Many small and midsize retailers could benefit from using advanced analytics to understand their customers better and improve promotions but are daunted by the prospect. They are aware that advanced analytics can help retailers turn purchase data into retail excellence. However, they perceive that advanced analytics requires massive infrastructure changes, expensive software licenses, analytics expertise, long lead times and major upfront capital expenses.

This study highlights the phases of the big data journey, the objectives and challenges of midsize organizations taking the journey, and the current state of the technology that they are using to drive results. It also offers a pragmatic course of action for midsize companies to take as they dive into this new era of computing.

With the growing demand for faster business applications and the rapid spread of technology trends like Big Data, computing performance has never been more important. The challenges for midsize businesses are even greater. With fewer resources, IT teams in midmarket organizations need to be able to deliver mission-critical applications at full-horsepower to employees. They also need to be able to do more with less -- more computing power with fewer servers, smaller teams and leaner budgets. This IT Managers' Journal delivers 10 ways IT managers and data center professionals in midsize organizations can deliver more computing power to meet the promises they have made. Topics covered include Linux servers, IBM Power Systems, SAP applications and business systems, a real-world case study showcasing the benefits of replacing underperforming servers, Big Data, techniques for better server management and more. Download this exclusive IT Managers' Journal and learn how to get more out of your data centers today.

The enterprise database provides the critical foundation for any SAP implementation. It must deliver exceptional performance for timely decision making while controlling costs and complexity. IBM® DB2® is uniquely designed to fulfill this need. This brochure highlights: IBM® DB2® with BLU Acceleration includes new capabilities that help enhance performance, simplify management and reduce the total cost of ownership for organizations using the SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse application.

This white paper discusses how IBM InfoSphere can support the integration and governance of Big Data in insurance. The white paper reviews common Big Data use cases including Telematics and Usage-Based Insurance, Claims Fraud Analytics, Next Best Action, Catastrophe Modeling and Producer Optimization.

This white paper discusses how IBM InfoSphere can support the integration and governance of Big Data in healthcare. The white paper reviews three case studies including predictive analytics with Electronic Medical Records, time series data in a neonatal intensive care unit and predictive pathways for disease.

The IBM portfolio combines data warehousing, business analytics and information management software, hardware and solutions. Businesses can use IBM technologies to increase agility, boost performance, lower TCO, maximize value of data assets and make better decisions, faster.

Big data is probably the single most important trend in information usage for both business and IT in the past decade. It is changing the way companies make decisions, do business, succeed or fail. Using information and insights intelligently to anticipate and profit from change.

A highly scalable database platform, the IBM PureData System for Transactions has all the things you need to manage data: factory-integrated and optimized server, storage, network and software resources selected and tuned specifically for the demands of transactional processing.

IBM is unique in having developed an enterprise class big data platform that allows you to address the full spectrum of big data business challenges. The real benefit of the platform is leverage - the ability to start with one capability and easily adds on another. Read this whitepaper to learn about the platform, its core capabilities and how they will be beneficial to an organization.

Despite the increased focus on big data over the past few years, most organizations are still talking about what big data is rather than focusing on what problems big data can address. Through conducting surveys, studying analyst findings, talking with more than 300 customers and prospects and implementing hundreds of big data solutions, IBM has identified the top five high-value use cases that can be your first step into big data:

Big data exploration
Enhanced 360-degree view of the customer
Security/intelligence extension
Operations analysis
Data warehouse augmentation

Speed, simplicity and affordability: 3 capabilities businesses need from their warehousing environment. IBM DB2 with BLU Acceleration gives organizations a complete, multipurpose environment to rapidly distill insight from their data, make timely decisions and capitalize on opportunities.

Informix ebook highlighting benefits of making decisions 'at the speed of business'; and discusses optimizing warehouse performance; and simplifying resources.

Packed with everything you need to know about Hadoop analytics, this handy guide provides you with a solid understanding of the critical big data concepts and trends, and suggests ways for you to revolutionize your business operations through the implementation of cost-effective, high performance Hadoop technology.