When it comes to Big Data, the question isn’t just “how much” but also “when?” Companies that can sort useful information faster than their competition have an advantage. Further, real-time interactions with customers demand analytics and processing in the now; minutes later is too late.

To satisfy this need, companies are adopting streaming analytics, the practice of working with Big Data as it comes in, rather than drawing on processed data already in storage. One of the players in this market is Impetus Technologies, Inc., with its product StreamAnalytix.

To take a look at the world of streaming analytics, Jeff Frick and George Gilbert, cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, joined Anand Venugopal at the Spark Summit East 2016 conference. Venugopal is the Head of Product for StreamAnalytix with Impetus Technologies, Inc.

The new world of analytics streaming

The conversation started with an overview of what StreamAnalytix does for companies. Venugopal replied that it provides one common abstraction for streaming, allowing a business to build stream applications on any engine. “We want to enable enterprises to focus on the business value and application layer,” he said.

Venugopal then outlined a few reasons why companies were pushing toward faster analytics streaming. First was customer analytics, allowing a business to understand and serve the needs of its customers. He also mentioned using predictive analytics to avoid losing customers. He then brought up the benefits of streaming when it comes to optimizing operations to lower costs.

Doing analytics right

There’s a saying that analytics done wrong is creepy, but doing it right is magic. Venugopal touched on this subject, saying that in areas where the customer provides a lot of information, banking, for example, it’s good for companies to use that info to enhance the customer experience. He also took a moment to mention the tradeoffs between complexity and speed. Businesses, he said, are more likely to trade speed for essentials that protect the business, such as security.

As to the future of streaming, Venugopal offered a clear vision. All platform players, he said, were going up the stack, as a natural progression. He also saw the future in solutions to help companies visualize real-time analytics.

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of Spark Summit East 2016. And join in on the conversation by CrowdChatting with theCUBE hosts.

Photo by SiliconANGLE