Data’s Big Future, and Datanami’s Role In It

When Tabor Communications launched the Datanami publication in late 2011, the “big data” craze was already approaching fever pitch. Organizations were intensely interested in seeing how the new class of analytic tools, such as Hadoop, could help them make sense of their growing stockpiles of data. Datanami thrived as the challenges and opportunities became more evident.

As we approach the fourth quarter of 2013, the pace of change has quickened noticeably. We’re close to the point where the world’s volume of business data will grow at an annual rate of 100 percent (expected in a few years). Sales of Hadoop-related tools and services are growing at a 50 percent rate. Meanwhile, the amount of money spent on big data IT software, hardware, and services is growing 25 percent annually–a very healthy pace that is much better than the IT space as a whole.

A lot has changed at Datanami too. Recently I was hired by Tabor’s editorial director, Nicole Hemsoth, to become the managing director of Datanami. Nicole founded Datanami nearly two years ago with the vision of creating a clearinghouse of insight about the big data phenomenon, and to help executives, IT directors, and business managers separate the big data haves from the have-nots.

That goal hasn’t changed, but achieving it will be a daily test as the market surges by leaps and bounds in an attempt to get ahead of customers’ data challenges and their rocket ship trajectories. This is a great time to be in the data analytics space, with so many promising new tools and techniques becoming available that can do things never before thought possible. But it’s a little like the Wild West too, with reckless tall tales of big data miracles being spun, so sometimes it’s necessary to step back, reassess, and seek a new perspective.

My goal is to provide some of that perspective and context with Datanami, and to maintain the publication’s reputation as a trusted resource for data analytic professionals. You have many sources to choose from to get your big data news every day. The amount of data analytics-related news and information available to you is truly staggering. It is a veritable fire hose of information.

Just as you struggle to find the signal in the noise in your data, Datanami’s role will be to separate the wheat from the chafe in terms of the data analytic tools and solutions available to you. Along the way, we’ll have a little fun, and hopefully keep you entertained in addition to well-informed. Please join me on this journey.

Sincerely,

Alex Woodie

Managing Editor

Datanami