Big data has big importance at IBM, and the company’s recent Information On Demand (IOD) conference provided ample proof of that reality. Wikibon Co-Founder and co-host of The Cube Dave Vellante sat down with Naugi Halim of IBM Software Group to talk about some of the ongoing research and development that IBM is currently conducting in the big data arena.

Halim described IBM’s work as a set of capabilities that the company brings together to formulate new functionality at the systems level. IBM, he said, works on problems facing its individual customers that may be extremely difficult and unique. They must listen to the customer’s problems, assess the situation and find a new way to solve them. It is a creative process that does not necessarily draw on established formulas for resolution.

IBM does not work in an unfettered environment, Halim explained. It is in the business of innovation, bringing new solutions to real-world issues. To that end, Big Blue has established a presence in countries all over the world and is able to influence markets with its global research labs, bringing together a diverse range of brilliant minds to solve those problems.

IBM has been working on the concepts associated with big data since 2003 in what the researchers then referred to as “data overload”. The problem was pretty much the same: how to gather real-time analytics from large amounts of data. Halim cited the example of a hospital that has a plethora of instruments connected to patients at any given time and may not have the tools to effectively analyze all of the data that they receive.

In general, companies often create these marvelous systems that produce mountains of information, but the companies may not be sure what those systems are actually doing. The goal then is to find a way to understand what is actually happening, Halim concluded.

Looking forward, Vellante asked Halim what he expects from IBM in the future. Halim said he expects IBM to continue fleshing out its incremental analysis tools and also develop ways to automate analysis so that the machine can actually dictate how an investigation will unfold. For more details about Halim’s vision and the complete interview, you can watch the entire video online.