StraightTalk

Understanding IBM Software’s “solutions” business

Although IBM exited the applications business over a decade ago, it has never let go of its goal to engage higher up the value chain in the enterprise. Over the years, IBM Software has unveiled various initiatives to target not only IT but also the line of business with “solutions.”

IBM and Oracle raise the stakes for database appliances

In October IBM announced a new database appliance, and Oracle unveiled the latest generation of its database engineered system, but behind the similarity of purposes lie highly contrasting design approaches.

Amazon Web Services fills out its Big Data cloud platform

Announcements of new data platforms were highlighted at Amazon Web Service’s (AWS) first ever “re: Invent” user conference this week.

Siemens PLM closes the loop on test and simulation

With the pending acquisition of LMS, Siemens PLM has the opportunity to close much of the gap in its support for the “V” model of validation and verification that is essential for systems engineering.

IBM Rational targets engineering lifecycle management

With increasing amounts of software content, the management of the systems engineering process has also proved increasingly challenging.

Teradata Aster adds Hadoop to new appliance

Teradata Aster and Hortonworks have turned talk into action with the announcement of a new appliance that bundles Hadoop with the core Aster Data Advanced SQL analytics engine.

Cloudera maps SQL into Hadoop

Although hardly the first attempt to bridge the Hadoop and SQL worlds, Cloudera has developed a framework that will enable SQL to work natively inside Hadoop, rather than simply extracting data from it.

Tibco takes the Big Data plunge with analytics and CEP

Over the past few years, Tibco has remained steady in course and growth, although 2012 results show a slowing compared to 2011. Tibco has also become the latest player to hop on to the Big Data bandwagon.

Splunk aims to climb the value chain

Splunk, which specializes in delivering a data platform for “machine data,” is approaching a turning point. The explosion of sensory data – part of the Big Data phenomenon – is pulling the company in different directions. With a base as the data platform for IT systems management and security programs, Splunk could expand to other forms of machine data such as smart public infrastructure. Or, as implied by the recruitment of key product executives from SAP and Oracle, it could venture higher up the value chain, developing more business-focused solutions around this competency. Either way, Splunk must choose its targets carefully. As a $150–$200m company, it can’t be all things. Splunk is already promoting itself as an operational intelligence platform that provides quick visibility of trends from low-level data. However, Ovum believes that the company could get more mileage in the market by positioning itself as an analytics platform that focuses on the velocity aspect of Big Data: Fast Data.

Jaspersoft provides a new Big Data reality check

A recent 600-user web-based sampling by Jaspersoft from its customer base proved that Big Data has become more than just a buzzword, with over 60% of respondents already having, or planning to implement, Big Data analytics within the next 18 months.