The value of 'a topic on a page'

Some time ago, I become interested in summarising a topic on a page.  The interest sprang from some really good posters I found that summarised all the important stuff ragarding a topic e.g. Rational had a really good one on UML and another on RUP.

Around the same time, I found a template that Apple were using for creating 'posters' to summarise a topic on a page and the notion of 'poster sessions' where people would put their poster on a wall and people would meet in a room with multiple posters and read them to get a quick update on topics of interest.

Most recently, I have rekindled my interest in 'topic on a page' and find them a great way of communicating a lot of concepts quickly.  The digital equivalent seems to be a really good infographic or a really good Prezi presentation.

The only trouble is, a good poster is hard to produce.

I'm currently working on a 'Big Data on a page' poster and will post it back here when I have something to share.

In the meantime, any tips on how to create good posters, infographics and the like are most welcome :)

This is Big! (Data) :)

Today in my inbox, I found an email with a link to this article on 'waiting for Big Data'

As a consultant for an Australian consulting and technology firm, the article reflects a lot of my own thoughts and the key point for me is the one about the 'maturity of the market' at the moment with the industry being likened to 'a collection of tools that are not really integrated and are very technical in nature'.

A friend asked me the other day what 'my company' was doing with regard to Big Data and my response was that we were currently partnering with technology partners, such as Microsoft, to assist clients do a Proof of Concept (PoC) and also, where appropriate, helping them move these through to 'production'

but , me personally, its still just an area of great interest and something I am educating myself on with the view to moving into this area over the next few years e.g. Big Data strategy, architecture, road-mapping.... it's a WIP but I am working on it :)

Some of the questions I am trying to answer for myself at the moment include...

• is Big Data just a BI/DW thing?
• is it a new capability or just incremental?
• are existing IM tools and techniques useful? e.g. data modelling or does Big Data require new approaches? (as people seem to indicate)
• are there patterns of requirements? and corresponding patterns of solution types?
• what would a 'domain architecture' comprise? and how could it be leveraged for strategy, architecture and road-mapping purposes?

I'm sure others will arise but these are the main ones in my head at the moment.

I'd love to hear anyone's ideas on this topic... the lines are open, call now! ;)