Splunk .conf2013 is all-systems-go at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, NV. The data management platform unveiled two product updates this morning. The first is a refresh on its Enterprise suite, making version 6 of its platform available today. The second is the complete cloud availability of its Enterprise toolkit, delivering a fully virtualized offering to appease the SaaS crowd.  With this, Splunk democratizes data beyond the IT department, in hopes of broadening its reach and gaining new users.

We, along with attendees, will see the first public demonstration of Splunk Enterprise 6 during Splunk Chairman and CEO Godfrey Sullivan’s keynote session later today at .conf2013.

Data for everyone

“Splunk Enterprise 6 is the platform for machine data for everyone, with powerful analytics and performance that unlocks machine data insights to an entirely new set of users,” said Guido Schroeder, senior vice president of products at Splunk.

Enterprise 6 has its sights set on a broader market of professionals, removing the “geeky” hurdle through the use of new analytics tools including data models and pivot capabilities.

Splunk’s broader strategy is to be known for more than just machine log data. Now, marketing, accounting and HR departments are only one step removed from the data they need to achieve better efficiencies within their groups. This is part of Splunk’s strategy for transitioning its brand beyond machine log data, and we’ll be on the lookout for more insight into Splunk’s tactics throughout the week.

SiliconANGLE’s theCUBE will be at Splunk .conf2013, broadcasting exclusive interviews from top executives in the industry. We’ll be on the lookout for clues into Splunk’s transition, how it fits into the bigger market, and how Big Data culture plays a role in Splunk’s growth goals and ecosystem.

3 Things We’re Watching at Splunk .conf 2013

• Splunk – Ready for transition?

Two years into its IPO, Splunk has owned the machine log data market. Now they want more. According to Wikibon Analyst Jeff Kelly, Splunk has a two-pronged attack for transitioning beyond machine log data. The first prong includes building out applications to run on top of Splunk’s platform, while the second angle includes opening up its platform to outside developers. We’re on the lookout for product launches, acquisitions, and partnership announcements at Splunk .conf2013 that show Splunk is ready for that next step.

• Current Market: Positioning & Rivals

Towards this goal of building out more applications atop its platform, Splunk announced Hunk at Hadoop Summit this year – applying their engine and apps to Hadoop (data visualization inside Hadoop). Also adding to the ecosystem, Splunk also released the Splunk App for VMware 3.0 to provide deep operational visibility into granular performance metrics, logs, tasks and events and topology from hosts, virtual machines and virtual centers. Loggly, a competitor to Splunk, has openly welcome the market competition, as everyone’s looking to make the killer app in analytics.

• Splunk’s Role in Big Data Culture

Splunk’s real strategy in the enterprise is to be the first boat in the water, and quickly expand. What Splunk is looking to do is move up the stack and move into the Business Intelligence market through provisioning analytics and data visualization. Customers use their platform for marketing-related data and sales data — not text per say, but pretty much anything else. Becoming more applicable to the enterprise is an important goal for Splunk.

By all counts, Splunk is seizing an opportunity to democratize data, approaching the Business Intelligence sector with enterprise-grade, cloud-ready analytics. If you ask Splunk, their new Enterprise solution is “bridging the data divide” with more speed and power to unlock data’s value and grant access to the necessary individuals within an organization.

We’ve put together a complete guide to Splunk .conf2013 for what to watch and what to expect.  Also, watch live coverage of Splunk .conf2013 here! On SiliconANGLE.tv.