Marc Andreessen, the co-founder of Netscape, famously wrote in 2011 that “software is eating the world.” Doug Merritt (pictured), chief executive officer of Splunk Inc., has a different twist on Andreessen’s words of wisdom. “I’d take it one step further and say that this is becoming a data-driven and a data insight world,” Merritt said.

Merritt stopped by theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during this week’s Splunk .conf2017 in Washington, D.C. and spoke with co-hosts Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and George Gilbert (@ggilbert41). They discussed the company’s technology approach to the data needs of its customers and prospects for future growth. (* Disclosure below.)

Making sense out of machine data

Splunk has carved out prime space in the operational intelligence world as a company with a motto that says, “We take your machine data and make sense of it.” It’s a task more complicated than it sounds, but the company’s philosophy is grounded in a firm belief that users need to do much more with data than just store it in one place.

“It’s not just about putting everything somewhere so that it can be later retrieved,” Merritt explained. “It’s what problem am I trying to solve, what data do I need to solve that problem, and then how do I bring it into something and visualize it so that I get immediate payback and return.”

This level of attention to the data details means that Splunk requires a singular focus on the customer, because no two data needs are usually alike. “A more practical and effective way of looking at big data is through the customer solution lens,” Merritt said. “The final inch that every customer is trying to drive to is different for every single customer.”

Getting to that final inch has propelled Splunk to more than $1 billion in revenue and a $10-billion valuation. Can the company go higher? “I really do believe deep in my heart that this is the next $5-billion, $10-billion, $20-billion organization out there,” Merritt concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Splunk.conf2017. (* Disclosure: Splunk Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Splunk nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE