Big data is testing the limits of high volume computing technology to manage it, as well as customers’ patience in finding it. The “Barclay’s Big Data Handbook” recently documented that machine data will account for 16 zettabytes by 2020, an astounding number, even for Ben Newton (pictured), principal products manager at Sumo Logic Inc., who makes it his business to put big data in the proper perspective.

“The amount of data being produced is just bigger than anyone ever imagined. That’s like watching the whole Netflix catalog 30 million times,” Newton said.

Sumo Logic’s approach to the challenge is to simplify and reorganize massive data files using machine learning, with the goal of allowing customers to “get more value out of the data they have without having to invest in this costly infrastructure to do it,” Newton added.

Spreading data analytics across the organization was among the topics covered by Newton during his visit with John Walls (@JohnWalls21) and Stu Miniman (@stu), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile livestreaming studio, during this week’s the AWS Summit in New York City. They discussed the firm’s analytics approach, ways that clients are sharing the data and how the company got its name. (* Disclosure below.)

Ingesting data and accessing it

Sumo Logic, whose customers include Adobe Systems Inc., Airbnb Inc. and Microsoft Corp., has designed its log management and analytics portfolio to make it easier to ingest the data, easier to access it once it’s in the infrastructure and less costly to manage it all. These three objectives have allowed the continuous intelligence startup to raise $235 million over seven years, Newton explained.

“We organize it in the way that makes sense to you and match your cost to the data,” he said.

This analytics approach has resulted in wider sharing of information across the enterprise.

“A couple of clients are actually using the data in their marketing and sales departments, putting this up on the wall, so the other parts of the business are getting access to it besides DevOps and IT [information technology],” Newton stated.

It’s tempting to assume that Sumo Logic was named for big data, but there’s another reason. “The real story is that our founder [Christian Beedgen] loves dogs, and he has a dog named Sumo,” Newton concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of AWS Summit. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is an unpaid media partner for AWS Summit. Neither Amazon Web Services Inc. nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE