Making Big Data easy on the eyes

Tableau Software turns huge data sets into beautiful graphics. And now it has one of tech's most powerful companies as a partner.

FORTUNE -- A big data tool is only as good as the data that feeds into it. Business intelligence startup Tableau Software has earned rave reviews for turning data computations into beautiful graphics, but now the company is busy expanding its pool of partners and building "connectors" -- technology MORE

Data centers open new front in tech war

ARM wants to eat Intel's lunch -- and it now has a plan to do just that.

FORTUNE -- ARM Holdings (ARMH) rules the smartphone market. Now the British firm is trying to get its processor designs into somewhat larger gadgets -- servers.

ARM has yet to make any significant inroads into lucrative data centers currently dominated by a different breed of chips that are manufactured by Intel (INTC). But the company MORE

Microsoft tries again with Windows Phone 8

A slew of new features prove the company is determined to make a dent in the crucial phone segment.

FORTUNE -- Lucky for Microsoft, its Windows Phone 8 launch event was not scheduled for stormy New York. But that doesn't mean prospects for the latest version of its mobile operating system aren't cloudy.

The tech giant is throwing all its weight behind new efforts to reclaim dominance in the changing computing market, MORE

The new Cisco: Slower growth, higher dividend

Rocky times have precipitated a change in tactics at the maker of networking gear.

FORTUNE -- Cisco's (CSCO) days of double-digit growth may be over, but the tech giant has made some smart moves over the last couple of years—like cutting costs, focusing in on its most promising businesses, and giving out a quarterly dividend to shareholders for the first time in its nearly 30-year-long history. As the company's chief financial MORE

Performance reviews remade

There's no shortage of HR software to track employee goals. The next step is to get workers to actually follow them.

FORTUNE -- Stodgy human resources software is getting a reboot. Over the past year enterprise giants IBM (IBM), Oracle (ORCL), and SAP (SAP) have collectively shelled out some $6 billion to acquire companies that make recruitment and compensation tools. Salesforce's new Work.com product lets managers and employees track their goals. MORE

How Workday won the IPO

In many ways, the maker of human resources software managed the exact opposite of Facebook's offering.

FORTUNE -- Going public may have proved a difficult but necessary ordeal for Facebook. For human resources software maker Workday, it has been anything but. The Pleasanton, Calif.-based company was one the most anticipated enterprise initial public offerings in years and was the largest venture-backed IPO since Facebook, raising $637 million. In its first day MORE

Salesforce's major transformation

At its habitually over-the-top annual conference, the company unveiled a slew of new services and products.

FORTUNE -- Salesforce has long been known for its cloud-based customer relationship management software for salespeople. That's why, after all, its ticker symbol is CRM.  But during a lengthy keynote speech at the company's annual Dreamforce conference on Wednesday, CEO Marc Benioff unveiled a slew of new products he hopes will be snapped up by MORE

Intel wants to reinvent computing--again

Intel stays mum on its new smartphone strategy, but it has plenty to say about PC processors.

FORTUNE -- A week after slashing its third-quarter sales forecast due to sluggish demand for PCs, Intel kicked off its annual developer conference with a promise to reinvent computing.

The world's largest chipmaker unveiled its latest processor line, Haswell, due out in 2013. The next-generation, lower-power Intel Core processor family will enable "faster, thinner, better" MORE

Can the Lumia smartphone save Nokia?

The backstory of the struggling cellphone maker's newest devices - and the unlikely executive leading the charge.

FORTUNE -- Since Stephen Elop became CEO of Nokia in 2010 he has made a series of bold moves, from releasing a rally-the-troops memo comparing the flailing mobile-phone maker to a man on a burning platform to hitching the company's future to Microsoft's Windows operating system. His other daring deed? Assigning the crucial task MORE

The company Apple-Samsung can't hurt

Qualcomm settled its patent disputes years ago. Now, it's looking for a surge in growth from the mobile sector.

FORTUNE -- While much of the mobile industry is still reeling from last week's Apple-Samsung verdict, at least one wireless giant—Qualcomm—is confident the outcome won't hurt its business. The San Diego-based company's chips are found in hundreds of different smartphone models, and as long as the industry as a whole continues to MORE