What Splunk and Infobright have done is to take "what is possible" with machine-generated data and made it practical. As evidenced by the amazing success of the Splunk IPO last week, "big data" - as in machine-generated data - got a big lift.

According to Don DeLoach, CEO of Infobright, it takes him back to the late '90s when IPOs would double in a matter of hours. I asked Don why he thought that this was such a big event. He said that it is a data point that acknowledges the big data market is really coming into its own.

In my conversation with Don, he mentioned that emerging landscapes such as smart power grids and smart power management systems are indicative of where the explosion of machine-generated data is going. Don also talked about his respect for the other vendors in the big data space - including Splunk and IBM's Smarter Planet - and added that these types of systems will bring along another huge wave of usage of machine-generated data.

You can get the big picture on big data by reading my interviews with Don DeLoach of Infobright and Sanjay Mehta of Splunk to get the big picture on big data. (Clicking on the link for each company will take you to my interviews as featured on the BeyeNETWORK.)

It's going to be exciting to watch this big data space continue to grow, not only in size but also in capabilities!

Below is an infographic produced by Information Builders that provides a chronology of events for our industry. I hope you enjoy it -- I think it is cleverly done.

You have probably read a lot of predictions and resolutions about analytics and business intelligence - some good, some questionable. But the 2012 BI predictions from Information Builders are right on the mark. Here's what I learned from Jake Freivald, Vice President of  Marketing at Information Builders, about their predictions for this year.

The first is that real-time is going to become much more mainstream. I agree because that's what everyone wants (historical data is important - but everyone is now realizing the value of real-time data), we now have the technologies to make real-time data capture and analysis a reality, and the benefits are too good to ignore.

Information Builders has long been focused on pervasive BI, and their second prediction is that operational employees are going to make a big push for BI capabilities so they can make smart decisions. I agree - provided these BI apps are easier to understand and use, and that certainly seems to be the direction of the industry.

According to Freivald, the third prediction relates to location intelligence. He indicated that they're seeing a surge in the number of people interested in using GIS in conjunction with BI technologies, particularly in retail, healthcare and law enforcement. And, thanks to mobile intelligence applications, location intelligence is more widely available and collectible.

The final prediction from Information Builders is a combination of the three I mentioned above. All of these will be working together to make BI more personal. This personalization will allow individuals to understand more about themselves, allow companies to better understand their customers, and even allow government organizations to personalize their interactions with citizens. I agree we're moving in that direction, but I feel it will be a number of years before we're really there. A couple of things, in my opinion, stand in the way: privacy concerns and the ability of organizations to integrate all of that information in real-time.

If you'd like to share what you think are the biggest BI trends for 2012, feel free to leave a comment on this blog.

I'm sure you're reading lots of New Year's Resolutions -- I know I am. Some are personal -- stick to the diet, exercise more, travel more, etc. But the ones I consider more important are the resolutions that will help your company achieve greater success in 2012.

I don't usually share press releases in my blog, but I think the resolutions suggested by arcplan in their recent press release are sound suggestions that you should consider. Their press release lists 5 top BI resolutions, but I want to focus on two of them.

Mobilizing Business Intelligence. This is going to become even more strategic as use of smartphones and tablets continues to increase. You're going to have to be sure you have the plans and infrastructure in place to deliver BI via these devices -- safely and securely. If you haven't already made those plans,  now is the time to do so!

Collaboration Tools - the Key to Success. I think this is definitely an idea whose time has come. Think of the hours that some of you spend trying to come up with the right information -- never realizing that someone else in your organization had already tackled a very similar problem. Incorporating collaborative capabilities into your BI solution is a great goal for 2012!

I'd love to hear any BI-related resolutions you have for 2012. You can add them as comments to this blog post or you can email me at rpowell@techtarget.com. (And if you'd like to read the other 3 top BI resolutions from arcplan, click here.)

Happy New Year to all of you!

How often can you get real value for free? I'm happy to tell you about how one of the BeyeNetwork experts is providing a resource for SMBs to learn about business intelligence and analytics and even identify approaches that really work.

Lyndsay Wise, BeyeNetwork expert on BI for the Mid-Market and President of WiseAnalytics, has developed an interactive community - BI4SMB - where you can find BI industry information that matches the reality of what smaller enterprises face on a daily basis, including how to optimize business visibility and metrics management.

According to Lyndsay, the goal over time of the BI4SMB community is to:

1. Provide a set of analyst services developed specifically for SMBs and driven by SMB-related needs
2. Provide a community for SMBs to discuss BI related challenges and projects
3. Deliver regular research, events, best practices, and BI insights based on the issues being faced by community members
   

This community is just for the SMBs - to share thoughts, challenges, collaborate with other companies facing the same issues. If you're part of an SMB, be sure to check out this community today.