In the recent past, the role of varied forms of data has evolved surpassing the expectations. A few years ago, the concepts of data assorting or analytics mainly applied to specialists, or statisticians. Considering this, it could be said that the last few years have been exceptionally transformational for the big data sector. Today, data of any form would fail to be restrictive in its nature and applications, as Big Data becomes the latest buzzword in the industry.

With data assortment or analysis turning into the lifeline of any organization, the time is perfect for taking one's efforts towards better data to a new level. Statistics reveal much about what to expect in the coming years. A recent survey indicated that from this year, the volume of data handled by an organization would double within every 1.2 years. In all probability, organizations would be forced to adapt fundamental changes into their core-functioning, so as to cope with the constantly increasing volumes of data. This scenario, without doubt, is unique in many ways, as these developments, though highly challenging, opens up a new door of opportunities for firms involved in the vast big data space. Moreover, the imminent future appears promising with firms across the globe showing active interest in closely following and leveraging these trends for better outcomes.

It is tempting to be a part of the hyper-active big data sector, says, Sharmila Mulligan, CEO and Founder, ClearStory Data, a MenloPark, CA based firm, which has carved a niche among the companies involved in the industry, within a short span of three years. Since 2011, ClearStory has made a smooth transition to the top, without ever moving from their objective of simplifying accessing, exploring and analyzing data. Besides, there has always been a great focus on functioning as an integrated Application and Platform speeding analysis across various sources of internal and external data.

ClearStory Data makes it easy to gather and explore diverse, dispersed sets of data from internal data sources, corporate data sources, Hadoop and the Web to help business users to gain insights and discover new business opportunities. The firm analyzes data from a number of sources, both public and private, to uncover new trends and patterns. The result of this is the discovery of new business opportunities and deeper intelligence around what is and isn't working.

The company's platform integrates internal and external data using an in-memory database technology. This can be relational or NoSQL data, point-of-sale information or demographic statistics from external sources. ClearStory maintains that it gives companies an advantage by processing multiple types of data on the fly with a modern, visual user interface that people can access. This was recognized by Yogurt-maker Dannon who is today using ClearStory to bring together data to collaborate on the analysis of the company's supply chain.