We live and work in a data-rich world. The amount of data that people process on a daily basis is growing exponentially, and there is no sign of any let up. The increase in corporate data creation is estimated at between 40% and 60% year-on-year with 80% of all corporate data being stored in unstructured formats such as emails or spreadsheets. As organizations continue to invest millions in technology and solutions to create, manage and store this data, they fail to realize a return on their investment due their inability to successfully harness and act on the data to generate real business value.

The ability to capture and process huge and complex data volumes has outstripped our understanding of how to exploit it. The challenge is to find a way through "data overload" and use technology to deliver enterprise-wide data transparency. Organizations that have successfully harnessed their data for comparative and/or competitive advantage are referred to as "Intelligent Enterprises" and are typically leaders in the market segment such as Wal-Mart, Dell, Tesco and others.