Companies like Vertica, SAP, Excellitics, Oracle, IBM, and Visa have perfected the art of diving into the wide, but shallow pools of data and coming up with valuable returns for their customer.

FORBES: The Big Data Gold Rush

Greenplum data-analytics business, recommends companies start prepping their internal talent pools now, while big data is still in its infancy.

WSJ: Big Data, Big Blunders

People use this data to advocate for causes, rescue disaster victims, prevent diseases, research markets, locate pools of skilled workers and more.

WHITEHOUSE: Our Top Stories

But what the data do not do is compare hedge fund performance with that of mutual funds--those comparatively boring investment pools for ordinary mortals.

FORBES: Why Hedge Funds?