IBM is set to release a cloud-based predictive analytics tool, Watson Analytics, based on its Watson supercomputer.
The service, due for release in November, uses Watson technology to process natural language data in English and other languages, offering data refinement services to prepare information for analysis and visualisation.
The Softlayer-based tool can automate data preparation, predictive analysis and visual storytelling (putting it in competition with companies like Tableau and Qlik), and is aimed at business users, rather than data experts.
Bob Picciano, senior VP of IBM’s information and analytics group, said: "Watson Analytics is designed to help all business people – from sales reps on the road to company CEOs – see patterns, pursue ideas and improve all types of decisions.
"We have eliminated the barrier between the answers they seek, the analytics they want and the data in the form they need. The combination of Watson-fuelled analytics to magnify human cognition, the vast potential of big data and cloud-scale delivery to PCs, smartphones and other devices is transformational."
The service will be released via IBM’s Cloud marketplace come November and will include a freemium version for mobile and desktop use.
The announcement of the Watson Analytics tool comes after Microsoft’s release of Azure ML, its cloud-based predictive analytics engine that allows users to build predictive applications.
