The ZDNet Big Data team gets bigger

There's a lot going on in the Big Data, Analytics and BI world, and having only one person dedicated to covering it has lately started to feel insufficient. With that in mind, ZDNet is bringing on two new Big Data bloggers. I've had the pleasure of knowing and working with both of them in different capacities and I'm excited to have them join the team. Allow me to introduce them both, briefly.

Across the river
Tony Baer, whose name you may recognize from his many Big on Data guest posts over the years, has covered the technology space for over 25 years as an analyst, blogger and journalist. For the last eight-plus years, Tony's been Principal Analyst, leading the Big Data research area, at Ovum. Before Ovum, he did analyst stints on his own and at Data Monitor, prior to which he wrote for Application Development Trends, Computerworld and other publications.

Tony and I have been friends since well before Big Data was a "thing," and we came to cover that beat independently and coincidentally. That worked out well for me, because Tony's been an unwitting mentor to me over the past several years. His insightful, crisp writing sets a standard that I hope one day to achieve. Meanwhile, I give him sufficient grief for having left NYC for New Jersey, such that I'm confident this won't go to his head.

Across the ocean
George (Georgios) Anadiotis is CEO and Founder of Linked Data Orchestration. I came to know George during my tenure as Research Director for Big Data and Analytics at Gigaom Research. At Gigaom, George was one of the most prolific and insightful analysts on the team and one of my true "go-to" people. He brings with him a rare and highly sought-after combination of talents: that of being an excellent writer who is also a skilled implementer of the technologies he writes about.

George is based in Athens. By which I mean Greece; not Georgia. While his beat will in no way be limited to Europe, he will certainly expand our ability to cover companies and events that are located there.

Staying right here
In case you're wondering, I'm not going anywhere. And with Tony and George here, enabling ZDNet to cover more Big Data news, I'll be free to do more analysis and have an increased focus on Microsoft data technologies, which I've worked with for most of my career. I'm excited for that opportunity and to help usher in an era of team coverage for Big Data at ZDNet.