
Some of the use cases where the solution is typically deployed include customer segmentation and loyalty programs, predictive detection and supply chain.
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68%Reported that customer expectations for engagement and experience changed over the last 12 months
Some of the key benefits of AIM include: single view into all data, self-service and application development
With the deployment of AIM, IT is still in control, as it is able to jointly manage security policies and governance
The solution allows analysts to create a personalized workspace
"The new digital customer is rising and continuously changing expectations about experience“
-Berna Devrim, Senior Director, Global Solutions Marketing, Dell EMC
Dell EMCAt the conference, Dell EMC discussed, under embargo, the launch of its Analytic Insight Module (AIM) that was formally announced at Dell EMC World. The solution is deployed on the company's native hybrid cloud and allows organizations to quickly get a unified view and sights of different types of data from a variety of sources.
Some of the key capabilities of the solution are very well aligned with user requirements, such as collaboration capabilities, the ability to create personalized workspaces and faster times to value. Strong focus on application development well positions Dell EMC to address some of the key goals for digital transformation and using technology as a competitive advantage.
Quality of user experience is one of the strengths of AIM and it allows customers to select Hadoop distribution and analytics, visualization and NoSQL solutions of their choice.
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46%Reported that their need for processing and analyzing customer data in real-time has increased over the last 12 months
Separating data processing and storage is well aligned with user requirements as 53% of organizations give this capability high importance
Strong capabilities for looking at the data from a time value perspective
High performance is one of the key strengths and differentiators
"Our goal is to make Spark more enterprise-ready and be leveraged beyond current workloads “
-Ali Hodroj, VP, Products and Strategy, GigaSpaces
GigaSpacesIn September GigaSpaces announced the availability of InsightEdge, a low latency solution for analytical and transactional data processing. The solution leverages on Apache Spark API and enables faster data analytics. Even though it complements XAP, the company's In-Memory Computing Platform, the solution can also be deployed as a standalone product.
This announcement enables GigaSpaces to be more appealing to Data Scientists and Analysts, as it simplifies machine learning and allows easier access to data and insights. The solution also includes high availability and strong performance capabilities for streaming.
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32%average increase in resources available for growth and innovation after deploying ITOA solution
The solution is predominantly leveraged in four major areas - Security, IoT, Marketing and IT Operations
Predictions are based on behavioral analysis which allows organizations to proactively address potential issues before users are impacted
The solution can process 3,000 concurrent data queries in each moment
"We are seeing a transition from IT Operations analytics (ITOA) to algorithmic and computer event processing“
-Pedro Castillo, CEO, Logtrust
Logtrust
Logtrust provides a scalable solution for real-time analysis of any type of time-series data. The solution has short time-to-value and calculates latitude, longitude and reputation of data.
One of the key strengths of the solution is heterogeneity of data formats that can be processed, as Logtrust helps organizations get insights from batch, streaming or complex event processing (CEP) data, all in real time.
The solution can be deployed as SaaS, on premise or hybrid and currently is predominantly used in large scale environments such as Telecommunications providers, the Banking and Financial industry and enterprises that need large security deployments.
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61%Reported planned increases in deployments of container-based services in next 12 months
18% of MapR’s customers are using 50 or more Big Data applications
MapR’s solution is well positioned to help organizations drive innovation by making it easier to develop applications and improve scalability
There is no separate message broker in the MapR Streams architecture which simplifies making real-time analytics a core part of business strategy
"There are some assumptions that need to be broken such as: "I need to know questions that I should be asking" or "I need to expect delays"“
-Jack Norris, SVP Data and Applications, MapR
MapR TechnologiesMapR announced a solution for managing event-driven microservices that enables organizations to maximize the benefits of a real-time, Big Data infrastructure around analytics, application development and testing. The solution provides value in both operations and analytics areas and addresses a wide range of business goals, from reducing operational cost to driving innovation and creating new revenue streams.
Fifty-one percent of organizations in DEJ's recent research reported that their management tools are not as effective when deployed in a more dynamic environments and 39% reported that managing performance of microservices as one of their key challenges for application performance. That makes market opportunities for MapR's solution fairly horizontal and allows the company to address a variety of use cases and business challenges.
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41%Leveraging, or looking to leverage, IT Operations Analytics (ITOA) data for business purposes
Rocana's solution is used by both IT and business users which makes it a good fit for digital transformation
The company's advanced analytics capabilities impact a wide range of key business goals such as operating cost and customer satisfaction
Rocana's open approach for analyzing event data eliminates some of the key challenges created from deploying proprietary IT monitoring solutions
"If you're only analyzing 10% of your data, that can be telling a very different story than the full 100% tells"
-Omer Trajman, CEO, Rocana
RocanaRocana advanced analytics solution is designed for addressing the needs of IT Operations as well as IT and business executives around digital transformation. DEJ's research shows that Analytics are the #1 growth area for IT Monitoring and Rocana is one of the few vendors in that space that offers sophisticated Big Data Analytics capabilities.
The company has a strong focus on putting the data in the right context and providing full visibility across the entire IT environment - infrastructure elements, applications, events, etc. -which allows it to differentiate in this market and provide a unique approach for addressing key performance and security challenges.
Rocana also has strong technology partnerships in Big Data technology markets with companies such as Cloudera, Hortonworks, Oracle and Zoomdata.
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43%are looking to deploy cloud based solutions for Big Data Analytics
SAP's cloud-based approach is aligned with market trends, as DEJ's research shows a 38% increase in organizations deploying Cloud services since 2014
Enabling operational services use cases is one of the key strengths of the solution
AltiScale's high performance and elasticity capabilities make it a good fit for emerging IoT analytics use cases
"Lowering the threshold for embracing Big Data is the key for achieving key business goals “
-Ken Tsai, VP, Head of Cloud Platform & Data Management, Product Marketing, SAP
SAPDuring the conference, SAP announced completing the acquisition of AltiScale, a cloud based Big Data platform. The acquisition enables SAP to leverage some of the AltiScale's core differentiators, such as being fully optimized for Hadoop and strong self-service capabilities for business analysts, to further strengthen its position in this market. Also, short time-to-value of AltiScale's solution opens up new opportunities in the market, as 58% of user organizations listed it as the key selection criteria.
Forty-one percent of organizations that are looking to become digital businesses are making technology a core part of their business strategies. AltiScale's strong focus on working with customers to use technology as a competitive advantage provides a major opportunity for SAP in enabling digital transformation as Big Data Analytics and Management was reported as the #1 technology area for improving competitive position.
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58%of organizations reported time to value to be a key selection criteria for BI solutions
Self service capabilities, fast time to value and ease of deployment and use are well aligned with the need for making BI solutions appealing to more organizations
Innovative approach for using IoT and AI that allows users to interact with sensors to project the data by leveraging Amazon Echo and Alexa
Sisense enabled IoT lightbulb changes color based on how users are progressing towards their business goals
"Simplifying analytics for business users and democratization of BI are critical for achieving key business goals”
-Guy Levy, Head of Products, Sisense
Sisense
Sisense is providing a unique mix of capabilities that are addressing some of the key user requirements for BI solutions. In addition to strong data preparation and analytics features, the company's solution includes easy to use, intuitive user interface (UI), ability to quickly gain insights from the data and requires very little technical expertise.
Additionally, Sisense allows organizations to test the solution using their own data, a capability that is rare in the BI market, which is well aligned with the needs of organizations that are looking to become digital businesses. DEJ's research shows that 59% of organizations are looking to have a production trial of their technology solutions before they commit to a purchase.
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65%Reported they are looking for stronger data discovery and search capabilities for GRC use cases
The solution is especially appealing for Banking and Finance verticals that are leveraging it for governance, risk and compliance (GRC)
Solix allows organizations to text search relational databases which enables them to extend the value of less current data
The company rebuilt its data storage in Hadoop which allows customers to reduce the cost of data archiving and make access to the data easier
"There are many solutions that can ingest data in Hadoop, but only one that can MOVE it to Hadoop”
-John Ottman, Executive Chairman, Solix Technologies
Solix TechnologiesSolix enables organizations to apply Big Data analytics on archived data and enterprise Data Lake. The company's Common Data Platform for information governance includes strong capabilities for information lifecycle management (ILM), data security and application metadata. Additionally, Solix allows data analysts easier access to the data through Data Lake visualization, search and reporting and virtual project and workflow capabilities.
As organizations are dealing with an increasing amount of new data that needs to be processed on an ongoing bases, they are forced to archive larger amounts of less current data more frequently. Solix allows them to better manage and get more value out of inactive data from both GRC and business value creation perspectives.
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34%Reported they are looking to deploy data filtering capabilities
Striim's solution enables organizations to turn all the data into streams which allows them to get to actionable insights faster
Low configuration is one of the strengths of Striim's solution
Writing new applications is fairly easy and customers start seeing the value 2-3 weeks after an application is written
""Why are you moving data to Hadoop/Kafka?" - After customers answer that question, they realize they need streaming“
-Steve Wilkes, CTO and Founder, Striim
StriimStriim provides solutions for real-time data integration and streaming analytics that enable organizations to filter and enrich streaming data, provide context around it, quickly get insights through visualization and triggers and load it into Big Data, cloud and storage environments.
Some of the key strengths of Striim's solution are change data capture (CDC) capabilities, transaction centric approach and fast time to value.
At the conference, Striim announced integration with Google BigQuery 2.0 that enables organizations to move large amounts of data in real time to their Google BigQuery environments for storage and analysis.
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46%Reported lack of technical expertise being the key challenge for using data to create a business value
A unique combination of machine learning and computer interaction and visualization is one of the key differentiators
Trifacta offers a free desktop version of their solution that currently has more than 16,000 users
Ease of use and quality of user experience are some of the key reasons organizations are deploying Trifacta's solution
"The data wrangling market is maturing and organizations are realizing the value of this approach. Now they are becoming more interested in differences between these solutions “
-William Davis, Director of Product Marketing, Trifacta
TrifactaTrifacta provides a solution for data wrangling that is deployed between the Hadoop platform and Big Data analytics and applications and enables organizations to data analyze and make faster and more accurate decisions. The core capabilities of the company's solution include discovering, structuring, cleaning, enriching, validating and publishing data.
The company's approach allows organizations to reduce time, resources and technical expertise needed for getting the most value from their data and enables them to focus on business value creation tasks around Big Data management.
Use cases for Trifacta's solution are fairly horizontal with specific strengths in Customer 360, Healthcare and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG).
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36%average hardware cost reduction from using Data Lake solutions
The combination of robustness and integration of Zalani's capabilities is one of the core differentiators
Zaloni's solution is both distribution and deployment agnostic (cloud, multi-cloud, on premise, etc.)
Zaloni's solution is purpose built for Big Data based on many years worth of feedback from user organizations that are leveraging the company's services
"If data warehouse was sufficient, we wouldn't have this many data lake solutions”
-Kelly Schupp, VP of marketing, Zaloni
Zaloni
Zaloni's two core products, Bedrock and Mica, provide a comprehensive set of well integrated capabilities for managing all major aspects of Big Data. The company's Data Lake 360 solution encompasses a broad range of capabilities that include Data lineage, quality, lifecycle management, privacy and security, as well as business-centric solutions for data cataloging, metadata management and self-service data preparation.
The company's holistic approach for Big Data is well aligned with user requirements as 44% of organizations in DEJ's research reported that integration of solutions that are addressing only one aspect of Big Data management is adding more complexity.
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57%Reported speed of analytics as the key selection criteria
The solution is agnostic of types of data analyzed - real-time, Big Data or pre-existing data sets
The solution is based on micro-querying technology, similar to video delivery, which allows organizations faster access to insights from very large data sets
Zoomdata is the best fit for organizations that have more than 1 billion rows of data on Hadoop
"You get 5% of data right away, project the rest and keep populating”
-Nick Halsey, Chief Marketing Officer, Zoomdata
ZoomdataZoomdata announced integrations with Cloudera, Teradata and Google BigQuery at the conference. These types of integrations allow not only user organizations to get actionable insights from their data, but also enable Big Data infrastructure vendors to make the value of their solutions more visible.
Forty-eight percent of organizations in DEJ's Digital Transformation survey reported that customer requests to engage via different channels have increased over the last 12 months. Zoomdata's solution can be used internally or embedded in a customer facing-application and accessible on any device. That allows Zoomdata to enable their customers to address two top technology areas of digital transformation simultaneously: Customer Engagement and Data Analytics.
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Digital Enterprise Journal
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October, 2016