Many of the hardcore data center folks don't go to GigaOm Structure Data. This latest conference was dominated by Big Data presentations. Chatting with a few of the old timers who have gone to many of the GigaOm conferences, there were three presentations that stood out. Check these out to get a taste of what is presented.
Paul Maritz makes a call for leadership for a Data Driven Future. If you want to read the talk go here.
EMC’s Paul Maritz: it takes leadership to move companies toward a data-driven future
by Eliza Kern
MAR. 20, 2013 - 9:56 AM PDT1 Comment
SUMMARY:What does it take to move companies toward a data-driven future? EMC chief strategist and Pivotal Initiative leader Paul Maritz spoke at Strucuture:Data in New York on how to move toward the future through human leadership and strategy.
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OM MALIK 08:49
This injection of web-scale ideas and practices into various companies involves a whole different kind of thinking, not just at the IT infrastructure level. It affects thinking at the executive level, at the middle-management level, and all throughout the company. People insist on seeing data as this special thing. I feel that it’s more about the culture of the company. If the company doesn’t have a culture of innovative use of data, there doesn’t seem to be much they can do to adapt.
PAUL MARITZ 09:23
I think it’s tied to business models. These underlying structures allow you to rethink business models, and unfortunately I’ve learnt that it’s very hard for an organization to change its business model. All of us become very comfortable with a business model, it allows you to look into the future, it’s your compass” that allows you to make predictions, and it’s very difficult to let go of that. It’s not so much a matter of technology, it’s the fact of a company coming at you with a very different business model. Amazon for example doesn’t have the same focus on managing brands in the way that a traditional retailer does. They manage a customer relationship. Their whole business model is predicated on getting value out of the customer rather than squeezing value out of brands or products.
Sean Gourley's talk got people to think about solving problems. Sean's transcript is here.
Data science is not enough. We need data intelligence too
MAR. 20, 2013 - 8:18 AM PDTNo Comments
SUMMARY:In his talk at Structure: Data, Quid’s Sean Gourley talked about the meaningful differences between “data science” and “data intelligence.” While one is concerned with correlations, the other is concerned about solving problems.
And, our talk on Capacity Planning and Asset Management made the top mentions as one of the top talks. Our transcript is here.
Want a better/greener/more agile data center? Use the data.
MAR. 21, 2013 - 8:23 AM PDT2 Comments
SUMMARY:Want to see big data in action? When it comes to planning out data center capacity, data can influence everything from the power usage to planning for disasters.
Disclosure: I work for GigaOm Pro as a freelance analyst and the panel are some of the best people I have encountered in capacity planning and asset management.