Big Data is now mainstream at large companies, says a recent study, but many people still dislike the term.
Add me to the list. Size is only one part of the Big Data challenge, and the word “big” is preventing organizations from solving for the whole equation—volume, velocity and variety. IT can help the business get the most value from Big Data initiatives by thinking beyond volume and velocity and helping solve for data variety.
A lot has been written, and continues to be written about ‘knowledge workers’. The term was first coined by Peter Drucker in 1959 and scholars and thought leaders have been working to define what a knowledge worker is and does ever since. It’s hard to pin down, because it’s still evolving and there are so many different knowledge worker roles. I like this definition I found on Quizlet: Knowledge workers are professionals who create, modify, and/or synthesize knowledge as a fundamental part of their jobs.
The recent #sharktankweek series on LinkedIn, and this #behindthescenes article, How to Move From Corporate Exec to Entrepreneur by Sally Krawcheck inspired me to share some thoughts on entrepreneurs. I consider myself an entrepreneur, but I’m an employee and I wear a suit, not a hoodie, so I may not look like one to you. I think that’s because a lot of us subscribe to certain myths about what an entrepreneur does or is. Do any of these sound familiar to you?
Myth #1: Entrepreneurs are doing something disruptive.
I was talking to a colleague the other day, telling him everything I’ve been up to on social media. He was looking at me a little funny. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t believe me or just thought I was nuts, so I said, “Go ahead, Google me.”
He laughed, but I was serious. I’ve made it my business to make it easy for people to find me and learn about me.
You can find about 10 pages of pretty high-quality results, including my LinkedIn profile, my 
Twitter feed, dozens of blog posts I’ve written, videos and podcasts I’ve participated in, interviews I’ve given and some of my presentation decks that I’ve posted to SlideShare.
While traveling the globe talking to customers about big data analytics for the past several years, one thing I’ve heard from Singapore to San Francisco is that businesses want solutions to analyze their ever-changing business problems quickly and effectively while minimizing IT engagement and costs.
With that in the back of my mind, something clicked when I came across Silicon Valley-based startup ClearStory Data. ClearStory has developed a cloud-based solution for big data discovery that lets businesses move many disparate data sources into the cloud, where they are harmonized, enriched with relevant third-party data and translated into stunning visual representations.