Zendesk has recently released a new feature  called Zendesk Insights that purports to give its customers a deeper understanding of their customer interactions, using data culled from simply working with the Zendesk service. But it wants to take it a step further, by helping customers understand and change behavior to improve customer service over time.

As the need for new computing infrastructure tools accelerates, thanks to the demands of distributed computing and the proliferation of mobile devices, startups focused on new data management and data processing technologies are raising big rounds to propel the next generation of computing.

Computers are once again transforming the business of marketing. This time, though, the change is being driven by cloud computing and the processing of huge amounts of data about what customers do and what they desire.

“The profile of a chief marketing officer used to be someone who wore a black turtleneck and worked at Nike, but now increasingly it’s someone who studied math and worked at a hedge fund and then got very involved in data-driven marketing,” said Glenn Kelman,

Intel is solving a tough business problem, using a little technical innovation.

The company said Wednesday that it would enable its Xeon processor, used inside big computing environments, to handle a customer’s large-scale proprietary algorithms as if the chip were customized for that process.

In recent years, many companies have felt the need for greater coordination of their analytical activities. Some (42% of companies in the 2013 Deloitte Analytics Advantage survey) established central analytics groups, but 58% had more decentralized approaches, with limited or no central coordination.

Bank industry CFOs are being expected to hone their skills in data analytics to deploy capital more efficiently and manage costs, according to a report from the Deloitte Center for Financial Services. The report identified CFOs’ use of data analytics to improve capital allocation decisions as one of several areas of focus for banks as they seek growth and competitive advantage.

Nutanix is one of many Silicon Valley startups hoping to shake up corporate computer rooms. But it is attracting considerable attention, with Dell the latest to take an interest.

With everything from smartphones, smart stores and smart homes gathering and commoditizing information about us, the question of the value, and vulnerability of individuals’ private data has become a pressing concern. It has also become a big business opportunity.