Mega Unicorn Informatica leads the way in Big Data

I was thrilled with Informatica’s $1 Million Dollar Big Data Ready Challenge announcement last week. It got me thinking about Howard Baldwin – Forbes community editor for Data Driven Business – recent articles. Our contest will challenge Big Data experts to think about these high points and encourage them to push the boundaries on what data can do for their companies.

 At Informatica we are focusing our attention on getting projects from pilot into production – lifting them over the hump can often need encouragement and support. It’s the turning point at which vision starts to become value. Big data can help conquer some of the biggest business and human challenges we face, and Informatica is committed to getting high-impact projects off the starting block and into delivering impact with our software and services.

 Baldwin’s articles in Forbes describe what can happen when big data is put to work. In New York City, The Risk Based Inspection System gathers data points from different agencies on as many as 500,000 illegally converted apartments. The result is prioritizing the inspection schedule according to buildings most at risk, applying data to prevent occurrences of fire and death. In the United Kingdom, Gatwick Airport’s data intelligence is helping usher five times the number of people through security per hour, and increase the number of flights it schedules for takeoff. Walmart is honing its accuracy to determine customer preferences, based on region and season.

 Each of these projects was in a pilot phase at some point, and now delivers significant results to commerce and society. Whether it was regarding integration, governance or security – what we consider the pillars of big data – they hit a hump in the road, but kept on driving to deliver value.

 Informatica is deeply experienced in what it takes to ensure our customers’ big data projects are successful. We’re excited to see the different scenarios and the potential impact that people bring to us in the Big Data Ready Challenge. And together with the esteemed judges who will join us in evaluating, hopefully we’ll be helping your project be the next high point in big data.