最值得关注的大数据公司盘点

    要在科技行业的前沿阵地保持领先地位相当不容易，在像大数据这样迅速增长的领域更是如此。随着更多企业杀入这个战场，几乎每天都会有新的产品和服务冒出来。

    有前途的大数据公司有很多，不过《财富》希望的是透过喧嚣看到本质。于是我们采访了大数据领域的一些杰出人士，看看在他们眼中谁才是最有前途的大数据公司，哪些企业最值得关注。

    但我们了解到，这似乎是一个不太好回答的问题。

    Smarter Remarketer公司共同创始人兼首席数据科学家迪恩•阿波特说：“要说给‘大数据公司’列一个名单倒是很有趣，主要是因为它的定义。‘大数据公司’指的是纯粹搞大数据分析的公司，还是经常使用、但也不是光使用大数据技术搞分析预测的公司？还是像惠普（HP）、SAP、戴尔（Dell）或通用电气（GE ）那样虽然设立了一个‘大数据分析’部门，但只占公司业务一小部分的公司？”

    “我见过的最有意思的公司之一”

    有一些大数据公司获得了行业专家的一致认可，认为它们值得关注。比如10位专家中至少有两位以上表示值得关注的大数据公司就有MapR、MemSQL、Databricks、Platfora、Splunk、 Teradata、Palantir、Premise、Datameer、 Cloudera、Hortonworks、MongoDB和 Trifacta等。

    比如高德纳公司（Gartner）的分析师斯维特拉娜•斯库拉指出，MemSQL就是“一个对混合工作和分析工作来说非常有效的内库关联数据库。虽然SAP的Hana数据库也在内存数据领域获得了很多关注，但是MemSQL的产品似乎是一个更便宜、也更灵活的解决方案。”

    另外斯库拉还认为：“Splunck公司掌握了非常出色的技术，而且它也是第一批上市的大数据公司之一。而且现在Splunk还有了一个叫Hunk的很强势的产品——顾名思义，它是Hadoop架构上的Splunk。它可以直接向市场提供比大多数其它产品更成熟的大数据解决方案。与很多大数据产品相比，Hunk的优点是易用性更强，而且我接触过的大多数顾客都表达了他们对Splunk的喜爱，虽然我完全没有向他们吹捧过这个产品。”

    Palantir科技公司主要从事面向公共部门客户的大数据分析，这家公司也获得了专家们很高的评价。百森商学院（Babson College）IT管理学教授、《职场中的大数据》（Big Data @ Work）一书的作者汤姆•达文波特说：“如果有可能的话，我会把Palantir公司在大数据创业公司排行榜的第一名”。

    RelateIQ公司产品副总裁DJ•帕提尔表示，旧金山的Trifacta公司是一家值得关注的公司。Trifacta公司搭建了一个“数据传输平台”，有望提高数据分析师的工作效率。帕提尔本人也是这家公司的一名技术顾问，他说：“Trifacta是我见过我的最有意思的公司之一。”

    Analytical-Solution公司创始人卡拉•金特里表示，旧金山的另一家大数据公司Datameer也是一家值得关注的公司。“现在市面上有很多所谓大数据公司，但他们其中的大多数最后变成了一个普通的智能商务平台，这种东西任何公司只要招聘一名工程师就都可以搞。”但是金特里表示，Datameer很不一样。

    It’s hard enough staying on top of the latest developments in the technology industry. That’s doubly true in the fast-growing area known as big data, with new companies, products and services popping up practically every day.

    There are scores of promising big data companies, butFortune sought to cut through the noise and reached out to a number of luminaries in the field to ask which big data companies they believe have the biggest potential. Which players are really the ones to watch?

    That question, we learned, is rather difficult to answer.

    “A list of ‘big data companies’ is interesting because of the definition,” said Dean Abbott, co-founder and chief data scientist of Smarter Remarketer. “Is a ‘big data’ company one that is pure-play analytics with big data? A company that does predictive analytics often with big data but not always—like Beyond the Arc or Elder Research? A large company that has a group that usually does ‘big data analytics’ but it’s only a small part of what they do as a company—like HP HP 0.90% , SAP, Dell, even GE GE 0.30% ?”

    ‘One of the most interesting ones I’ve seen’

    There was certainly consensus on some of the big data companies that industry experts said were notable. At least two of 10 experts we polled named MapR,MemSQL, Databricks, Platfora, Splunk, Teradata,Palantir, Premise, Datameer, Cloudera,Hortonworks, MongoDB, and Trifacta as shining examples in the space.

    MemSQL, for example, is “an in-memory relational database that would be effective for mixed workloads and for analytics,” said Svetlana Sicular, an analyst at Gartner. “While SAP draws so much attention to in-memory databases by marketing their Hana database, MemSQL seems to be a less expensive and more agile solution in this space.”

    Splunk, meanwhile, “has an excellent technology, and it was among the first big data companies to go public,” Sicular said. “Now, Splunk also has a strong product called Hunk—Splunk on Hadoop—directly delivering big data solutions that are more mature than most products in the market. Hunk is easy to use compared to many big data products, and generally, most customers I spoke with expressed their love to Splunk without any soliciting on my side.”

    Palantir Technologies, which focuses on data analysis for public sector clients, also received high marks. “I’d have to put Palantir at the top of the list” of the startups in the big data space, said Tom Davenport, an IT management professor at Babson College and author of the book, Big Data @ Work.

    DJ Patil, vice president of product at RelateIQ, said San Francisco-based Trifacta—which makes a “data transformation platform” promising increase productivity for data analysts—was a company to watch. “One of the most interesting ones I’ve seen,” said Patil, who serves as a technical advisor to the company.

    Two miles away, cross-town peer Datameer is also remarkable, said Carla Gentry, founder of Analytical-Solution. “There are lots more companies out there, but most of the them just end up being a BI platform that anyone with an engineer could have started.” Datameer is different, she said.