Blogs

IT leads the modern data platform, functioning as the conduit, efficiently delivering the correct data to the right users, to empower data-driven decision-making in organizations. Over the last decade, IT vendors have been trying to develop and offer solutions to address the flood of data that companies manage. A modern data platform tries to solve this problem. It's a combination of interoperable, scalable and modular technologies, working together to deliver an enterprise's overall data needs.

At Big Data London, data quality and intelligence took center stage as companies strive for fast and efficient delivery of quality information -- and the vendors to make it happen. Big Data London is the U.K.'s leading data and analytics event, with more than 150 vendors, 300 expert speakers, and an estimated 10,000 attendees coming together to discuss data-driven strategies. During the event, I interviewed seven vendors to get their perspectives and insights on where the market was going, the challenges they saw, and more.

Data clean rooms are moving into the mainstream as privacy concerns complicate measuring ad ROI, but the "people problem" poses challenges to data operation success. Data clean rooms are becoming the preeminent tool for brands to better understand the place of digital marketing within the broader marketing ecosystem. In fact, data clean rooms are key for measuring advertising effectiveness, especially as advertisers are relying on cookies less, due to privacy regulations and big tech changes.

More than ever, increases in data-centric developer reliance, data sources, and users push developers to understand IT purchasing to provide more value to data. The days of creating data-generating systems for a single operational or analytics application are over. Because of this, developers must become more data-centric to increase business agility and empower data consumers -- including internal teams, partners, and customers. Data-centric developers are expanding their sphere of influence on IT purchasing decisions and maximizing the value of data.

Many large tech companies have already invested heavily in quantum technologies, yet significant adoption of quantum computing has had its share of delays and false starts. However, with some recent announcements in the quantum sector, now seems to be the ideal time for organizations to take a closer look at quantum and consider how this approach could work for their business workloads. Organizations that have been historically focused on classical computing are now positioning quantum for the future.

[In this blog I refer to 'we' - I want to acknowledge the help and guidance I received from my colleague and all-around smart person, Mike Leone, in pulling this together. I, however, take full responsibility for the puns!]  

OK, so you know how sometimes you read supposed big news from a vendor and you wonder where the “meat” is? Well, the reverse can be true too; Oracle’s subdued news this week that it has an Oracle Database API for Mongo DB is just such a thing. Without much fanfare - here’s the technical blog we saw – Oracle was in fact doing something pretty meaty (certainly for MongoDB users), definitely newsworthy, and highly strategic.

As with any event, Sapphire 2021 was loaded with product launches, updates, and delighted customers who shared how they are working with SAP to better leverage data that can enable them to adapt to a dynamic business environment. At the root of the keynote and breakout sessions was a common theme that likely resonated with most, if not all, attendees and that was the idea of extending the value of working together as a community to the business.

IBM Think! 2021 delivered a number of areas IT leaders may want to consider with new and existing initiatives and infrastructure deployments. This year’s event amplified the importance of growth in artificial intelligence as it relates to IBM Cloud Pak, digital transformation and digital business models, IBM Watson Orchestrate self-service automation, public and hybrid cloud, and application and infrastructure modernization, to say the least. Our research at ESG aligns nicely to the messages IBM delivered this year. Listen as Mark Peters, ESG Practice Director; Scott Sinclair, ESG Senior Analyst; Mike Leone, ESG Senior Analyst, and I discuss and share our thoughts on this year’s IBM Think! 2021 event.

As organizations grapple with ongoing data ecosystem complexity, the key question being asked is: how can organizations take back control of their data ecosystem and enable more people to better leverage data that matters to them? I believe it starts with data empowerment for all the key data stakeholders throughout the business, including both experts and generalists alike. Organizations need help in ensuring the right people are empowered to do their jobs more effectively and not get inundated with tasks that fall outside of their job descriptions. While this is true across the entire business from IT and operations teams to business analysts and developers, an area that continues to have a spotlight put on it is the data team, consisting of data engineers, data scientists, and ML engineers.

In March 2021, Lenovo announced new offerings that provide new ways for clients to accelerate computing with their Lenovo TruScale Services, which enables flexible consumption of server resources. The purpose of this launch was to accelerate real-time insights from the edge to the cloud; incorporate eighteen new ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile systems in the portfolio by expanding AMD’s family of third generation EPYC microprocessors, including eight new ThinkSystem V2 servers updated with third generation Intel Xeon scalable processors; and deliver ready-to-deploy analytics and AI offerings with SAS edge analytics, city security AI with Addfor, and scalable machine learning with cnvrg.io.