Infosys Intros BigDataEdge For Unstructured Data Storage, Analysis

The new platform, called Infosys BigDataEdge, is being touted by the consulting and outsourcing giant as a faster, more flexible alternative to competing big data solutions, allowing enterprises to reduce the time it takes to extract value from their data by up to 40 percent. Vishnu Bhat, vice president of Infosys' cloud unit, said the BigDataEdge solution is optimized to work with unstructured data, such as that generated by Facebook and Twitter.

"When you look at the enterprise itself, the reality is traditional analytics are focused around structured data," Bhat told CRN. "But 80 percent of data within the enterprise is unstructured or semi-structured and has been massively underutilized."

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Bhat said the BigDataEdge platform, which is built on the open-source Apache Hadoop framework, touts more than 50 data source connectors, allowing users to tap into both more traditional data warehousing solutions, such as those from Oracle and SAP, but also unstructured sources, such as Word documents, PDF files, rich text formats and call center logs.

Predictive and industry-specific analytics is also a major component of the BigDataEdge platform, Bhat said. On top of delivering more than 50 customizable dashboards for realtime data analysis, the solution offers 250 built-in algorithms, many of which are industry-specific, including a fraud detection function for financial institutions.

Infosys' launch of BigDataEdge comes on the heels of the unveiling of its Cloud Ecosystem Hub, a solution intended to help organizations streamline cloud deployments and provision IT infrastructures on hybrid cloud environments. Last year, the company introduced its Infosys BrandEdge product, a cloud-based platform targeted at the digital marketing space.

PUBLISHED FEB. 20, 2013