As I look back at 2012, I’m reminded of Charles Dickens’ opening lines in A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” In the year now passing, we have seen Sandy’s fury and the horrors of Newtown, and we also have witnessed amazing acts of discovery, wonder and acts of kindness. I prefer to remind myself of the good things that happened — in the world around us and in my company, GoodData. Which is why my look back is one of thanks.

And so, I give thanks for man’s curiosity and capacity to achieve great things. To me, the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour atop a jumbo jet epitomized our desire to constantly reach for the stars. And we saw that same yearning for the great and new after Curiosity traveled hundreds of millions of miles to land safely on Mars.

I also give thanks for technology’s impact on our everyday lives. This year, that impact is embodied by the combination of cloud computing, mobility and big data. This nexus of technologies changes everything.

With cloud computing, for example, we have the technology to pull in data from hundreds of sources — no matter if it’s social media, email, cloud-based apps, suppliers’ enterprise software or companies’ internal applications.

Mobile computing has reshaped how we expect to see that information, with users demanding fast access to visually intuitive apps and data.

And big data — specifically the emerging ability to make sense of vast sums of data — is changing how researchers, medical workers and business people find what’s important so they can make better decisions. These technologies have transformed how and where we work.

Taken together, cloud, mobile and big data have made 2012 a very good year for GoodData, allowing us to experience incredible momentum: We grew our annual revenue fivefold, tripled our customer base to 8,000 customers, doubled our staff to reach 220 employees, and tripled the number of our Powered By partners. And, we raised $25 million in a Series C round of funding, for almost $55 million to date.

This past year we’ve also honed our go-to market strategy, making it easier for our customers to harness and benefit from big data. The pillar of our new BizData Monetization strategy is Bashes — cloud-based, pre-built apps on our platform that enable anyone, in any size business, to turn mountains of disparate data into insight they can act on.

This year I’m also grateful for our amazing, new and existing customers, including mobile marketer Urban Airship, CourseSmart, who hosts the world’s largest library of eTextbooks and digital course materials, Time Warner and Pandora, which are all using GoodData to mine their data and uncover new sources of revenue and profit.

But GoodData is more than apps that present information in meaningful ways. It’s also a cloud-based platform that partners use to build apps for their specific needs. And I have to say: We have more than 100 exceptional partners including procurement software company Coupa, wine and spirits distributor GreatVines, customer-community provider Get Satisfaction, ShopLocal, a leading provider of online marketing retail solutions, Zendesk, a leading provider of Web-based customer-support software, and Zuora, the the global leader in Relationship Business Management solution

Finally, none of this would be able without our amazing employees, or what I affectionately call the GoodTeam. A big thank you to all of you, for making GoodData a great company, on our way to building a long-lasting legacy.

So thank you 2012 for an incredible year. I am profoundly grateful.

Here’s to an even more amazing New Year for us all.