David Menninger's Analyst Perspectives

Splunk Delivers Insights from Machines

Posted by David Menninger on Nov 9, 2016 6:14:21 AM

I recently attended .conf2016, Splunk’s seventh annual user conference. Splunk created the market for analyzing machine data (shorthand for machine-generated data), which consists of log files and event data from various types of systems and devices. Our big data analytics benchmark research shows that these are two of the most common sources of big data that organizations analyze. This market has proven to be fertile ground for Splunk, growing steadily with revenues more than doubling over the previous two fiscal years. Machine data is also the backbone for the Internet of Things (IoT) and operational intelligence, which form the basis of forthcoming benchmark research from Ventana Research.

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Topics: Machine Learning, Splunk, Machine data, Operational Intelligence

A Recipe for Cooking with the Hadoop Ecosystem

Posted by David Menninger on Aug 23, 2016 7:01:41 AM

It’s part of my job to cover the ecosystem of Hadoop, the open source big data technology, but sometimes it makes my head spin. If this is not your primary job, how can you possibly keep up? I hope that a discussion of what I’ve found to be most important will help those who don’t have the time and energy to devote to this wide-ranging topic.

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Topics: Big Data, Microsoft, Teradata, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, IBM, Information Management, Operational Intelligence, Oracle, HPE, ODPI, Strata+Hadoop

Internet of Things Requires Operational Intelligence

Posted by David Menninger on Apr 29, 2016 10:26:40 AM

The emerging Internet of Things (IoT) is an extension of digital connectivity to devices and sensors in homes, businesses, vehicles and potentially almost anywhere. This innovation means that virtually any device can generate and transmit data about its operations – data to which analytics can be applied to facilitate monitoring and a range of automatic functions. To do these tasks IoT requires what Ventana Research calls operational intelligence (OI), a discipline that has evolved from the capture and analysis of instrumentation, networking and machine-to-machine interactions of many types. We define operational intelligence as a set of event-centered information and analytic processes operating across an organization that enable people to use that event information to take effective actions and make optimal decisions. Ventana Research first began covering operational intelligence over a decade ago.

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Topics: Real-time, Supply Chain Performance, IOT, Operational Intelligence, Uncategorized

Spark Summit Shows Momentum in Adoption of Apache Spark

Posted by David Menninger on Feb 26, 2016 7:03:13 AM

Last week I attended Spark Summit East 2016 at the New York Hilton Midtown. It revealed several ways in which Spark technology might impact the big data market.

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Topics: Big Data, Analytics, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, In-memory, Information Applications, Information Management, Operational Intelligence, Uncategorized

Research Agenda: Big Data and Information Optimization in 2016

Posted by David Menninger on Feb 7, 2016 10:10:09 PM

The big data market continues to expand and enable new types of analyses, new business models and new revenues streams for organizations that implement these capabilities. Following our previous research into big data and information optimization, we’ll investigate the technology trends affecting both of these domains as part of our 2016 research agenda.

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Topics: Analytics, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Data Preparation, In-memory, Information Management, Operational Intelligence, Uncategorized

Pardon the Interruption: Industry Veteran Returns to Ventana Research

Posted by David Menninger on Feb 7, 2016 9:46:23 PM

Some followers of Ventana Research may recall my work here several years ago. Here and elsewhere I have spent most of my career in the data and analytics markets matching user requirements with technologies to meet those needs. I’m happy to be returning to Ventana Research to resume investigating ways in which organizations can make the most of their data to improve their business processes; for a first look, please see our 2016 research agenda on Big Data and Information Optimization. I relish the opportunity to conduct primary market research in the form of Ventana’s well-known benchmark research and to help end users and vendors apply the information collected in those studies.

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Topics: Big Data, Predictive Analytics, Analytics, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Information Management, Internet of Things, Operational Intelligence, Uncategorized, Unicorns, IT Performance Management (ITPM)

Research Agenda: Using Business Analytics to Make the Most of Data in 2016

Posted by David Menninger on Feb 7, 2016 9:39:23 PM

Throughout the course of our research in 2016, we’ll be exploring ways in which organizations can maximize the value of their data. Ventana Research believes that analytics is the engine and data is the fuel to power better business decisions. Several themes emerged from our benchmark research on incorporating data and analytics into organizational processes, and we will follow them in our 2016 Business Analytics Research Agenda:

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Topics: Big Data, Predictive Analytics, Analytics, Business Analytics, Business Collaboration, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Information Applications, Information Management, Operational Intelligence

Information Management Technology Revolution and Research Agenda for 2012

Posted by David Menninger on Mar 16, 2012 10:50:17 AM

In our definition, information management encompasses the acquisition, organization, dissemination and use of information by organizations to create and enhance business value. Effective information management ensures optimal access, relevance, timeliness, quality and security of this data with the aim to improve organizational performance. This goal is not easily met, especially as organizations acquire ever more data at an ever faster pace. In our business analytics benchmark research of more than 2,600 organizations, almost half (45%) have to integrate six or more types of data in their analyses. More than two-thirds reported that they spend more time preparing data than analyzing it. To assist in dealing with these sorts of issues and others, we’ve laid out an ambitious information management research agenda for 2012.

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Topics: Data Quality, Master Data Management, Social Media, Analytics, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Complex Event Processing, Data Governance, Data Integration, Information Applications, Information Life Cycle Management, Information Management, Operational Intelligence, IT Performance Management (ITPM)

Business Intelligence Revolution and Research Agenda for 2012

Posted by David Menninger on Mar 15, 2012 11:43:40 AM

For most people involved with business intelligence (BI), these are exciting times. Using BI to improve business processes continues to motivate organizations to invest in BI. The focus on BI also empowers business analytics and can be rented in the cloud computing model of accessing software. New technologies are adding dimensions to BI and creating both excitement and confusion for enterprises implementing them. We offer a variety of accomplished research that can help organizations overcome the hype and understand how to use these technologies to improve business decision-making, and we’re planning new research in 2012 on these topics.

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Topics: Mobile Business Intelligence, Predictive Analytics, Sales Performance, Social Media, Supply Chain Performance, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Performance, Collaboration, Customer & Contact Center, Financial Performance, Information Management, Operational Intelligence, Workforce Performance

Steve Jobs Leaves an Indelible Mark on Business Intelligence

Posted by David Menninger on Oct 7, 2011 6:01:12 AM

About 30 years ago, perhaps on this very day, I was sitting in front of an Apple II working on a VisiCalc spreadsheet. At the time, I don’t think I even knew who Steve Jobs was. I wasn’t in the software industry yet. I was working for a public accounting firm. The Apple II sat in a corner of the office “typing pool.” For those of you who don’t know what a typing pool was, there was no swimming involved – it was a group of full-time employees with dedicated equipment who did all the typing and word processing tasks of the office.

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Topics: Mobile, Sales Performance, Social Media, Supply Chain Performance, Sustainability, Business Analytics, Business Collaboration, Business Intelligence, Business Mobility, Business Performance, Customer & Contact Center, Financial Performance, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), Information Applications, Information Management, Location Intelligence, Operational Intelligence, Visualization, IT Performance Management (ITPM)