Is Microsoft Putting Big Data At The Heart Of Their Business?

Since it was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft has been a key player in just about every major advance in the use of computers, at home and in business. Just as it anticipated the rise of the personal computer, the graphical operating system and the internet, it wasn't taken by surprise by the dawn of the big data era. It might not always be the principle source of innovation, but it has always excelled at bringing innovation to the masses, and packaging it into a user-friendly product (even though many would argue against this). It has caused controversy along the way, though, and at one time was called an "abusive monopoly" by the US Department of Justice, over its packaging of Internet Explorer with Windows operating systems. And in 2004 it was fined over 600m by the European Union following anti-trust action.