Palantir is Intelligence Infrastructure

Palantir is radically different than other products claiming similar capability.

I've found that I can usually answer many of the questions people might have about Palantir when I tell them generally what we are and what we aren't as this usually answers the question pretty well. First, what we aren't:

Palantir is not a visualization tool - Visualization tools are individual installations of our software on analysts' desks used to build visual representations of what is already known. There are other really lightweight tools that do this and do it well, like Analyst's Notebook, Renoir, AxisPro, Starlight and others like Visio or even PowerPoint. Palantir does perform visualization, but this is done in the context of an enterprise intelligence platform.

Palantir is not a data mining platform - We aren't going to replace your analysts. Lending back to the lessons we learned at PayPal, we don't believe automation is the solution to our problems. The human brain is the only instrument capable of recognizing critical patterns that lead to true analysis. Palantir is in the business of enabling this. Palantir does use automation where appropriate but all important decisions are presented to the analysts so they can leverage their intellect and experience.

Palantir is not a proprietary end game - Being a Silicon Valley Company, we believe that it would be truly heretical for us to be anything other than entirely open. Our data saves as open XML files, we have a totally extensible Open API, and we import and export from a whole host of other file types, including proprietary ones from visualization tools like those I previously mentioned.

Palantir is not a risk - It's already built. There is no development investment required. We can be deployed for 5% of the cost, 1% of the time and with 0% of the risk.

As far as describing what we are, this is what our users throughout the community have defined us as being...points we call the "Four Pillars."

The first pillar is Data Integration, which involves taking disparate sets of structured and unstructured data as well as media and creating a single, common way to view and manipulate the data across all sources. This is what we like to call "breaking down stovepipes." Palantir has built a variety of technologies that allow us to create this single point of access for the analyst.

The second pillar is Search & Discovery. This is the process of turning raw data into actionable intelligence by allowing an analyst to intuitively search across the enterprise (utilizing that single point of access), find data and do something with it. In other words, this is more than just giving you a view of data that you already know about. Search & Discovery means that the analyst can interact with discovered data through powerful search capabilities across the enterprise.

The third pillar is Knowledge Management, which I think is really the most powerful part of the Palantir Platform. Our Knowledge Management Model leverages a revolutionary technology referred to as the 'Revisioning Database' which takes intelligence and lets the user know how it has changed over time, how it varies by analyst or classification, how reliable this source has been historically, etc. This model provides unparalleled data transparency as well as a security model that is the most fine-grained, flexible and sophisticated in the intelligence community.

The fourth pillar is Collaboration, which takes this powerful framework for analysis at the analysts' level and allows them to share across teams, agencies, and borders. This is one of the hallmarks of a true enterprise Analytic Platform and is being used across the community by analysts today. Palantir's powerful collaborative ability only exists due to our equally powerful security model, which allows the maximum amount of information to be shared without leaking anything that should be protected.

So basically, the best way to compare other products to Palantir would be to delineate the clear difference between a visualization tool and an analysis platform. 90% of the Palantir iceberg is under water. Our platform is a product...it exists...it's functional...and it doesn't have to be rebuilt with thousands of service hours on site. We can be deployed for 5% of the cost, 1% of the time, and with 0% of the risk.

For more information on the Palantir Platform and how it works as analytical and intelligence infrastructure, take a look at our technical white videos:

http://www.palantirtech.com/government/videos/whitevideos/intelligence-infrastructure

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Shyam Sankar
Palantir Technologies | Director, Forward Deployed Engineering
ssankar@palantirtech.com | 415.244.5545
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