Illation has been recognized by APAC CIOOutlook Magazine as the recipient of “Most Promising Big Data Solution Companies,” based on our proprietary methodology, reflecting its position in the industry. This profile has been developed by the APAC CIOOutlook research and editorial team based on insights from an interview with Dallas Newton.

Illation
Helping Organizations Leverage the Power of Big Data

Dallas Newton, Country Business Manager

The commercial value of Big Data and the insights it brings is no longer in dispute. In every industry, it is a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’ for Big Data. Yet, despite some early successes, many organizations are struggling in adoption because of a lack of skilled resources. A recent Gartner survey pointed out:“Skills gaps continue to be a major adoption inhibitor for 57 percent of respondents, while figuring out how to get value from Hadoop was cited by 49 percent of respondents. The absence of skills has long been a key blocker.”

Recognizing a need in the market, Illation provides end-to-end strategy, analytics and predictive modelling consulting for Big Data solutions.Founded in 2002 to offer decision management services in Australia, Illation has always been a data company. Decision management is a data intensive discipline where predictive models are deployed to front-line operational environments via business rule management systems. The deciding moment of entering the Big Data space came in 2010 following The Economist’s influential article entitled ‘The Data Deluge’. Working then for a larger Insurer to transform tens of millions of claims using Hadoop, it became clear that Hadoop and related technologies were the key to processing these kinds of data volumes.

With advanced analytics coming to center stage in the Big Data space, Illation considers itself as the perfect trusted advisor and implementer of Big Data solutions in Australia.

Standardization of Hadoop distributions and the new Open Data Platform mean Illation’sSolution Accelerators are portable across environments. With a captive offshoreCentre in India, the low-value, high-cost work of data cleansing and scrubbing can be done at significantly lower price points.

Big Data and Data Science is Illation’s core offering. By investing in strong partnerships with Hortonworks and Microsoft, Illation has built capacity and is able to plug the widening skills gap in the Australian market. In addition to Hortonworks and HDInsights specializations, Illation focuses on selected analytic technologies, like Spark and R, suited to solving the most advanced analytic challenges.

Partnering Hortonworks and Microsoft,Illation has built capacity and is able to plug the widening skills gap in the Australian market

Illation’s real world experience, going back six years, in working with peta-byte size data is what sets it apart in the Australian market. Targeting customers with a need to bring analytic insights to their day to day operations, through the supply of high quality, high value consulting and implementation services. By investing in advanced analytic skills, such as Spark, the company has taken a major step to become an innovative partner for its Clients. Spark is touted as the next big thing emerging in the arena of Big Data analytics, so we are again positioning to be ahead of the curve.

Looking forward, Illation plans for controlled expansion, both geographically and technology-wise. Hadoop is a rapidly moving target and separating the ‘signal’ from the ‘noise’ can be challenging. Current technology R&D investments include Mesos, Flink and SparkR. The company’s customer-centric approach and putting the interests of clients ahead of revenues, has helped Illation garner great appreciation in industry circles. With a clear focus to deliver the finest quality performance to their clients, Illation is all geared up to set new benchmarks in the Big Data landscape.Illation are leveraging Hadoop and associated technologies to be recognized as a Big Data leader in the APAC Region.