One of the biggest advances in Datameer 2.0 brings Apache Hadoop right to the desktop. Hadoop is natively embedded in two of three new editions of the application. Datameer Personal runs on a single desktop. Datameer Workgroup runs on a single server. Meanwhile, Datameer Enterprise scales to thousands of nodes and runs on any Hadoop distribution.

"Our goal is to really democratize data analytics by giving our users the tools they need to make data-driven decisions faster," said Stefan Groschupf, CEO of Datameer. "By bypassing the traditional, slow, multi-step process of creating static schemas, we enable users to get right to analyzing and visualizing data without needing to rely on IT."

Increasing Speed and Analysis

If that's true, Datameer could win itself a number of new customers. Beyond the Hadoop on the desktop play, Datameer 2.0 also offers new features like a Business Infographics Designer, an enhanced user interface, support for more data sources, and extended OS and device support.

Datameer 2.0 combines a spreadsheet interface with the unlimited data storage and compute powers of Hadoop. That, the company said, empowers business users to improve company performance, better understand customer behavior, and optimize business processes. And that's not just hype, according to Mark Smith, CEO and chief research officer at Ventana Research.

"The need to analyze more data and increase the speed of analysis are the top two demands of big data technologies, which is what Datameer 2.0 is addressing with its newest release," Smith said. "Organizations have been lacking intuitive visualizations of big data from Hadoop, and Datameer's new Business Infographics provide a major leap forward in revolutionizing analytics for business."

A Different Approach

Business Infographics Designer promises users complete graphics and visualization design control. The vector-based WYSIWYG designer lets users choose how they want to visualize their data, whether its infographics or more traditional reports, maps, graphs and dashboards.

Built on HTML5, Datameer 2.0 runs on any device, letting users work with and visualize their data on smart phones, tablets, desktop and laptop computers. Datameer supports all of the popular operating systems including Windows and Mac OS as well as Linux and VMWare.

We caught up with Bernie Spang, director of Strategy, Marketing and Database Software and Systems at IBM Information Management, to discuss the power of Hadoop. IBM recently unveiled the first update of DB2 in four years with a mission to tame the data deluge.

"Hadoop-based systems use a different approach, a file-based distributive approach for analyzing structured and non-structured information. And that's important," Spang told us. "In the last few years we have entered into a new era of data management where the answer isn't automatically 'get me a relational data system." It's 'get me the right system that best handles and can analyze this particular type of data'."

Personal will be available for $299, Datameer Workgroup will be available for $2,999, and Datameer Enterprise pricing varies depending on needs.