Watson Analytics Announced Today

( More here later )  Have asked, and am getting more in depth access to this capability.  Will be posting more about the experience, and in particular how  it links to, augments, or even replaces current applications of analytics in a number of corporate contexts.  Stay tuned.   Particular thoughts?  Contact me.

Expected to be in Beta in September, available later this year.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/bits/2014/09/16/ibm-offers-a-data-tool-for-the-mainstream-with-watsons-help/


" ... Developing technology is one thing; democratizing it is another. The latter involves finding the innovation that opens the door to widespread adoption with usefulness and usability.

In the personal computer era, it was the spreadsheet that transformed a hobbyists’ plaything into a must-have machine in corporate America. In mobile computing, it was Apple’s iPhone that brought the smartphone to the masses, establishing a new model for the gadgets as both smart and easy to use. In the era of big data, start-ups and big companies are in hot pursuit of a similar breakthrough, a vehicle to bring modern data analysis and prediction to the rank and file of business.

IBM thinks it has an answer, called Watson Analytics, which it announced on Tuesday. The offering is a software service, delivered over the cloud. As its name suggests, Watson Analytics is a result of a collaboration between teams from IBM’s data analysis group and its Watson unit, which has been built into a business in the three years since Watson beat human champions in the question-and-answer game “Jeopardy.”.... " 

In Smarter Planet.

Descriptive video.

And in CWorld.