IBM Takes a Giant Leap to Promote Big Data Analysis

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Sep 17, 2014
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U.S. technology and consulting corporation, International Business Machines (IBM, Financial), nicknamed the "Big Blue" is urging business houses to use its tool for predictive analysis and work with their data on the analytical tool that would give them better insight into the near future.

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In lieu of the set target to encourage large companies to stay invested in IBM’s analytics section, on September 16, the tech honcho announced the launch of the Watson Analytics tool that would allow companies to work on its cloud absolutely for free.

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This business tool marks a step ahead to the traditional business intelligence tools which are difficult to decipher for business managers across the globe. So, what is the tool all about and how will the tech giant create a strong footprint in the global analytics space? Let’s peek in to check it out.

The history of Watson

Watson was developed by the IBM research wing in 2011 to compete with the human contestants on the “Jeopardy” game show by using natural language processing and analytics as well as utilizing several sources of structured and unstructured data for formulating responses to the show’s questions.

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Since then, the company has been working to commercialize the Watson technology by identifying the industries that could benefit from such cognitive computing. Earlier this year, IBM launched the Watson Discovery Advisor, which is customized for scientific researchers who require getting proper insights of topics linked to scientific knowledge, such as chemistry or cellular biology.

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The company in the process of making Watson a commercial tool also launched the Watson Engagement Advisor, which uses the artificial intelligence technology to aid in customer support.

And just a day back, Big Blue came up with the Watson Analytics tool to lure data-hungry business managers, aiming to answer most of the general queries for the average business managers.

Salient features of Watson Analytics

IBM’s general manager of business analytics, Alistair Rennie, projects the tool in these words- “Watson Analytics is a tool to let every business user harness all the power we can deliver…What deals am I most likely to win? What sector will be busiest in the next month?” This tool allows users to load data on the IBM cloud and then this tool would analyze such data to give predictive insights that might be useful to the business clan.

The service is aimed at business houses which do most of their analysis till date on spreadsheets, or typically use traditional business intelligence tools. For instance, the tool can clean a new data set and can format the data easily which is to be analyzed, something that can be cumbersome to be done manually. IBM estimates that data preparation which is the first step for analysis comprises 60% of the total time required for core analysis, and through implementation of this tool the amount of time spend on the activity could be reduced considerably by businesses.

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The service can also examine a data set to determine which statistical algorithms and visualization could work best for the data, relieving the user from making such critical decisions. Truly, this tool is helping IBM to bring together a number of components- as this service combines natural language processing, machine learning, cognitive reasoning, data cleansing, preparatory analysis and visualization.

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This technology seems to be a perfect fit for those working in the marketing, sales, operations, finance and human resources profession, as per IBM sources. The company would put some sample data to start with and to get users acquainted with the tool, along with tutorials and guides. IBM also plans to update the tool regularly, and for companies with security concerns it’s going to provide full cloud security support allowing them to take their data down from the site after running it for predictive analysis.

What it means for IBM

IBM’s analytics operation is one of the brightest spots on the company’s ledgers and is the key area on which the company has spent billions. Recently, IBM has projected to make $20 billion in revenue next year from this operational section. So, it can be concluded that with the tool in hand the growth of IBM’s analytics section is somewhat guaranteed.

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But the company also faces a few challenges as it needs to compete with much younger but faster growing business intelligence companies like Tableau Software (DATA, Financial), Qlik (QLIK, Financial)and SAS Institute that provide data visualization and insight tools to business enterprises. Also, the company requires to continue leveraging notoriety around Watson, its super-computing system, into a meaningful revenue stream.

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Watson Analytics of IBM is targeted to achieve these dual goals by bringing smaller and cheaper companies in the fold through a free and hence a low barrier of entry into using Watson for analytics by business entities. In fact, IBM’s net goal is to improve its customer count by adding clients who traditionally were almost doing nothing with their huge data.

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To conclude

Watson Analytics tool can be termed as the iPhone of analytics and is expected to bring analytics to every business user which could be a real challenge in the present era. In the age of big data when companies are awaiting a breakthrough vehicle to bring modern data analysis and prediction to the rank and file of business, IBM’s introspective analytical tool could serve as the probable answer offering such services over the cloud. But the future for Watson Analytics is still under wrap and there will be more to share in the forthcoming days when this software service goes live in November this year. Let’s wait and watch!