Author: wstofega

Google Unifies Data Storage with BigLake   

by wstofega, posted in Big Data, Cloud Enable
Principal Analyst, Advanced Analytics

Summary Bullets:

  • Companies rely upon data lakes to store massive amounts of unstructured data. However, data lakes are not equipped with the necessary tools for deep analysis.
  • With Google’s BigLake, users can utilize analysis tools to query their data from a single platform, avoiding the risk and expense of moving data to a platform with more functions.

The ever-increasing amount of data collected by businesses, governments, and related organizations creates both opportunities and problems; the ability to collect and analyze data allows companies to understand their customer’s preferences quickly and accurately.  At the same time, the amount of data ingested continues to grow exponentially, overwhelming efforts to manage and analyze the data effectively.  Creating even more challenges in data collection has been the shift from the orderly, defined tables of structured data stored in a data warehouse to the exabytes of raw unstructured data, including text messages, audio files, videos, and all of the by-products of the digital world.  Continue reading “Google Unifies Data Storage with BigLake   “ →

IBM Sells Watson Health: Running Before Walking?

by wstofega, posted in Big Data

Summary Bullets:

Principal Analyst, Advanced Analytics

• IBM leveraged Deep Blue, a supercomputer, to victory over chess champion Gary Kasparov and Watson’s subsequent victory over Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings to highlight the promise of AI.

• IBM hoped to expand Watson beyond game playing to solving problems that had proven intractable to business managers. Seeking a challenge, IBM adapted Watson to diagnose and treat cancer.

IBM’s experience developing the platform for Jeopardy gave the company hope that it could broaden Watson’s capabilities. Key to the success of Watson’s victory at Jeopardy was the development of DeepQA, a specialized software architecture that, according to IBM, “generates a wide range of possibilities and for each [query] develops a level of confidence by gathering, analyzing, and assessing evidence.”

Continue reading “IBM Sells Watson Health: Running Before Walking?” →

Bringing Machine Learning to the Masses: AWS Announces sagemaker Canvas

by wstofega, posted in Big Data

Bringing Machine Learning to the Masses: AWS Announces Sagemaker Canvas

Summary Bullets

Will Stofega, Principal Analyst, Advanced Analytics

• SageMaker Canvas looks to democratize access to machine learning (ML).

• Access to analytic tools will generate a better understanding of company performance.

When discussing the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and ML, there is often an emphasis on advanced technical capabilities that will help realize futuristic visions such as self-driving cars. Given the competitive advantages at stake, it is no surprise that demand for skilled AI and ML specialists has quickly outstripped supply.

During his AWS re:Invent 2021 presentation, Bratin Saha, Vice President, Machine Learning, noted that AI and ML is the fastest-growing job category, posting a 74% growth rate in the U.S. over the past four years (per LinkedIn’s 2020 Emerging Jobs Report). Not surprisingly, this has led to a shortage of qualified AI and ML specialists. According to Saha, AWS customers are looking for solutions that empower more employees to do ML. This need for access by non-technical staff has led AWS to develop SageMaker Canvas. Continue reading “Bringing Machine Learning to the Masses: AWS Announces sagemaker Canvas” →