IBM超级计算机“沃森”转战商场

    不过，虽然沃森作为一款企业级产品，拥有改变行业规则的潜力，大多数公司还只是刚开始部署所谓的“大数据”（big data）项目，它们并未做好准备，迎接沃森这样的重量级数据分析机器。为此，IBM公司目前推出了“为沃森做好准备”（Ready for Watson）项目。这个项目旨在让各公司建立基本的数据分析应用系统。

    数据分析业务是IBM长期战略的重要组成部分。过去五年间，IBM投入了140亿美元巨资，用于收购数据分析类公司，包括SPSS公司（SPSS）、康格诺公司（Cognos）和Netezza公司。IBM预计，到2015年，它将从销售包括沃森在内的数据分析系统中斩获160亿美元。与此同时，IBM的老对头，如甲骨文公司（Oracle）和SAP公司也并未坐以待毙，它们也在数据分析领域展开了大规模收购。但因为它们目前并不拥有沃森这样的显赫的超级计算机，要说这个领域存在什么竞争还为时尚早。

    译者：清远

    But while Watson has game-changing potential as an enterprise product, most companies are just starting to deploy so-called "big data" projects, and aren't ready for a heavy-duty analytics engine like Watson. To that end, IBM is rolling out "Ready for Watson," a program to get companies set up with basic analytics applications.

    Analytics is a big part of IBM's long-term strategy. Over the past five years, the company has invested $14 billion in analytics-related acquisitions, including SPSS, Cognos and Netezza. By 2015, IBM expects it will rake in $16 billion from the analytics products it sells, including Watson. In the meantime, IBM competitors like Oracle (ORCL) and SAP (SAP) aren't sitting still and have made their own large-scale acquisitions in this space. And while they may not have a supercomputer of Watson's fame, it's way too early to call it a game.