????要在科技行業(yè)的前沿陣地保持領先地位相當不容易，在像大數(shù)據(jù)這樣迅速增長的領域更是如此。隨著更多企業(yè)殺入這個戰(zhàn)場，幾乎每天都會有新的產(chǎn)品和服務冒出來。

????有前途的大數(shù)據(jù)公司有很多，不過《財富》希望的是透過喧囂看到本質(zhì)。于是我們采訪了大數(shù)據(jù)領域的一些杰出人士，看看在他們眼中誰才是最有前途的大數(shù)據(jù)公司，哪些企業(yè)最值得關注。

????但我們了解到，這似乎是一個不太好回答的問題。

????Smarter Remarketer公司共同創(chuàng)始人兼首席數(shù)據(jù)科學家迪恩?阿波特說：“要說給‘大數(shù)據(jù)公司’列一個名單倒是很有趣，主要是因為它的定義?！髷?shù)據(jù)公司’指的是純粹搞大數(shù)據(jù)分析的公司，還是經(jīng)常使用、但也不是光使用大數(shù)據(jù)技術搞分析預測的公司？還是像惠普（HP）、SAP、戴爾（Dell）或通用電氣（GE ）那樣雖然設立了一個‘大數(shù)據(jù)分析’部門，但只占公司業(yè)務一小部分的公司？”

????“我見過的最有意思的公司之一”

????有一些大數(shù)據(jù)公司獲得了行業(yè)專家的一致認可，認為它們值得關注。比如10位專家中至少有兩位以上表示值得關注的大數(shù)據(jù)公司就有MapR、MemSQL、Databricks、Platfora、Splunk、 Teradata、Palantir、Premise、Datameer、 Cloudera、Hortonworks、MongoDB和 Trifacta等。

????比如高德納公司（Gartner）的分析師斯維特拉娜?斯庫拉指出，MemSQL就是“一個對混合工作和分析工作來說非常有效的內(nèi)庫關聯(lián)數(shù)據(jù)庫。雖然SAP的Hana數(shù)據(jù)庫也在內(nèi)存數(shù)據(jù)領域獲得了很多關注，但是MemSQL的產(chǎn)品似乎是一個更便宜、也更靈活的解決方案?！?/p>

????另外斯庫拉還認為：“Splunck公司掌握了非常出色的技術，而且它也是第一批上市的大數(shù)據(jù)公司之一。而且現(xiàn)在Splunk還有了一個叫Hunk的很強勢的產(chǎn)品——顧名思義，它是Hadoop架構上的Splunk。它可以直接向市場提供比大多數(shù)其它產(chǎn)品更成熟的大數(shù)據(jù)解決方案。與很多大數(shù)據(jù)產(chǎn)品相比，Hunk的優(yōu)點是易用性更強，而且我接觸過的大多數(shù)顧客都表達了他們對Splunk的喜愛，雖然我完全沒有向他們吹捧過這個產(chǎn)品?！?/p>

????Palantir科技公司主要從事面向公共部門客戶的大數(shù)據(jù)分析，這家公司也獲得了專家們很高的評價。百森商學院（Babson College）IT管理學教授、《職場中的大數(shù)據(jù)》（Big Data @ Work）一書的作者湯姆?達文波特說：“如果有可能的話，我會把Palantir公司在大數(shù)據(jù)創(chuàng)業(yè)公司排行榜的第一名”。

????RelateIQ公司產(chǎn)品副總裁DJ?帕提爾表示，舊金山的Trifacta公司是一家值得關注的公司。Trifacta公司搭建了一個“數(shù)據(jù)傳輸平臺”，有望提高數(shù)據(jù)分析師的工作效率。帕提爾本人也是這家公司的一名技術顧問，他說：“Trifacta是我見過我的最有意思的公司之一。”

????Analytical-Solution公司創(chuàng)始人卡拉?金特里表示，舊金山的另一家大數(shù)據(jù)公司Datameer也是一家值得關注的公司?！艾F(xiàn)在市面上有很多所謂大數(shù)據(jù)公司，但他們其中的大多數(shù)最后變成了一個普通的智能商務平臺，這種東西任何公司只要招聘一名工程師就都可以搞?！钡墙鹛乩锉硎?，Datameer很不一樣。

????It’s hard enough staying on top of the latest developments in the technology industry. That’s doubly true in the fast-growing area known as big data, with new companies, products and services popping up practically every day.

????There are scores of promising big data companies, butFortune sought to cut through the noise and reached out to a number of luminaries in the field to ask which big data companies they believe have the biggest potential. Which players are really the ones to watch?

????That question, we learned, is rather difficult to answer.

????“A list of ‘big data companies’ is interesting because of the definition,” said Dean Abbott, co-founder and chief data scientist of Smarter Remarketer. “Is a ‘big data’ company one that is pure-play analytics with big data? A company that does predictive analytics often with big data but not always—like Beyond the Arc or Elder Research? A large company that has a group that usually does ‘big data analytics’ but it’s only a small part of what they do as a company—like HP HP 0.90% , SAP, Dell, even GE GE 0.30% ?”

????‘One of the most interesting ones I’ve seen’

????There was certainly consensus on some of the big data companies that industry experts said were notable. At least two of 10 experts we polled named MapR,MemSQL, Databricks, Platfora, Splunk, Teradata,Palantir, Premise, Datameer, Cloudera,Hortonworks, MongoDB, and Trifacta as shining examples in the space.

????MemSQL, for example, is “an in-memory relational database that would be effective for mixed workloads and for analytics,” said Svetlana Sicular, an analyst at Gartner. “While SAP draws so much attention to in-memory databases by marketing their Hana database, MemSQL seems to be a less expensive and more agile solution in this space.”

????Splunk, meanwhile, “has an excellent technology, and it was among the first big data companies to go public,” Sicular said. “Now, Splunk also has a strong product called Hunk—Splunk on Hadoop—directly delivering big data solutions that are more mature than most products in the market. Hunk is easy to use compared to many big data products, and generally, most customers I spoke with expressed their love to Splunk without any soliciting on my side.”

????Palantir Technologies, which focuses on data analysis for public sector clients, also received high marks. “I’d have to put Palantir at the top of the list” of the startups in the big data space, said Tom Davenport, an IT management professor at Babson College and author of the book, Big Data @ Work.

????DJ Patil, vice president of product at RelateIQ, said San Francisco-based Trifacta—which makes a “data transformation platform” promising increase productivity for data analysts—was a company to watch. “One of the most interesting ones I’ve seen,” said Patil, who serves as a technical advisor to the company.

????Two miles away, cross-town peer Datameer is also remarkable, said Carla Gentry, founder of Analytical-Solution. “There are lots more companies out there, but most of the them just end up being a BI platform that anyone with an engineer could have started.” Datameer is different, she said.