IBM's Watson Analytics - New Data Discovery

Uploaded on 2015-10-19 in TECHNOLOGY--Developments, NEWS-News Analysis, FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Services-IT & Telecoms

Pushing forward in the race to get analytics tools into the hands of non-technical users, IBM is unveiling a new offerings in its Watson Analytics line: data-discovery models called Expert Storybooks, new connectors to a range of data sources and more secure connections to corporate data.

At a New York event showcasing partners and applications, IBM officials are set to make the case that cognitive computing-based Watson Analytics has momentum. More than 500,000 people have registered to use Watson Analytics tools in the 10 months that they have been generally available, IBM says.

Many of those 500,000 registered users are not paying, however, but rather checking out the free tools IBM is offering. The free offerings are meant to highlight how, by moving analytics to a self-service, cloud-based model, business users can streamline analysis projects without investing in expensive and complex tech infrastructure.
"It's all about the end users, it's all about the line of business users, the marketing pro, the sales pro, and giving them capabilities they've never had before in one common easy to use experience," said John Colthart, product design leader at IBM Watson Analytics.

New Analytics services include a variety of Expert Storybooks, created with help from business partners. The Storybooks are essentially data discovery models producing sophisticated visualizations to help users find relevant facts and discover patterns and relationships to make predictive decisions. 

With baseball statistics from AriBall, for example, Watson Analytics is offering an Expert Storybook to build predictions of player performance for users to get an edge against their fantasy baseball competitors. A Storybook built with The Weather Company is designed to help users incorporate weather data into revenue analysis; a Twitter Storybook helps analyze social data to, among other things, measure reputational risk.

Expert Storybooks also include OgilvyOne, for analyzing marketing campaign data; an American Marketing Association Storybook for identifying and analyzing trends in customer profitability; a Nucleus Research Storybook to measure ROI for projects; a MarketShare Storybook for analyzing market trends for investment strategy; and an Intangent Storybook, to help finance managers examine relationships among pay, performance and credit risk.

The free Storybooks have limits on file sizes and how much user data they can store, but users can consult with IBM or its partners to get expanded capabilities on a paid basis.

New data connectors are designed to give Watson Analytics users access to a wider range of sources, including Amazon Redshift, Apache Hive, Box, and Cloudera Impala. In addition, IBM has bolstered the Watson Analytics' ability to securely connect to corporate information with new functionality from the company's cloud-based data refinement and access service, DataWorks. The new features use Docker containers to transport automatically encrypted data through a secure connection.
The Storybooks, data connectors and secure connections will be in beta in the fourth quarter this year and generally available in the first quarter of 2016. In addition, IBM will be making a Social Media Analytics app generally available in the fourth quarter this year.

Watson cognitive computing services are embedded in Watson Analytics offerings, for example giving users the ability to ask natural language questions or proposing a series of new relevant areas for them to explore. "It's constantly giving you proposals, so it’s constantly, as you’re entering data or as you’re asking questions, it’s constantly learning what you’re looking for and trying to propose to you how to go and access that," Colthart said.

While acknowledging that there is strong competition to bring analytics to the masses, for example in the form of Microsoft's Power BI, Colthart maintains that Watson Analytics has an edge in predictive analytics and forecasting. And as more cognitive computing services are embedded in Watson Analytics offerings, those predictive analytics feature will only get stronger, Colthart said.

IBM first developed Watson as a research project to compete against humans on the game show "Jeopardy." Watson can come up with answers to questions using a range of sources in various formats. It was able to hone its answers by learning how to formulate the best responses in an iterative, trial and error process. Because this approach to problem solving emulates how humans think, it is known as cognitive computing.

IBM is on a continuous delivery model, such that cognitive computing services are added into Watson Analytics every month or even every two weeks, Colthart said.
"You’ll see us in the future try to ensure that the entire platform as the user experiences it is underpinned by the right services from the Watson Group to make that either more delightful in terms of finding interesting patterns or just to allow them to access a much higher degree of unstructured data, for example," Colthart said.
Computerworld: http://bit.ly/1kgLjqE

 

« Cyberattack: Millions Stolen From UK Bank Accounts
The Dark Web Uncovered »

CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81
Cyrin

Real Attacks. Real Tools. Real Scenarios.
Schedule a demo

Go Cyber

Training that transforms behaviours

Sign Up: Cyber Security Intelligence Newsletter

Directory of Suppliers

IT Governance

IT Governance

IT Governance is a leading global provider of information security solutions. Download our free guide and find out how ISO 27001 can help protect your organisation's information.

ManageEngine

ManageEngine

As the IT management division of Zoho Corporation, ManageEngine prioritizes flexible solutions that work for all businesses, regardless of size or budget.

Clayden Law

Clayden Law

Clayden Law advise global businesses that buy and sell technology products and services. We are experts in information technology, data privacy and cybersecurity law.

CSI Consulting Services

CSI Consulting Services

Get Advice From The Experts: * Training * Penetration Testing * Data Governance * GDPR Compliance. Connecting you to the best in the business.

Jooble

Jooble

Jooble is a job search aggregator operating in 71 countries worldwide. We simplify the job search process by displaying active job ads from major job boards and career sites across the internet.

mile2

mile2

Mile2 develop and deliver proprietary vendor neutral professional certifications for the cyber security industry.

L3Harris United Kingdom

L3Harris United Kingdom

L3Harris UK (formerly L3 TRL Technology) designs and delivers advanced electronic warfare and cyber security solutions for the protection of people, infrastructure and assets.

SAI360

SAI360

SAI360 (formerly SAI Global) provide products and services for enterprise risk management including Governance, Risk & Compliance and Digital Risk solutions.

SecurityHQ

SecurityHQ

SecurityHQ (formerly known as Si Consult) is a Global Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) that monitors networks 24/7, to ensure complete visibility and protection against your cyber threats.

Cybercrime Investigation & Coordinating Center (CICC)

Cybercrime Investigation & Coordinating Center (CICC)

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) is an attached agency of the Philippines Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

Aiuken Cybersecurity

Aiuken Cybersecurity

Aiuken is an international IT Security company, focused on communications and IT technologies, specialised in Security and Cloud Services solutions with high added value.

Trustelem

Trustelem

Trustelem offers European and global companies a ready-to-use access management service that respects the principles of sovereignty, territoriality and privacy.

Hold Security

Hold Security

Hold Security works with companies of all sizes to provide unparalleled Threat Intelligence services that actually make a difference.

DoControl

DoControl

DoControl gives organizations the automated, self-service tools they need for SaaS applications data access monitoring, orchestration, and remediation.

Tromzo

Tromzo

Tromzo's mission is to eliminate the friction between developers and security so you can scale your application security program.

Capital Network Solutions

Capital Network Solutions

Capital Network Solutions are a highly accredited managed IT services and consultancy provider, specialising in cyber security, infrastructure and communications.

NVISIONx

NVISIONx

NVISIONx data risk governance platform enables companies to gain control of their enterprise data to reduce data risks, compliance scopes and storage costs.

SoftwareONE

SoftwareONE

SoftwareONE is a leading global provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology solutions.

inWebo

inWebo

inWebo is the specialist in multi-factor strong authentication (MFA). We guarantee the security of data and identities in a digital world with increasingly important economic and political stakes.

Redington

Redington

Redington offer products and services in solution areas including digital transformation, hybrid infrastructure and cybersecurity.

Verastel

Verastel

Specializing in the niche space of proactive cyber-defense, and adaptive resilience, team Verastel is bolstering enterprise digital security like never before.