Innovation in a Reinvented World: 10 Essential Elements to Succeed in the New World of Business

EMC: Bill Cook, President, Data Computing Division

As the president of next-generation data warehousing and analytics software company Greenplum (acquired by EMC in 2010 and now the EMC Data Computing Division), Bill Cook is in the business of Big Data, something you may not know about or care about today, but in a few years you will come to appreciate. With Greenplum in its arsenal, EMC expects to ride this next major wave of technologies that could change everything.

“Although EMC wasn't perceived as a full-systems vendor like an IBM or an HP, they were amassing a lot of the critical building blocks that matter. By adding Greenplum to the mix, this really leverages those capabilities,” says Cook.

“It's exciting for us that EMC was willing to form a division around our company. It speaks to their confidence in Greenplum and our ability to deliver,” Cook says proudly.

Big Data: The Next Big Thing

What makes people sit up and take notice of marketplace shifts associated with big data?

“Historically, companies consist of processes driven by transactions—and not usage of data—not around what is happening in real time to make decisions about the business,” says Cook.

“But when people look at reports, they're looking in the rearview mirror of what happened yesterday or last month or last quarter. Today's opportunity is about looking into the future and what might happen, as opposed to looking at trends, and doing predictive analytics and what could happen and the variables that drive ...