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Effective Ways to Prevent Data Breaches

Data Breach
Data breach prevention is going to be the need of the hour as cybercrime continues to grow. Cybercrime is a growing threat to businesses of all sizes. Due to this unprecedented time many companies shifted to work-from-home model. Statics show data breaches are on a rise and can have devastating long-term financial set-back or reputational repercussions to your organization.

As a result, businesses must ensure that their data is secure to avoid substantial loss or theft.

As data breaches happens in different ways, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all remedy. Security needs a multifaceted approach to be effective.

In this article we’ll find out different ways prevent data breaches.

Impact of a data breach on businesses

A data breach can destroy a business, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB). Data is a valuable asset for any business especially, the data related to customers and payments. Cybercriminals find this data valuable. Lack of planning and security creates vulnerabilities for criminals to exploit.

It is estimated that 60% of small and medium-sized enterprises will close within six months after the attack. Larger businesses or agencies, on the other hand, will survive. Nevertheless, they too will suffer the consequences.

A data breach can impact businesses in the following ways;

Financial

Businesses must compensate for both immediate and hidden fines (fines, public relations, legal fees, and punitive regulatory measures) for a data breach. In addition, business needs to compensate customers, refund any stolen funds, and bear a share value loss. A smart organization will use this opportunity to develop data security and disaster recovery strategies, which entails financial investment.

Fines and fees – The PCI Security Standards Council may impose fines or penalties for a data breach. Both regulatory organisations and card network brands will have different fines.

Forensic investigations – Major consequences of a data breach include, the business that was attacked will be accountable to perform a forensic investigation to determine the causes of the data breach. These investigations are costly and often yield valuable evidence and insights to prevent future data breaches.

Future security costs – Victims of a data breach may have to bear costs of credit monitoring for customers whose data was compromised. This may also include the costs of identity theft repair, card replacement, and additional compliance requirements from the PCI.

Reputation

Having a good reputation is the most prized asset for any organization. As a business, one must constantly put effort into building and maintaining brand integrity. A single compromising episode like a data breach can trash the best of reputations. According to a PwC report, 85% of customers won't shop at a business if they have concerns about their security policies.

Customers value their privacy, and a data breach will be perceived as a lack of regard for their data and privacy. Furthermore, 46% of businesses reported that security breaches harmed their reputation and brand value.

Intellectual Property

The product blueprints, business strategies, and engineered solutions are some of your most valuable assets for any organization. Your trade secret gives you an added advantage over your competitors. Hence it needs to be protected as some may not hesitate to use breached intellectual property.

Other significant consequences of a data breach include;

  • A data breach can pit the CEO against the CISO
  • Poisoned search results on your corporate brand
  • Loss of sales after a data breach
  • Unexpected expenses
  • Less attractive to new employees, especially in tech positions
  • Legal penalties after a data breach

Understanding the aftermath of a data breach is an important step to safeguarding your business. The next step is to create an action plan is to protect what you've worked so hard on.

How does a Data breach happen?

Data breaches sometimes can be traced back to planned attacks. But, on the other hand, it can result from a simple oversight by individuals or flaws in the infrastructure.

Accidental Insider

For instance, an employee uses a co-worker's computer and reads files without proper approval or permission. However, the access is unintentional/accidental, and no personal information is revealed. The data was breached, however, because it was read by an unauthorised person.

Malicious Insider

This person deliberately accesses/shares data with the intent of causing harm to an individual or company. The malicious insider may have genuine authorization to use the data, but the intent is to use the info in nefarious ways.

Lost or Stolen Devices

Any laptop or external hard drive with important information on it that is not encrypted or unlocked goes missing.

Malicious Outside Criminals

These are hackers who attack several vectors to collect information from a network or an individual.

Global cost of data breach

According to the Ponemon Institute's Cost of a Data Breach Report, global data breaches cost $3.86 million on average in 2020. The amount in 2020 was somewhat lesser compared to 2019 when it hit $3.92M. The same report found that the average cost of a data breach in 2020 totaled $8.64M.

Ways to prevent a data breach

  • Conduct employee security awareness training
  • Control access to data sensibly
  • Update software regularly.
  • Require secure passwords and authentication
  • Simulate phishing attacks
  • Evaluate accounts
  • Limit access to your most valuable data.
  • Review your user account lifecycle processes
  • Insist on complex and unique passwords
  • Protect against authentication bypass
  • Store sensitive personal information securely and protect it during transmission
  • Consider implementing a secure SSO solution
  • Secure all endpoints
  • Segment your network and monitor who's trying to get in and out
  • Manage Vendors - Third-party vendors must comply.

Conclusion

Protecting against data breaches may appear to be a time-consuming procedure. You will be in a better position if you take an encrusted step to secure your data using various methods, policies, and procedures to ease security threats.

FAQ’s


How does a data breach impact an organization?

Depending upon the company and data type, the consequences may include destruction or corruption of databases, leaking of confidential information, the theft of intellectual property, and regulatory requirements to inform and possibly compensate those affected.

What is the most common data breach?

Hacking attacks are the most common cause of a data breach. However, it is often a weak or lost password that is the vulnerability that the opportunist hacker is exploiting.

Spotlight

Actifio

Actifio virtualizes the data that’s the lifeblood of businesses in more than 30 countries around the world. Its Virtual Data Pipeline™ technology enables businesses to manage, access, and protect their data faster, more efficiently, and more simply by decoupling data from physical storage, much the same way a hypervisor decouples compute from physical servers.

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How I Made a Bot to “Fake” Responses for a Survey

Article | April 28, 2023

We had to make a project presentation in which we (as in me and my friend) had to conduct an additional survey to back up our point. Now, like any other student, we waited till the deadline. Well, to be fair, we didn’t have a choice. We had a lot of work from college. But that’s the story of any student, I guess. A snap of the form which was used to collect the information So, we sent the link and got back a few responses. But, since the deadline was the next day and the survey had to be on a larger scale, I decided to create a bot for it. (Because that’s the obvious answer for everything. [Pun intended]). Here it is: • Link to the Code. A few things which I learnt are that while using the click() method, if we’re using xpath, it’s not easy for the web driver to locate a clickable element if it’s embedded under div tags and span tags. It throws a “no such element exception”. The best thing to do would be: • Use the label of the element you want to locate on the form. • To use the pre-filled links feature of Google forms. (Basically a pre-filled link, which uses parameters to fill the form). Best suited for small forms.

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Implementing Big Data and AI: Best Practices and Strategies for 2023

Article | July 10, 2023

Discover the latest strategies and best practices for implementing big data and AI into your organization for 2023. Gain insights on leading Big Data and AI solution providers to drive business growth. Contents 1 Establishing a Relationship between Big Data and AI 2 Importance of Big Data and AI in 2023 3 Key Challenges in Implementing Big Data and AI 4 Best Practices and Strategies for Big Data and AI Implementation 4.1 Building a Data Strategy 4.2 Implementing a Data Governance Framework 4.3 Leveraging Cloud Computing 4.4 Developing a Data Science and AI Roadmap 4.5 Leveraging Established Agile Methodologies 4.6 Prototyping Through Sandboxing 5 Top AI and Big Data Companies to Look For in 2023 6 Conclusion 1. Establishing a Relationship between Big Data and AI The relationship between AI and big data is mutually beneficial, as AI requires vast amounts of data to enhance its decision-making abilities, while big data analytics benefits from AI for superior analysis. This union enables the implementation of advanced analytics, such as predictive analysis, resulting in the optimization of business efficiency by anticipating emerging trends, scrutinizing consumer behavior, automating customer segmentation, customizing digital campaigns, and utilizing decision support systems propelled by big data, AI, and predictive analytics. This integration empowers organizations to become data-driven, resulting in significant improvements in business performance. 2. Importance of Big Data and AI in 2023 In the year 2023, it is anticipated that the utilization of big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) will profoundly impact diverse industries. The investment in big data analytics will be primarily driven by the need for data compliance, security, and mobilization, ultimately aiming to achieve real-time analysis. Therefore, businesses seeking to excel in this area must be prepared to adopt cloud technology and make significant advancements in computing power and data processing methods. Recent research indicates that a combination of AI and big data can automate nearly 80% of all physical work, 70% of data processing work, and 64% of data collection tasks. (Source: Forbes) The banking, retail, manufacturing, finance, healthcare, and government sectors have already made substantial investments in big data analytics, which have resulted in the forecasting of trends, enhancing business recommendations, and increasing profits. In addition, AI technology will make significant advancements in 2023, including democratization, making it accessible to a broader user population. This shift will enable customers to wield authority, and businesses will be able to use AI to better meet their specific and individualized business requirements. Finally, a significant shift likely to be witnessed in the AI field in 2023 is the move to a more industrialized, embedded type of architecture, where actual business users may begin utilizing algorithms. According to a recent study, 61% of respondents believe that AI will have a significant impact on their industry within the next three to five years. (Source: Deloitte Insights Report) 3. Key Challenges in Implementing Big Data and AI 97.2% of business executives say their organizations are investing in big data and AI projects. These executives cite their desire to become “nimble, data-driven businesses” as the reason for these investments, as 54.4% say that their companies’ inability to do this was the biggest threat they faced. In addition, 79.4% say they’re afraid that other, more data-driven companies will disrupt and outperform them. (Source: Zippia) Implementing big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) presents various challenges that businesses must tackle to realize their full potential. One such obstacle is the intricate nature of the data, which could be either structured or unstructured and necessitate specialized tools and techniques for processing and analysis. Moreover, companies must ensure data quality, completeness, and integrity to facilitate accurate analysis and decision-making. Another substantial challenge in implementing big data and AI is the requirement for skilled personnel with expertise in data science, machine learning, and related technologies. To stay up-to-date on the latest tools and techniques, companies must invest in ongoing training and development programs for their employees. Ethical and legal concerns surrounding data privacy, security, and transparency must also be addressed, especially after recent data breaches and privacy scandals. Integrating big data and AI into existing IT systems can be a challenging and time-consuming process that necessitates careful planning and coordination to ensure smooth integration and minimize disruption. Lastly, the high cost of implementing these technologies can be a significant barrier, especially for smaller businesses or those with limited IT budgets. To overcome these challenges, companies must be strategic, prioritize use cases, and develop a clear implementation roadmap while leveraging third-party tools and services to minimize costs and maximize ROI. 4. Best Practices and Strategies for Big Data and AI Implementation 24% of companies use big data analytics. While 97.2% of companies say they’re investing in big data and AI projects, just 24% describe their organizations as data-driven. (Source: Zippia) 4.1 Building a Data Strategy One of the biggest challenges in building a data strategy is identifying the most relevant data sources and data types for the organization’s specific business objectives. The sheer volume and diversity of data available can further complicate this. The key to addressing this challenge is thoroughly assessing the organization’s data assets and prioritizing them based on their business value. This involves: Identifying the key business objectives and Determining which data sources and data types are most relevant to achieving those objectives 4.2 Implementing a Data Governance Framework Establishing a data governance framework involving all stakeholders is crucial for ensuring agreement on data quality, privacy, and security standards. However, implementing such a framework can be daunting due to the divergent priorities and perspectives of stakeholders on good data governance. So, to overcome this challenge, clear guidelines and processes must be established: Creating a data governance council Defining roles and responsibilities Involving all stakeholders in the development and implementation of guidelines Data quality management, privacy, and security processes should be established to maintain high data governance standards Organizations can improve the effectiveness of their data governance initiatives by aligning all stakeholders and ensuring their commitment to maintaining optimal data governance standards. 4.3 Leveraging Cloud Computing It is essential to carefully select a cloud provider that aligns with the organization's security and compliance requirements. In addition, robust data security and compliance controls should be implemented: Establishing data encryption and access controls Implementing data backup and recovery procedures Regularly conducting security and compliance audits By following these practices, organizations can ensure their big data and AI projects are secure and compliant. 4.4 Developing a Data Science and AI Roadmap The obstacles to developing a data science and AI roadmap lie in identifying the most pertinent use cases that cater to the specific business objectives of an organization. This difficulty is further compounded by the potential divergence of priorities and perspectives among various stakeholders concerning the definition of a successful use case. Hence, it is imperative to establish unambiguous guidelines for identifying and prioritizing use cases that align with their respective business values. This entails: Identifying the key business objectives Carefully ascertaining which use cases are most pertinent to realizing those objectives Meticulously delineating the success criteria for each use case 4.5 Leveraging Established Agile Methodologies Leveraging well-established agile methodologies is critical in successfully implementing large-scale big data and AI projects. By defining a precise project scope and goals, prioritizing tasks, and fostering consistent communication and collaboration, enterprises can effectively execute AI and big data analytics initiatives leveraging agile methodologies. Such an approach provides teams with a clear understanding of their responsibilities, facilitates seamless communication, and promotes continuous improvement throughout the project lifecycle, resulting in a more efficient and effective implementation. 4.6 Prototyping Through Sandboxing Establishing clear guidelines and processes is crucial to overcome the challenge of creating prototypes through sandboxing that are representative of the production environment and can meet the organization's requirements. It includes: Defining the scope and objectives of the prototype, Meticulously selecting the appropriate tools and technologies Guaranteeing that the prototype is an authentic reflection of the production environment Additionally, conducting thorough testing and evaluation is necessary to ensure that the prototype can be scaled effectively to meet the organization's needs. 5. Top AI and Big Data Companies to Look For in 2023 H2O.ai H2O.ai is a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) software. It provides a platform for businesses to use artificial intelligence and data-driven insights to drive innovation and growth. The software offers a suite of tools and algorithms to help users build predictive models, analyze data, and gain insights that inform business decisions. With a user-friendly interface and a robust set of features, H2O.ai is a valuable tool for businesses looking to leverage the power of machine learning to stay ahead of the competition. ThoughtSpot ThoughtSpot is a leading search and AI-driven analytics platform that enables businesses to quickly and easily analyze complex data sets. The platform offers a range of features, including advanced analytics, customizable visualizations, and collaborative capabilities. It is designed to make data analytics accessible to anyone within an organization, regardless of technical expertise. The platform is also highly customizable, allowing businesses to tailor it to meet their specific needs and integrate it with their existing data infrastructure. Treasure Data Treasure Data is a cloud-based enterprise data management platform that helps businesses collect, store, and analyze their data to gain valuable insights. Its platform includes a suite of powerful tools for data collection, storage, processing, and analysis, including a flexible data pipeline, a powerful data management console, and a range of analytics tools. The platform is also highly scalable, capable of handling massive amounts of data and processing millions of events per second, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes and industries. Denodo Denodo is a leading data virtualization software company that provides a unified platform for integrating and delivering data across multiple sources and formats in real time. The platform offers unmatched performance and unified access to a broad range of enterprise, big data, cloud, and unstructured sources. It also provides agile data service provisioning and governance at less than half the cost of traditional data integration. In addition, its data virtualization technology simplifies the complexity of data sources and creates a virtual layer of data services accessible to any application or user, regardless of the data’s location or format. Pendo.io Pendo.io is a leading cloud-based platform that provides product analytics, user feedback, and guidance for digital products. It allows businesses to make data-driven decisions about their products and optimize their customer journey. The platform empowers companies to transform product intelligence into actionable insights rapidly and at scale, enabling a new generation of businesses that prioritize product development. TigerGraph TigerGraph is a graph database and analytics platform that allows businesses to gain deeper insights and make better decisions by analyzing connected data. It is designed to handle complex data sets and perform advanced graph analytics at scale. The platform offers a range of graph analytics algorithms that can be applied to a variety of use cases, including fraud detection, recommendation engines, supply chain optimization, and social network analysis. Solix Technologies, Inc. Solix Technologies, Inc. is a leading big data management and analysis software solution provider that empowers data-driven enterprises to achieve their Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) goals. Its flagship product, Solix Big Data Suite, provides an ILM framework for Enterprise Archiving and Enterprise Data Lake applications utilizing Apache Hadoop as an enterprise data repository. In addition, the Solix Enterprise Data Management Suite (Solix EDMS) helps organizations implement database archiving, test data management, data masking and application retirement across all enterprise data. Reltio Reltio is a leading provider of cloud-based master data management (MDM) solutions that enable organizations to create a unified view of their data across all sources and formats. The platform combines MDM with big data analytics and machine learning to provide a single source of truth for data-driven decision-making. The solution offers a range of features, including data modeling, data quality management, data governance, and data analytics. dbt Labs dbt Labs is a cloud-based data transformation software platform that helps analysts and engineers manage the entire analytics engineering workflow, from data ingestion to analysis. The platform enables users to transform and model raw data into analysis-ready data sets using a SQL-based language. With its modular and scalable approach, dbt Labs makes it easier for data teams to collaborate and manage their data pipelines. Rockset Rockset is a real-time indexing database platform that allows businesses to run fast queries on data from multiple sources without needing to manage the underlying infrastructure. It supports various data types, including structured, semi-structured, and nested data, making it flexible and versatile. In addition, the serverless platform is built on a cloud-native architecture, making it easy to scale up or down as needed. With Rockset, users can build real-time applications and dashboards, perform ad hoc analysis, and create data-driven workflows. 6. Conclusion The relationship between big data and AI is mutually beneficial, given the fact that AI requires copious amounts of data to refine its decision-making capabilities, while big data analytics derives immense value from AI for advanced analysis. As a result, the integration of big data analytics and AI is projected to profoundly impact diverse industries in 2023. Nevertheless, adopting these technologies poses multifarious challenges, necessitating businesses to adopt a strategic approach and develop a comprehensive implementation roadmap to optimize ROI and minimize expenses. Ultimately, the successful implementation of big data and AI strategies can enable organizations to become data-driven, culminating in substantial improvements in business performance.

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IBM SPSS Statistics provides a powerful suite of data analytics tools which allows you to quickly analyze your data with a simple point-and-click interface and enables you to extract critical insights with ease. During these times of rapid change that demand agility, it is imperative to embrace data driven decision-making to improve business outcomes. Organizations of all kinds have relied on IBM SPSS Statistics for decades to help solve a wide range of business and research problems.

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Implementing Data Analytics: Emerging Big Data Tools in 2023

Article | July 10, 2023

Discover the prominent big data analytics tools in 2023 and unlock the full potential of big data. Leverage data-driven decision-making to gain insights and implement strategies to accelerate growth. Adopting Big Data Analytics Tools In the current data-driven world, organizations increasingly recognize the value of data analytics in driving businesses’ success. As the volume and complexity of data continue to grow, staying at the forefront of data analytics tools and technologies becomes crucial for businesses to gain actionable insights and make informed decisions. As we delve into 2023, it becomes paramount for businesses to keep pace with emerging cutting-edge big data tools. These tools serve as catalysts for enterprises to harness the power of data analytics effectively. By adopting the right tools and technologies, organizations gain a competitive advantage, foster innovation, and make data-driven decisions that accelerate their growth in an ever-evolving digital landscape. This article delves into the realm of data analytics and explores the emerging big data analytics tools poised to have a significant impact in 2023. From sophisticated machine learning algorithms that push the boundaries of analysis to robust data visualization platforms that bring insights to life, these tools present captivating opportunities for organizations to unlock the full potential of their data and derive actionable intelligence. Exploring Key Trends and Emerging Tools One of the key trends in the data analytics landscape is the rise of cloud-based analytics platforms. These platforms provide scalability, flexibility, and accessibility, allowing businesses to leverage the power of distributed computing and storage for their data analysis needs. With cloud-based tools, organizations can easily process and analyze large volumes of data without significant infrastructure investments. Another emerging trend is integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning into data analytics workflows. AI-powered analytics tools enable businesses to automate data processing, uncover hidden patterns, and generate predictive insights. ML algorithms can learn from vast amounts of data, continuously improving accuracy and enabling organizations to make data-driven decisions with precision. Furthermore, big data visualization tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated, enabling users to transform intricate data into interactive visual representations. These tools facilitate enhanced comprehension and interpretation of data, allowing stakeholders to swiftly extract insights with efficacy. Moreover, the convergence of big data and internet of things (IoT) technologies is creating new opportunities. As IoT devices generate vast amounts of data, organizations can leverage tools for big data analytics to capture, store, and analyze this data, uncovering valuable insights and driving innovation in various industries. Top Big Data Tools to Lookout For: 1. Talend Data Fabric Cloud Integration Software by Talend Talend Data Fabric is an integrated data management and governance platform that enables organizations to access, transform, move and synchronize big data across the enterprise. It provides a comprehensive suite of tools and technologies to address data integration, quality, governance, and stewardship challenges. The platform allows users to access and work with data, regardless of location or format, whether in traditional databases, data lakes, cloud environments, or even in real-time streaming sources. This flexibility empowers organizations to leverage their data assets more effectively and make data-driven decisions. 2. Alteryx Platform Predictive Analytics Software by Alteryx Alteryx is a user-friendly data analytics platform that enables efficient processing and analysis of large datasets. It empowers users to quickly derive valuable insights from data without extensive coding skills. Alteryx facilitates the automation of analytics tasks at scale and enables intelligent decision-making across the organization. The platform provides a comprehensive set of tools, including automated data preparation, analytics, machine learning capabilities, and AI-generated insights. Its intuitive interface enables seamless data access from diverse sources like databases, cloud-based data warehouses, and spreadsheets. Alteryx simplifies data blending and preparation from multiple sources, ensuring high-quality and analysis-ready data for enhanced decision-making. 3. Adverity Data Integration Platform Adverity is a comprehensive data platform that automates data connectivity, transformation, governance, and utilization at scale. It simplifies the arduous task of cleansing and merging data from diverse sources, encompassing sales, finance, and marketing channels, to establish a reliable source of business performance information. The platform seamlessly integrates with multiple databases and cloud-based software, providing access to previously inaccessible data. Adverity empowers users to efficiently analyze incoming data from any source and format, facilitating the discovery of patterns, trends, and correlations. Its robust dashboard enables real-time interaction with data, empowering businesses to make faster, smarter decisions. 4. GoodData Cloud BI and Analytics Platform GoodData is an advanced cloud-based analytics platform that offer intuitive and user-friendly tools for data analysis, embeddable data visualizations, and seamless application integration solutions. Its API-first approach enables users to effortlessly aggregate, analyze, and visualize its data in real time, facilitating swift and effective decision-making. In addition, the platform's microservice-based architecture integrates seamlessly with existing ecosystems, providing a comprehensive end-to-end data analytics solution. With its scalable architecture and straightforward setup, GoodData is an excellent choice for businesses seeking powerful insights without expensive infrastructure investments. 5. Datameer Data Preparation Tool Datameer is an advanced analytics and data science platform designed to help businesses quickly discover insights in their enterprise data. It enables users to connect to multiple data sources effortlessly, employing a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface to transform data and create interactive visualizations and dashboards. The platform also offers access to various analytics tools, including predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms. By simplifying the data exploration process, Datameer provides an intuitive and robust environment for loading, storing, querying, and manipulating data from any source. This streamlined approach aids businesses in reducing time-to-insight by revealing previously concealed relationships and trends. Final Thoughts In the dynamic and data-intensive landscape of 2023, organizations must prioritize the integration of data analytics and adopting emerging big data tools. Adopting emerging tools for big data analytics empowers organizations to seamlessly collect, store, process, and analyze vast volumes of data in real time, providing valuable insights and enabling timely decision-making. However, to fully capitalize on the benefits of these tools, organizations must invest in skilled data professionals who can adeptly leverage these tools to extract meaningful insights. Data literacy and cultivating a data-driven culture within the organization are pivotal components for success in the data-driven landscape of 2023. Organizations can thrive in the ever-evolving realm of data analytics by fostering an environment where data is valued and utilized to drive business outcomes.

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Implementing Big Data and AI: Best Practices and Strategies for 2023

Article | April 28, 2023

We had to make a project presentation in which we (as in me and my friend) had to conduct an additional survey to back up our point. Now, like any other student, we waited till the deadline. Well, to be fair, we didn’t have a choice. We had a lot of work from college. But that’s the story of any student, I guess. A snap of the form which was used to collect the information So, we sent the link and got back a few responses. But, since the deadline was the next day and the survey had to be on a larger scale, I decided to create a bot for it. (Because that’s the obvious answer for everything. [Pun intended]). Here it is: • Link to the Code. A few things which I learnt are that while using the click() method, if we’re using xpath, it’s not easy for the web driver to locate a clickable element if it’s embedded under div tags and span tags. It throws a “no such element exception”. The best thing to do would be: • Use the label of the element you want to locate on the form. • To use the pre-filled links feature of Google forms. (Basically a pre-filled link, which uses parameters to fill the form). Best suited for small forms.

Read More
Business Intelligence, Big Data Management, Big Data

Implementing Data Analytics: Emerging Big Data Tools in 2023

Article | July 10, 2023

Discover the latest strategies and best practices for implementing big data and AI into your organization for 2023. Gain insights on leading Big Data and AI solution providers to drive business growth. Contents 1 Establishing a Relationship between Big Data and AI 2 Importance of Big Data and AI in 2023 3 Key Challenges in Implementing Big Data and AI 4 Best Practices and Strategies for Big Data and AI Implementation 4.1 Building a Data Strategy 4.2 Implementing a Data Governance Framework 4.3 Leveraging Cloud Computing 4.4 Developing a Data Science and AI Roadmap 4.5 Leveraging Established Agile Methodologies 4.6 Prototyping Through Sandboxing 5 Top AI and Big Data Companies to Look For in 2023 6 Conclusion 1. Establishing a Relationship between Big Data and AI The relationship between AI and big data is mutually beneficial, as AI requires vast amounts of data to enhance its decision-making abilities, while big data analytics benefits from AI for superior analysis. This union enables the implementation of advanced analytics, such as predictive analysis, resulting in the optimization of business efficiency by anticipating emerging trends, scrutinizing consumer behavior, automating customer segmentation, customizing digital campaigns, and utilizing decision support systems propelled by big data, AI, and predictive analytics. This integration empowers organizations to become data-driven, resulting in significant improvements in business performance. 2. Importance of Big Data and AI in 2023 In the year 2023, it is anticipated that the utilization of big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) will profoundly impact diverse industries. The investment in big data analytics will be primarily driven by the need for data compliance, security, and mobilization, ultimately aiming to achieve real-time analysis. Therefore, businesses seeking to excel in this area must be prepared to adopt cloud technology and make significant advancements in computing power and data processing methods. Recent research indicates that a combination of AI and big data can automate nearly 80% of all physical work, 70% of data processing work, and 64% of data collection tasks. (Source: Forbes) The banking, retail, manufacturing, finance, healthcare, and government sectors have already made substantial investments in big data analytics, which have resulted in the forecasting of trends, enhancing business recommendations, and increasing profits. In addition, AI technology will make significant advancements in 2023, including democratization, making it accessible to a broader user population. This shift will enable customers to wield authority, and businesses will be able to use AI to better meet their specific and individualized business requirements. Finally, a significant shift likely to be witnessed in the AI field in 2023 is the move to a more industrialized, embedded type of architecture, where actual business users may begin utilizing algorithms. According to a recent study, 61% of respondents believe that AI will have a significant impact on their industry within the next three to five years. (Source: Deloitte Insights Report) 3. Key Challenges in Implementing Big Data and AI 97.2% of business executives say their organizations are investing in big data and AI projects. These executives cite their desire to become “nimble, data-driven businesses” as the reason for these investments, as 54.4% say that their companies’ inability to do this was the biggest threat they faced. In addition, 79.4% say they’re afraid that other, more data-driven companies will disrupt and outperform them. (Source: Zippia) Implementing big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) presents various challenges that businesses must tackle to realize their full potential. One such obstacle is the intricate nature of the data, which could be either structured or unstructured and necessitate specialized tools and techniques for processing and analysis. Moreover, companies must ensure data quality, completeness, and integrity to facilitate accurate analysis and decision-making. Another substantial challenge in implementing big data and AI is the requirement for skilled personnel with expertise in data science, machine learning, and related technologies. To stay up-to-date on the latest tools and techniques, companies must invest in ongoing training and development programs for their employees. Ethical and legal concerns surrounding data privacy, security, and transparency must also be addressed, especially after recent data breaches and privacy scandals. Integrating big data and AI into existing IT systems can be a challenging and time-consuming process that necessitates careful planning and coordination to ensure smooth integration and minimize disruption. Lastly, the high cost of implementing these technologies can be a significant barrier, especially for smaller businesses or those with limited IT budgets. To overcome these challenges, companies must be strategic, prioritize use cases, and develop a clear implementation roadmap while leveraging third-party tools and services to minimize costs and maximize ROI. 4. Best Practices and Strategies for Big Data and AI Implementation 24% of companies use big data analytics. While 97.2% of companies say they’re investing in big data and AI projects, just 24% describe their organizations as data-driven. (Source: Zippia) 4.1 Building a Data Strategy One of the biggest challenges in building a data strategy is identifying the most relevant data sources and data types for the organization’s specific business objectives. The sheer volume and diversity of data available can further complicate this. The key to addressing this challenge is thoroughly assessing the organization’s data assets and prioritizing them based on their business value. This involves: Identifying the key business objectives and Determining which data sources and data types are most relevant to achieving those objectives 4.2 Implementing a Data Governance Framework Establishing a data governance framework involving all stakeholders is crucial for ensuring agreement on data quality, privacy, and security standards. However, implementing such a framework can be daunting due to the divergent priorities and perspectives of stakeholders on good data governance. So, to overcome this challenge, clear guidelines and processes must be established: Creating a data governance council Defining roles and responsibilities Involving all stakeholders in the development and implementation of guidelines Data quality management, privacy, and security processes should be established to maintain high data governance standards Organizations can improve the effectiveness of their data governance initiatives by aligning all stakeholders and ensuring their commitment to maintaining optimal data governance standards. 4.3 Leveraging Cloud Computing It is essential to carefully select a cloud provider that aligns with the organization's security and compliance requirements. In addition, robust data security and compliance controls should be implemented: Establishing data encryption and access controls Implementing data backup and recovery procedures Regularly conducting security and compliance audits By following these practices, organizations can ensure their big data and AI projects are secure and compliant. 4.4 Developing a Data Science and AI Roadmap The obstacles to developing a data science and AI roadmap lie in identifying the most pertinent use cases that cater to the specific business objectives of an organization. This difficulty is further compounded by the potential divergence of priorities and perspectives among various stakeholders concerning the definition of a successful use case. Hence, it is imperative to establish unambiguous guidelines for identifying and prioritizing use cases that align with their respective business values. This entails: Identifying the key business objectives Carefully ascertaining which use cases are most pertinent to realizing those objectives Meticulously delineating the success criteria for each use case 4.5 Leveraging Established Agile Methodologies Leveraging well-established agile methodologies is critical in successfully implementing large-scale big data and AI projects. By defining a precise project scope and goals, prioritizing tasks, and fostering consistent communication and collaboration, enterprises can effectively execute AI and big data analytics initiatives leveraging agile methodologies. Such an approach provides teams with a clear understanding of their responsibilities, facilitates seamless communication, and promotes continuous improvement throughout the project lifecycle, resulting in a more efficient and effective implementation. 4.6 Prototyping Through Sandboxing Establishing clear guidelines and processes is crucial to overcome the challenge of creating prototypes through sandboxing that are representative of the production environment and can meet the organization's requirements. It includes: Defining the scope and objectives of the prototype, Meticulously selecting the appropriate tools and technologies Guaranteeing that the prototype is an authentic reflection of the production environment Additionally, conducting thorough testing and evaluation is necessary to ensure that the prototype can be scaled effectively to meet the organization's needs. 5. Top AI and Big Data Companies to Look For in 2023 H2O.ai H2O.ai is a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) software. It provides a platform for businesses to use artificial intelligence and data-driven insights to drive innovation and growth. The software offers a suite of tools and algorithms to help users build predictive models, analyze data, and gain insights that inform business decisions. With a user-friendly interface and a robust set of features, H2O.ai is a valuable tool for businesses looking to leverage the power of machine learning to stay ahead of the competition. ThoughtSpot ThoughtSpot is a leading search and AI-driven analytics platform that enables businesses to quickly and easily analyze complex data sets. The platform offers a range of features, including advanced analytics, customizable visualizations, and collaborative capabilities. It is designed to make data analytics accessible to anyone within an organization, regardless of technical expertise. The platform is also highly customizable, allowing businesses to tailor it to meet their specific needs and integrate it with their existing data infrastructure. Treasure Data Treasure Data is a cloud-based enterprise data management platform that helps businesses collect, store, and analyze their data to gain valuable insights. Its platform includes a suite of powerful tools for data collection, storage, processing, and analysis, including a flexible data pipeline, a powerful data management console, and a range of analytics tools. The platform is also highly scalable, capable of handling massive amounts of data and processing millions of events per second, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes and industries. Denodo Denodo is a leading data virtualization software company that provides a unified platform for integrating and delivering data across multiple sources and formats in real time. The platform offers unmatched performance and unified access to a broad range of enterprise, big data, cloud, and unstructured sources. It also provides agile data service provisioning and governance at less than half the cost of traditional data integration. In addition, its data virtualization technology simplifies the complexity of data sources and creates a virtual layer of data services accessible to any application or user, regardless of the data’s location or format. Pendo.io Pendo.io is a leading cloud-based platform that provides product analytics, user feedback, and guidance for digital products. It allows businesses to make data-driven decisions about their products and optimize their customer journey. The platform empowers companies to transform product intelligence into actionable insights rapidly and at scale, enabling a new generation of businesses that prioritize product development. TigerGraph TigerGraph is a graph database and analytics platform that allows businesses to gain deeper insights and make better decisions by analyzing connected data. It is designed to handle complex data sets and perform advanced graph analytics at scale. The platform offers a range of graph analytics algorithms that can be applied to a variety of use cases, including fraud detection, recommendation engines, supply chain optimization, and social network analysis. Solix Technologies, Inc. Solix Technologies, Inc. is a leading big data management and analysis software solution provider that empowers data-driven enterprises to achieve their Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) goals. Its flagship product, Solix Big Data Suite, provides an ILM framework for Enterprise Archiving and Enterprise Data Lake applications utilizing Apache Hadoop as an enterprise data repository. In addition, the Solix Enterprise Data Management Suite (Solix EDMS) helps organizations implement database archiving, test data management, data masking and application retirement across all enterprise data. Reltio Reltio is a leading provider of cloud-based master data management (MDM) solutions that enable organizations to create a unified view of their data across all sources and formats. The platform combines MDM with big data analytics and machine learning to provide a single source of truth for data-driven decision-making. The solution offers a range of features, including data modeling, data quality management, data governance, and data analytics. dbt Labs dbt Labs is a cloud-based data transformation software platform that helps analysts and engineers manage the entire analytics engineering workflow, from data ingestion to analysis. The platform enables users to transform and model raw data into analysis-ready data sets using a SQL-based language. With its modular and scalable approach, dbt Labs makes it easier for data teams to collaborate and manage their data pipelines. Rockset Rockset is a real-time indexing database platform that allows businesses to run fast queries on data from multiple sources without needing to manage the underlying infrastructure. It supports various data types, including structured, semi-structured, and nested data, making it flexible and versatile. In addition, the serverless platform is built on a cloud-native architecture, making it easy to scale up or down as needed. With Rockset, users can build real-time applications and dashboards, perform ad hoc analysis, and create data-driven workflows. 6. Conclusion The relationship between big data and AI is mutually beneficial, given the fact that AI requires copious amounts of data to refine its decision-making capabilities, while big data analytics derives immense value from AI for advanced analysis. As a result, the integration of big data analytics and AI is projected to profoundly impact diverse industries in 2023. Nevertheless, adopting these technologies poses multifarious challenges, necessitating businesses to adopt a strategic approach and develop a comprehensive implementation roadmap to optimize ROI and minimize expenses. Ultimately, the successful implementation of big data and AI strategies can enable organizations to become data-driven, culminating in substantial improvements in business performance.

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Business Intelligence, Big Data Management, Data Science

Navigating Big Data Integration: Challenges and Strategies

Article | April 13, 2023

IBM SPSS Statistics provides a powerful suite of data analytics tools which allows you to quickly analyze your data with a simple point-and-click interface and enables you to extract critical insights with ease. During these times of rapid change that demand agility, it is imperative to embrace data driven decision-making to improve business outcomes. Organizations of all kinds have relied on IBM SPSS Statistics for decades to help solve a wide range of business and research problems.

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Business Intelligence, Big Data Management, Big Data

Implementing Data Analytics: Emerging Big Data Tools in 2023

Article | July 10, 2023

Discover the prominent big data analytics tools in 2023 and unlock the full potential of big data. Leverage data-driven decision-making to gain insights and implement strategies to accelerate growth. Adopting Big Data Analytics Tools In the current data-driven world, organizations increasingly recognize the value of data analytics in driving businesses’ success. As the volume and complexity of data continue to grow, staying at the forefront of data analytics tools and technologies becomes crucial for businesses to gain actionable insights and make informed decisions. As we delve into 2023, it becomes paramount for businesses to keep pace with emerging cutting-edge big data tools. These tools serve as catalysts for enterprises to harness the power of data analytics effectively. By adopting the right tools and technologies, organizations gain a competitive advantage, foster innovation, and make data-driven decisions that accelerate their growth in an ever-evolving digital landscape. This article delves into the realm of data analytics and explores the emerging big data analytics tools poised to have a significant impact in 2023. From sophisticated machine learning algorithms that push the boundaries of analysis to robust data visualization platforms that bring insights to life, these tools present captivating opportunities for organizations to unlock the full potential of their data and derive actionable intelligence. Exploring Key Trends and Emerging Tools One of the key trends in the data analytics landscape is the rise of cloud-based analytics platforms. These platforms provide scalability, flexibility, and accessibility, allowing businesses to leverage the power of distributed computing and storage for their data analysis needs. With cloud-based tools, organizations can easily process and analyze large volumes of data without significant infrastructure investments. Another emerging trend is integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning into data analytics workflows. AI-powered analytics tools enable businesses to automate data processing, uncover hidden patterns, and generate predictive insights. ML algorithms can learn from vast amounts of data, continuously improving accuracy and enabling organizations to make data-driven decisions with precision. Furthermore, big data visualization tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated, enabling users to transform intricate data into interactive visual representations. These tools facilitate enhanced comprehension and interpretation of data, allowing stakeholders to swiftly extract insights with efficacy. Moreover, the convergence of big data and internet of things (IoT) technologies is creating new opportunities. As IoT devices generate vast amounts of data, organizations can leverage tools for big data analytics to capture, store, and analyze this data, uncovering valuable insights and driving innovation in various industries. Top Big Data Tools to Lookout For: 1. Talend Data Fabric Cloud Integration Software by Talend Talend Data Fabric is an integrated data management and governance platform that enables organizations to access, transform, move and synchronize big data across the enterprise. It provides a comprehensive suite of tools and technologies to address data integration, quality, governance, and stewardship challenges. The platform allows users to access and work with data, regardless of location or format, whether in traditional databases, data lakes, cloud environments, or even in real-time streaming sources. This flexibility empowers organizations to leverage their data assets more effectively and make data-driven decisions. 2. Alteryx Platform Predictive Analytics Software by Alteryx Alteryx is a user-friendly data analytics platform that enables efficient processing and analysis of large datasets. It empowers users to quickly derive valuable insights from data without extensive coding skills. Alteryx facilitates the automation of analytics tasks at scale and enables intelligent decision-making across the organization. The platform provides a comprehensive set of tools, including automated data preparation, analytics, machine learning capabilities, and AI-generated insights. Its intuitive interface enables seamless data access from diverse sources like databases, cloud-based data warehouses, and spreadsheets. Alteryx simplifies data blending and preparation from multiple sources, ensuring high-quality and analysis-ready data for enhanced decision-making. 3. Adverity Data Integration Platform Adverity is a comprehensive data platform that automates data connectivity, transformation, governance, and utilization at scale. It simplifies the arduous task of cleansing and merging data from diverse sources, encompassing sales, finance, and marketing channels, to establish a reliable source of business performance information. The platform seamlessly integrates with multiple databases and cloud-based software, providing access to previously inaccessible data. Adverity empowers users to efficiently analyze incoming data from any source and format, facilitating the discovery of patterns, trends, and correlations. Its robust dashboard enables real-time interaction with data, empowering businesses to make faster, smarter decisions. 4. GoodData Cloud BI and Analytics Platform GoodData is an advanced cloud-based analytics platform that offer intuitive and user-friendly tools for data analysis, embeddable data visualizations, and seamless application integration solutions. Its API-first approach enables users to effortlessly aggregate, analyze, and visualize its data in real time, facilitating swift and effective decision-making. In addition, the platform's microservice-based architecture integrates seamlessly with existing ecosystems, providing a comprehensive end-to-end data analytics solution. With its scalable architecture and straightforward setup, GoodData is an excellent choice for businesses seeking powerful insights without expensive infrastructure investments. 5. Datameer Data Preparation Tool Datameer is an advanced analytics and data science platform designed to help businesses quickly discover insights in their enterprise data. It enables users to connect to multiple data sources effortlessly, employing a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface to transform data and create interactive visualizations and dashboards. The platform also offers access to various analytics tools, including predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms. By simplifying the data exploration process, Datameer provides an intuitive and robust environment for loading, storing, querying, and manipulating data from any source. This streamlined approach aids businesses in reducing time-to-insight by revealing previously concealed relationships and trends. Final Thoughts In the dynamic and data-intensive landscape of 2023, organizations must prioritize the integration of data analytics and adopting emerging big data tools. Adopting emerging tools for big data analytics empowers organizations to seamlessly collect, store, process, and analyze vast volumes of data in real time, providing valuable insights and enabling timely decision-making. However, to fully capitalize on the benefits of these tools, organizations must invest in skilled data professionals who can adeptly leverage these tools to extract meaningful insights. Data literacy and cultivating a data-driven culture within the organization are pivotal components for success in the data-driven landscape of 2023. Organizations can thrive in the ever-evolving realm of data analytics by fostering an environment where data is valued and utilized to drive business outcomes.

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Actifio virtualizes the data that’s the lifeblood of businesses in more than 30 countries around the world. Its Virtual Data Pipeline™ technology enables businesses to manage, access, and protect their data faster, more efficiently, and more simply by decoupling data from physical storage, much the same way a hypervisor decouples compute from physical servers.

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Data Science

Snowflake Accelerates How Users Build Next Generation Apps and Machine Learning Models in the Data Cloud

Business Wire | November 03, 2023

Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW), the Data Cloud company, today announced at its Snowday 2023 event new advancements that make it easier for developers to build machine learning (ML) models and full-stack apps in the Data Cloud. Snowflake is enhancing its Python capabilities through Snowpark to boost productivity, increase collaboration, and ultimately speed up end-to-end AI and ML workflows. In addition, with support for containerized workloads and expanded DevOps capabilities, developers can now accelerate development and run apps — all within Snowflake's secure and fully managed infrastructure. “The rise of generative AI has made organizations’ most valuable asset, their data, even more indispensable. Snowflake is making it easier for developers to put that data to work so they can build powerful end-to-end machine learning models and full-stack apps natively in the Data Cloud,” said Prasanna Krishnan, Senior Director of Product Management, Snowflake. “With Snowflake Marketplace as the first cross-cloud marketplace for data and apps in the industry, customers can quickly and securely productionize what they’ve built to global end users, unlocking increased monetization, discoverability, and usage.” Developers Gain Robust and Familiar Functionality for End-to-End Machine Learning Snowflake is continuing to invest in Snowpark as its secure deployment and processing of non-SQL code, with over 35% of Snowflake customers using Snowpark on a weekly basis (as of September 2023). Developers increasingly look to Snowpark for complex ML model development and deployment, and Snowflake is introducing expanded functionality that makes Snowpark even more accessible and powerful for all Python developers. New advancements include: Snowflake Notebooks (private preview): Snowflake Notebooks are a new development interface that offers an interactive, cell-based programming environment for Python and SQL users to explore, process, and experiment with data in Snowpark. Snowflake’s built-in notebooks allow developers to write and execute code, train and deploy models using Snowpark ML, visualize results with Streamlit chart elements, and much more — all within Snowflake’s unified, secure platform. Snowpark ML Modeling API (general availability soon): Snowflake’s Snowpark ML Modeling API empowers developers and data scientists to scale out feature engineering and simplify model training for faster and more intuitive model development in Snowflake. Users can implement popular AI and ML frameworks natively on data in Snowflake, without having to create stored procedures. Snowpark ML Operations Enhancements: The Snowpark Model Registry (public preview soon) now builds on a native Snowflake model entity and enables the scalable, secure deployment and management of models in Snowflake, including expanded support for deep learning models and open source large language models (LLMs) from Hugging Face. Snowflake is also providing developers with an integrated Snowflake Feature Store (private preview) that creates, stores, manages, and serves ML features for model training and inference. Endeavor, the global sports and entertainment company that includes the WME Agency, IMG & On Location, UFC, and more, relies on Snowflake’s Snowpark for Python capabilities to build and deploy ML models that create highly personalized experiences and apps for fan engagement. Snowpark serves as the driving force behind our end-to-end machine learning development, powering how we centralize and process data across our various entities, and then securely build and train models using that data to create hyper-personalized fan experiences at scale, said Saad Zaheer, VP of Data Science and Engineering, Endeavor. With Snowflake as our central data foundation bringing all of this development directly to our enterprise data, we can unlock even more ways to predict and forecast customer behavior to fuel our targeted sales and marketing engines. Snowflake Advances Developer Capabilities Across the App Lifecycle The Snowflake Native App Framework (general availability soon on AWS, public preview soon on Azure) now provides every organization with the necessary building blocks for app development, including distribution, operation, and monetization within Snowflake’s platform. Leading organizations are monetizing their Snowflake Native Apps through Snowflake Marketplace, with app listings more than doubling since Snowflake Summit 2023. This number is only growing as Snowflake continues to advance its developer capabilities across the app lifecycle so more organizations can unlock business impact. For example, Cybersyn, a data-service provider, is developing Snowflake Native Apps exclusively for Snowflake Marketplace, with more than 40 customers running over 5,000 queries with its Financial & Economic Essentials Native App since June 2022. In addition, LiveRamp, a data collaboration platform, has seen the number of customers deploying its Identity Resolution and Transcoding Snowflake Native App through Snowflake Marketplace increase by more than 80% since June 2022. Lastly, SNP has been able to provide its customers with a 10x cost reduction in Snowflake data processing associated with SAP data ingestion, empowering them to drastically reduce data latency while improving SAP data availability in Snowflake through SNP’s Data Streaming for SAP - Snowflake Native App. With Snowpark Container Services (public preview soon in select AWS regions), developers can run any component of their app — from ML training, to LLMs, to an API, and more — without needing to move data or manage complex container-based infrastructure. Snowflake Automates DevOps for Apps, Data Pipelines, and Other Development Snowflake is giving developers new ways to automate key DevOps and observability capabilities across testing, deploying, monitoring, and operating their apps and data pipelines — so they can take them from idea to production faster. With Snowflake’s new Database Change Management (private preview soon) features, developers can code declaratively and easily templatize their work to manage Snowflake objects across multiple environments. The Database Change Management features serve as a single source of truth for object creation across various environments, using the common “configuration as code” pattern in DevOps to automatically provision and update Snowflake objects. Snowflake also unveiled a new Powered by Snowflake Funding Program, innovations that enable all users to securely tap into the power of generative AI with their enterprise data, enhancements to further eliminate data silos and strengthen Snowflake’s leading compliance and governance capabilities through Snowflake Horizon, and more at Snowday 2023.

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Big Data Management

Google Cloud and Bloomberg Unite to Accelerate Customers Data Strategies

Bloomberg | November 06, 2023

Bloomberg and Google Cloud integrate Data License Plus (DL+) with BigQuery for efficient data access and analytics. Customers can access fully modeled data within BigQuery, eliminating data preparation time. Mackenzie Investments adopts DL+ ESG Manager to host the acquisition, management, and publishing of Multi-vendor ESG data. Bloomberg has unveiled a new offering designed to accelerate the data strategies of Google Cloud customers by integrating Bloomberg's cloud-based data management solution, Data License Plus (DL+), with Google Cloud's fully managed, serverless data warehouse, BigQuery. Now, with access to Bloomberg's extensive experience modeling, managing, and delivering vast quantities of complex content, mutual customers can receive their Bloomberg Data License (DL) data, entirely modeled and seamlessly combined within BigQuery. As a result, organizations can leverage the advanced analytics capabilities of Google Cloud to extract more value from critical business information quickly and efficiently with minimal data wrangling. Through this extended collaboration, customers can harness the powerful analytics features of BigQuery and tap into Bloomberg's extensive collection of datasets available through Data License to power their most essential workloads. Bloomberg's Data License content offers a wide variety, including reference, pricing, ESG, regulatory, estimates, fundamentals, and historical data, supporting operational, quantitative, and investment research workflows, covering over 70 million securities and 40,000 data fields. Key benefits include: Direct Access to Bloomberg Data in BigQuery: Bloomberg customers can seamlessly access Bloomberg Data License content within BigQuery, allowing for scalable use across their organization. This eliminates the time-consuming tasks of ingesting and structuring third-party datasets, thereby accelerating the time-to-value for analytics projects. Elimination of Data Barriers: Google Cloud and Bloomberg will make Bloomberg's DL+ solution available to mutual customers via BigQuery. This allows for the delivery of fully modeled Bloomberg data and multi-vendor ESG content within their analytics workloads. In a recent announcement, Bloomberg revealed that Mackenzie Investments has selected DL+ ESG Manager to host the acquisition, management, and publishing of multi-vendor ESG data. This move positions Mackenzie Investments to implement ESG investing strategies more efficiently and develop sophisticated ESG-focused insights and investment products, with BigQuery playing a central role in powering these analytics workloads moving forward. Don Huff, the Global Head of Client Services and Operations at Bloomberg Data Management Services, stated that as capital markets firms are in the process of migrating their workloads to the Cloud, their customers require efficient access to high-quality data in a preferred environment. He expressed excitement about extending their partnership with Google Cloud, aiming to stay at the forefront of innovation in financial data management and to enhance their customers' enterprise analytics capabilities. Stephen Orban, the VP of Migrations, ISVs, and Marketplace at Google Cloud, stated that Google Cloud and Bloomberg share a common commitment to empowering customers making data-driven decisions to power their businesses. He mentioned that the expanded alliance between the two companies would allow customers to effortlessly integrate Bloomberg's leading datasets with their own data within BigQuery. This would simplify the process of conducting analytics with valuable insights related to financial markets, regulations, ESG, and other critical business information.

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Big Data Management

NICE Actimize X-Sight DataIQ ClarityKYC Wins Best Data Solution for Regulatory Compliance in A-Team Group’s 2023 Data Management Insight Awards

Business Wire | November 01, 2023

NICE Actimize, (Nasdaq: NICE) was named a winner in A-Team Group's Data Management Insight Awards USA 2023 in the category for Best Data Solution for Regulatory Compliance. NICE Actimize’s X-Sight DataIQ ClarityKYC was the recipient of the most online votes in its category derived from reader/online nominations from within the data management community and verified by A-Team Group editors and its advisory board. NICE Actimize’s X-Sight DataIQ ClarityKYC is a SaaS workflow solution that automates data aggregation and simplifies KYC for financial services organization users. The solution facilitates compliance with KYC/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements by integrating disparate datasets and streamlining the customer identification, due diligence, and credit investigation process. Customer onboarding is a critical first step in any financial services organization’s risk management strategy. Onboarding new customers and conducting ongoing reviews presents numerous competitive challenges, which include manual and error-prone processes, long onboarding times which result in longer time to revenue for the banks, and no practical way to make sure the bank’s global regulatory policies are met in an auditable process, said Craig Costigan, CEO, NICE Actimize. NICE Actimize’s DataIQ ClarityKYC addresses these issues effectively. We thank the A-Team group and the data management community for recognizing the innovation we offer with X-Sight DataIQ. “These awards recognize both established solution vendors and innovative newcomers providing leading data management solutions, services, and consultancy to capital markets participants across North America. Congratulations go to NICE Actimize for winning Best Data Solution for Regulatory Compliance,” said Angela Wilbraham, CEO of A-Team Group and host of the Data Management Insight Awards USA 2023. X-Sight DataIQ ClarityKYC leverages AI-powered technologies to access traditional content while intelligently orchestrating data from various global data sources. X-Sight DataIQ Clarity reduces the amount of effort needed to conduct research. Long IT integration projects and tasks formerly done manually or requiring steps can be completed quickly, automatically saving time and effort while enabling teams to comply with confidence while reducing customer friction.

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Data Science

Snowflake Accelerates How Users Build Next Generation Apps and Machine Learning Models in the Data Cloud

Business Wire | November 03, 2023

Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW), the Data Cloud company, today announced at its Snowday 2023 event new advancements that make it easier for developers to build machine learning (ML) models and full-stack apps in the Data Cloud. Snowflake is enhancing its Python capabilities through Snowpark to boost productivity, increase collaboration, and ultimately speed up end-to-end AI and ML workflows. In addition, with support for containerized workloads and expanded DevOps capabilities, developers can now accelerate development and run apps — all within Snowflake's secure and fully managed infrastructure. “The rise of generative AI has made organizations’ most valuable asset, their data, even more indispensable. Snowflake is making it easier for developers to put that data to work so they can build powerful end-to-end machine learning models and full-stack apps natively in the Data Cloud,” said Prasanna Krishnan, Senior Director of Product Management, Snowflake. “With Snowflake Marketplace as the first cross-cloud marketplace for data and apps in the industry, customers can quickly and securely productionize what they’ve built to global end users, unlocking increased monetization, discoverability, and usage.” Developers Gain Robust and Familiar Functionality for End-to-End Machine Learning Snowflake is continuing to invest in Snowpark as its secure deployment and processing of non-SQL code, with over 35% of Snowflake customers using Snowpark on a weekly basis (as of September 2023). Developers increasingly look to Snowpark for complex ML model development and deployment, and Snowflake is introducing expanded functionality that makes Snowpark even more accessible and powerful for all Python developers. New advancements include: Snowflake Notebooks (private preview): Snowflake Notebooks are a new development interface that offers an interactive, cell-based programming environment for Python and SQL users to explore, process, and experiment with data in Snowpark. Snowflake’s built-in notebooks allow developers to write and execute code, train and deploy models using Snowpark ML, visualize results with Streamlit chart elements, and much more — all within Snowflake’s unified, secure platform. Snowpark ML Modeling API (general availability soon): Snowflake’s Snowpark ML Modeling API empowers developers and data scientists to scale out feature engineering and simplify model training for faster and more intuitive model development in Snowflake. Users can implement popular AI and ML frameworks natively on data in Snowflake, without having to create stored procedures. Snowpark ML Operations Enhancements: The Snowpark Model Registry (public preview soon) now builds on a native Snowflake model entity and enables the scalable, secure deployment and management of models in Snowflake, including expanded support for deep learning models and open source large language models (LLMs) from Hugging Face. Snowflake is also providing developers with an integrated Snowflake Feature Store (private preview) that creates, stores, manages, and serves ML features for model training and inference. Endeavor, the global sports and entertainment company that includes the WME Agency, IMG & On Location, UFC, and more, relies on Snowflake’s Snowpark for Python capabilities to build and deploy ML models that create highly personalized experiences and apps for fan engagement. Snowpark serves as the driving force behind our end-to-end machine learning development, powering how we centralize and process data across our various entities, and then securely build and train models using that data to create hyper-personalized fan experiences at scale, said Saad Zaheer, VP of Data Science and Engineering, Endeavor. With Snowflake as our central data foundation bringing all of this development directly to our enterprise data, we can unlock even more ways to predict and forecast customer behavior to fuel our targeted sales and marketing engines. Snowflake Advances Developer Capabilities Across the App Lifecycle The Snowflake Native App Framework (general availability soon on AWS, public preview soon on Azure) now provides every organization with the necessary building blocks for app development, including distribution, operation, and monetization within Snowflake’s platform. Leading organizations are monetizing their Snowflake Native Apps through Snowflake Marketplace, with app listings more than doubling since Snowflake Summit 2023. This number is only growing as Snowflake continues to advance its developer capabilities across the app lifecycle so more organizations can unlock business impact. For example, Cybersyn, a data-service provider, is developing Snowflake Native Apps exclusively for Snowflake Marketplace, with more than 40 customers running over 5,000 queries with its Financial & Economic Essentials Native App since June 2022. In addition, LiveRamp, a data collaboration platform, has seen the number of customers deploying its Identity Resolution and Transcoding Snowflake Native App through Snowflake Marketplace increase by more than 80% since June 2022. Lastly, SNP has been able to provide its customers with a 10x cost reduction in Snowflake data processing associated with SAP data ingestion, empowering them to drastically reduce data latency while improving SAP data availability in Snowflake through SNP’s Data Streaming for SAP - Snowflake Native App. With Snowpark Container Services (public preview soon in select AWS regions), developers can run any component of their app — from ML training, to LLMs, to an API, and more — without needing to move data or manage complex container-based infrastructure. Snowflake Automates DevOps for Apps, Data Pipelines, and Other Development Snowflake is giving developers new ways to automate key DevOps and observability capabilities across testing, deploying, monitoring, and operating their apps and data pipelines — so they can take them from idea to production faster. With Snowflake’s new Database Change Management (private preview soon) features, developers can code declaratively and easily templatize their work to manage Snowflake objects across multiple environments. The Database Change Management features serve as a single source of truth for object creation across various environments, using the common “configuration as code” pattern in DevOps to automatically provision and update Snowflake objects. Snowflake also unveiled a new Powered by Snowflake Funding Program, innovations that enable all users to securely tap into the power of generative AI with their enterprise data, enhancements to further eliminate data silos and strengthen Snowflake’s leading compliance and governance capabilities through Snowflake Horizon, and more at Snowday 2023.

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Big Data Management

Google Cloud and Bloomberg Unite to Accelerate Customers Data Strategies

Bloomberg | November 06, 2023

Bloomberg and Google Cloud integrate Data License Plus (DL+) with BigQuery for efficient data access and analytics. Customers can access fully modeled data within BigQuery, eliminating data preparation time. Mackenzie Investments adopts DL+ ESG Manager to host the acquisition, management, and publishing of Multi-vendor ESG data. Bloomberg has unveiled a new offering designed to accelerate the data strategies of Google Cloud customers by integrating Bloomberg's cloud-based data management solution, Data License Plus (DL+), with Google Cloud's fully managed, serverless data warehouse, BigQuery. Now, with access to Bloomberg's extensive experience modeling, managing, and delivering vast quantities of complex content, mutual customers can receive their Bloomberg Data License (DL) data, entirely modeled and seamlessly combined within BigQuery. As a result, organizations can leverage the advanced analytics capabilities of Google Cloud to extract more value from critical business information quickly and efficiently with minimal data wrangling. Through this extended collaboration, customers can harness the powerful analytics features of BigQuery and tap into Bloomberg's extensive collection of datasets available through Data License to power their most essential workloads. Bloomberg's Data License content offers a wide variety, including reference, pricing, ESG, regulatory, estimates, fundamentals, and historical data, supporting operational, quantitative, and investment research workflows, covering over 70 million securities and 40,000 data fields. Key benefits include: Direct Access to Bloomberg Data in BigQuery: Bloomberg customers can seamlessly access Bloomberg Data License content within BigQuery, allowing for scalable use across their organization. This eliminates the time-consuming tasks of ingesting and structuring third-party datasets, thereby accelerating the time-to-value for analytics projects. Elimination of Data Barriers: Google Cloud and Bloomberg will make Bloomberg's DL+ solution available to mutual customers via BigQuery. This allows for the delivery of fully modeled Bloomberg data and multi-vendor ESG content within their analytics workloads. In a recent announcement, Bloomberg revealed that Mackenzie Investments has selected DL+ ESG Manager to host the acquisition, management, and publishing of multi-vendor ESG data. This move positions Mackenzie Investments to implement ESG investing strategies more efficiently and develop sophisticated ESG-focused insights and investment products, with BigQuery playing a central role in powering these analytics workloads moving forward. Don Huff, the Global Head of Client Services and Operations at Bloomberg Data Management Services, stated that as capital markets firms are in the process of migrating their workloads to the Cloud, their customers require efficient access to high-quality data in a preferred environment. He expressed excitement about extending their partnership with Google Cloud, aiming to stay at the forefront of innovation in financial data management and to enhance their customers' enterprise analytics capabilities. Stephen Orban, the VP of Migrations, ISVs, and Marketplace at Google Cloud, stated that Google Cloud and Bloomberg share a common commitment to empowering customers making data-driven decisions to power their businesses. He mentioned that the expanded alliance between the two companies would allow customers to effortlessly integrate Bloomberg's leading datasets with their own data within BigQuery. This would simplify the process of conducting analytics with valuable insights related to financial markets, regulations, ESG, and other critical business information.

Read More

Big Data Management

NICE Actimize X-Sight DataIQ ClarityKYC Wins Best Data Solution for Regulatory Compliance in A-Team Group’s 2023 Data Management Insight Awards

Business Wire | November 01, 2023

NICE Actimize, (Nasdaq: NICE) was named a winner in A-Team Group's Data Management Insight Awards USA 2023 in the category for Best Data Solution for Regulatory Compliance. NICE Actimize’s X-Sight DataIQ ClarityKYC was the recipient of the most online votes in its category derived from reader/online nominations from within the data management community and verified by A-Team Group editors and its advisory board. NICE Actimize’s X-Sight DataIQ ClarityKYC is a SaaS workflow solution that automates data aggregation and simplifies KYC for financial services organization users. The solution facilitates compliance with KYC/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements by integrating disparate datasets and streamlining the customer identification, due diligence, and credit investigation process. Customer onboarding is a critical first step in any financial services organization’s risk management strategy. Onboarding new customers and conducting ongoing reviews presents numerous competitive challenges, which include manual and error-prone processes, long onboarding times which result in longer time to revenue for the banks, and no practical way to make sure the bank’s global regulatory policies are met in an auditable process, said Craig Costigan, CEO, NICE Actimize. NICE Actimize’s DataIQ ClarityKYC addresses these issues effectively. We thank the A-Team group and the data management community for recognizing the innovation we offer with X-Sight DataIQ. “These awards recognize both established solution vendors and innovative newcomers providing leading data management solutions, services, and consultancy to capital markets participants across North America. Congratulations go to NICE Actimize for winning Best Data Solution for Regulatory Compliance,” said Angela Wilbraham, CEO of A-Team Group and host of the Data Management Insight Awards USA 2023. X-Sight DataIQ ClarityKYC leverages AI-powered technologies to access traditional content while intelligently orchestrating data from various global data sources. X-Sight DataIQ Clarity reduces the amount of effort needed to conduct research. Long IT integration projects and tasks formerly done manually or requiring steps can be completed quickly, automatically saving time and effort while enabling teams to comply with confidence while reducing customer friction.

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