Google acquired data analytics startup, Looker, earlier this month while Salesforce followed up that news by announcing that it would be acquiring big data and analytics firm, Tableau.
Top technology companies are scrambling to buy up big data and analytics firms due to the critical need to ensure customers can visualize data sets and major companies can stay competitive in an increasingly crowded environment. Enterprise companies are adept are collecting data, but the tools for actualizing that data are still in the growing phase of development. Looker and Tableau are the frontrunners when it comes to this business and it doesn’t help that Microsoft is amping up the pressure as its Azure platform comes with its own data analytics solution.
While some experts argue that Google and Salesforce acquisitions could not have come at a better time, others suggest that both companies have pivoted away from their core of innovation to purchase the past.
Joining us to share his thoughts on these recent acquisitions is Rob Woollen.
Rob is co-founder and CEO of Sigma Computing, a cloud-native Business Intelligence & analytics solution that makes data accessible and approachable to everyone. Rob has more than 20 years of experience building distributed and cloud systems. Prior to co-founding Sigma, he was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Sutter Hill Ventures, where he played a key role in designing and developing cloud data warehouse provider Snowflake, and where the idea for Sigma was born.
Rob spent 6 years at Salesforce.com, serving as Principal Architect and then SVP before leading the Salesforce and Work.com platforms as CTO. His previous experience also includes being a Software Engineer at both BEA Systems and HP. Rob holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Princeton University in Computer Science.
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