Datameer Raises $19 Million to Challenge Hadoop Conventional Wisdom

Three Big Problems Big Data Will Create in 2014

Conventional Big Data wisdom holds that in order to derive any value from technologies such as Hadoop, organizations need to invest in a cadre of data scientists to build complex analytics applications. The problem with that thinking is that by the time an organization assembles all the software and hardware expertise needed to launch a Big Data application, multiple years will have gone by.

Datameer is one of a handful of application providers that are challenging Hadoop conventional wisdom. Fresh off garnering an additional $19 million in funding this week, Datameer is making the case that what organizations really want is access to Big Data analytics applications that are about as complicated to use as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

According to Karen Hsu, senior director of product marketing for Datameer, companies have a tendency to think of investing in Hadoop as a long-term investment. In reality, Hsu says organizations can deploy analytics applications such as Datameer on top of Hadoop to give users access to Big Data analytics using a familiar spreadsheet interface.

In fact, Hsu says that it’s that spreadsheet interface that accounts for why software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendors such as Workday have chosen to embed Datameer within their applications in order to give customers access to Big Data analytics.

In essence, Datameer is making a case for a packaged application approach to Big Data versus building custom Hadoop applications. That’s a debate that reaches back to the beginning of IT history. But just because Big Data is involved doesn’t mean that the same issues that lead most organizations to prefer to customize a packaged application versus building one from the ground up don’t still apply.