Dell, Intel and Revolution Analytics set up big data innovation centre in Singapore

By Digital News Asia June 4, 2013

Equipped with advanced analytic infrastructure and software
Aims to speed solutions development for big data market in Asia

Dell, Intel and Revolution Analytics set up big data innovation centre in Singapore DELL, Intel Corp and Revolution Analytics have announced the creation of the Big Data Innovation Centre in Singapore, which they said would provide extensive training programmes, proof-of-concept capabilities and solution development support on big data and predictive analytic innovations for the Asian market.

In a world where analytics, big data and cloud are converging, the need to manage, monitor and predict business outcomes and market readiness is also changing, the companies said in a joint statement.

The prevalence of tablets, smartphones and social media also increase the urgency to mine intelligence from the tons of raw data, in turn prodding more companies and governments to beef up their big data plans.

Industry analyst firm IDC projects the global big data technology and services market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31.7% – about seven times the rate of the overall information and communications technology (ICT) market – with revenues reaching US$23.8 billion by 2016.

IDC expects big data spending in Asia Pacific excluding Japan to reach US$603 million in 2013, up 42.6% over 2012.

“The global market for big data analytics is growing at a rapid pace, and businesses in Singapore are uniquely suited to capitalise on this trend,” said Laurence Liew, managing director of Revolution Analytics Asia-Pacific.

“The launch of the Big Data Innovation Centre is in line with the Singapore Government’s focus on big data and predictive analytics … . We look forward to delivering the necessary skill sets and big data analytics training to companies, while tapping on the vast expertise from Dell and Intel,” he added.

The Big Data Innovation Centre will be housed at the Dell Solution Centre (DSC) in Singapore, where training will be done on a big data stack that includes Dell infrastructure using latest Intel Xeon E5 processor-based servers, Intel 10GbE networking and Intel Solid State Drives with Cache Acceleration Software, the Intel Distribution for Apache Hadoop Software and Revolution Analytics Enterprise R predictive analytics software.

New Haven, Connecticut-based Revolution Analytics will also use the centre to provide a state-of-the-art big data analytics platform to train professionals to become data scientists.

The new centre provides the platform for companies to test-run big data initiatives and proof-of-concepts for deployment, the three companies said in their statement.

Apart from the regular training courses, candidates can also attend seminars, workshops and events hosted at the DSC.

“Intel is committed to providing the industry with a better foundation from which it can push the limits of innovation and realise the transformational opportunity of big data,” said Boyd Davis, vice president and general manager of Intel's Data Centre Software Division.

“The collaboration with Dell and Revolution Analytics are a realisation of our vision for helping customers, organisations, governments and ISVs (independent software vendors) in the South-East Asia region maximise the growing market opportunities and drive new projects forward,” he added.

Dell has transformed itself into a solutions company, having announced 20 acquisitions within the last three to four years to expand its enterprise capabilities.

“We have robust, industry-standard x86 servers for big data requirements,” said Sumir Bhatia, Dell’s enterprise solutions director for South Asia.

“We have set up what could be the industry’s first proof-of-concept stack on x86 infrastructure with the Intel Distribution for Apache Hadoop and Revolution Analytics engine. Companies that need to test-run their big data workloads and initiatives can make use of this facility to understand how big a difference it could make in their business,” he added.

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