Business Intelligence

Project Management Solutions to Better Control Your Business

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:04:56 EDT

Any business needs some management solutions to get organized and stay on the floating line. Unfortunately, many organizations are forced to rely on paper trails and email-chains. These outdated methods were replaced by newer project management solutions. There are different types of such solutions for a wide range of working domains and for many kinds of needs. The access to accurate, real-time data regarding projects and resources is crucial to making strategic business decisions. Companies must keep up with the changes that impact the day-to-day running of their business. Managers are expected to deliver more than ever – but with fewer resources, within a shorter period of time and to produce maximum returns for the business. Many times all this work gets externalized to other specialized entities. This covers either the use of project management tools or even more the delegation of entire work to management and consulting companies. In all cases appropriate methodologies and processes are necessary to be applied.

How to Ruin Your Business in One Move - "Pull a Netflix"

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EDT

Bank of America appears to think that Netflix has done a good job lately - imitating Netflix customer management practices. Let's face it, Bank of America hasn't exactly been the paradigm of good decisions lately - they purchased Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch, two boat anchors that almost sunk the B of A ship. Countrywide in particular turned out to be the posterchild of "toxic assets" and bad mortgages. But that's not what this article is about. And I'm not a banker, so I'm not in a position to authoritatively write on those particular topics.

The In-Memory Technologies Behind Business Intelligence Software

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:00:00 EDT

In order to perform calculations on data completely in memory, all the relevant data must reside in memory, i.e., in the computer’s RAM. So the questions are: 1) how does the data get there? and 2) how long does it stay there? Some of the items on Boris' list are just as applicable to BI technologies that are not in-memory (‘Incremental updates', for example), but there is one item that merits much deeper discussion. Boris calls this characteristic ‘Memory Swapping' and describes it as, What the (BI) vendor's approach is for handling models that are larger than what fits into a single memory space. The fundamental idea of in-memory BI technology is the ability to perform real-time calculations without having to perform slow disk operations during the execution of a query. For more details on this, visit my article describing how in-memory technology works.

Putting the Costs of Business Intelligence in Perspective

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:30:00 EDT

Successful business intelligence (BI) solutions serve as many business users as possible. As more users use it, the more value the solution brings. However, if you’ve had any experience with BI, you must have noticed that as the number of users grow – so does the complexity (and consequent cost) of the solution. This is a fundamental reality in the traditional business intelligence space, although many startups in the space are attempting to change it – each according to their own vision and understanding of the space. But why is buying a BI solution for dozens or hundreds of users so much more complicated than buying a solution for a select group of power users?

The Collapse of Traditional Business Intelligence

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:30:00 EDT

The traditional approach to business intelligence has gone bankrupt. In its place, a new wave of companies provides alternative solutions based on innovative technologies and new business models. During the past few years, dramatic changes have been occurring in the world of business intelligence (BI). These changes all go towards one goal: removing the barriers - firmly set by the traditional BI vendors - which prevent wider usage of these decision-making systems within organizations. These barriers include great complexity, high cost, excessive dependence on external system integrators and general dissatisfaction among business users with the tools foisted upon them by the traditional BI software vendors.

Are BI Appliances Simply 30-Year-Old Databases?

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 11:58:00 EDT

I’ve been seeing and hearing the term ‘BI appliance’ a lot recently, and whenever I do - I find myself struggling to understand what it means. One characteristic that seems to be commonly identified with BI appliances is that they are a combination of software and hardware that form specific functions that have to do with analytics (i.e business intelligence). WIT’s article lists a few examples, including HANA (SAP), HP Business Decision Appliance (Microsoft), Netezza (acquired by IBM) and Greenplum (acquired by EMC).

A Glimpse into the Future of BI - Through the Israeli Market

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 08:45:00 EDT

The Israeli BI market, or 'the Pond', as it is referred to by the locals is a good example of how the BI market looks like in most parts of the world. A few months ago, I wrote an article about the relationships between business intelligence platform vendors and their distribution networks, and where these relationships are headed. The key message in that article was that Value-Added Resellers (VARs) must understand that self-service business intelligence is where the market is headed – and adjust their business models accordingly. A company selling BI solutions based on another company’s BI platform will need to provide real added value to the customer in order to stay in business. In the not-too-distant future, this value will almost certainly come from industry-specific professional knowledge and experience (as opposed to purely technical expertise). More and more potential customers will no longer accept lengthy projects and, with the new software and technologies now emerging, it is no longer justifiable.

Just Another Fool with a Tool

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 10:40:00 EST

Once, when Business Intelligence (BI) wasn't a multi-billion dollar industry, it was an idyllic concept which revolved around enabling an analytic approach to business decision making. That's what made me fall in love with BI over 10 years ago and what, in my view, gives the BI space its misty glow. At the heart of the Business Intelligence concept lies the seemingly trivial ability to get answers to important questions. The CEO may ask the CFO how quarterly sales look compared to the previous year, and the online marketer may ask himself to which landing page they should direct new traffic for maximum conversions. To each of them, their question is equally important and has great impact on their course of action.

Business Intelligence Vendor Websites – How to Read Between the Lines

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 11:43:53 EST

This article is going to help you discover some key differences between vendors based on what they share on their Websites – and what they don’t. Read between the lines while looking at BI vendor Websites to quickly figure out which business intelligence vendors are probably right for you, and which ones aren’t. If you've begun looking for a business intelligence solution, you probably noticed very quickly that there are quite a few business intelligence vendors out there. Narrowing the overcrowded field of vendors in order to come up with your own business intelligence short list will usually start with a review of the vendors' Websites. Armed with your short list, you can begin contacting vendors to receive proposals. This article is going to help you discover some key differences between vendors based on what they share on their Websites - and what they don't. Read between the lines while looking at BI vendor Websites to quickly figure out which business intelligence vendors are probably right for you, and which ones aren't.

From OLAP Cubes to ElastiCubes – The Natural Evolution of BI

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:13:35 EDT

Since the inception of BI and consequent entrance of OLAP technology into the space, the need for BI has been rapidly growing. Recognizing that OLAP-based solutions were (and still are) hard to introduce into a wider market, thought leaders and visionaries in the space have been since then trying to bring BI down to the masses through technological and conceptual innovation.

In-Memory BI Is Not the Future, It’s the Past

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:25:37 EDT

The hype surrounding in-memory BI has caused BI consultants, analysts and even vendors to spew out endless articles, blog posts and white papers on the subject. However, the concept of in-memory business intelligence is not new. So why all the hype now, what are the pros and cons of disk-based versus in-memory databases and what does the future hold? In recent times, one of the most popular subjects related to the field of Business Intelligence (BI) has been In-memory BI technology. The subject gained popularity largely due to the success of QlikTech, provider of the in-memory-based QlikView BI product. Following QlikTech’s lead, many other BI vendors have jumped on the in-memory “hype wagon,” including the software giant, Microsoft, which has been aggressively marketing PowerPivot, their own in-memory database engine.

IBM Snags Netezza for $1.7BN

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EDT

"IBM is bringing analytics to the masses," said Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive, IBM Software and Systems, as it was announced Monday that IBM is to acquire Netezza, Netezza is a leading provider of high-performance analytics in a data warehousing appliance. "We continue to evolve our capabilities for systems integration, bringing together optimized hardware and software, in response to increasing demand for technology that delivers true business value," Mills continued, adding: Netezza is a perfect example of this approach."

It's All About Cloud UC

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 08:30:00 EDT

"Cloud Locking" - Securing the unstructured content that flows through UC tools is the ideal Cloud value add service for the Unified Comms sector. A key application area for Cloud providers to consider is the UC suite (Unified Communications), referring to technologies for VoIP, 'Presence' and Instant Messaging, and a single inbox for email, fax and voicemail. Not only can it improve staff collaboration but it can provide quick solutions for e-workflow needs and help meet record-keeping compliance needs through new 'Cloud Archiving' features that can plug in to popular tools like the Microsoft UC suite.

Cloud Computing Becomes Cool Computing?

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EDT

In December InformationWeek’s Bob Evans started a contest asking their readership to come up with a better name for “Cloud Computing”. Reason was that the CEO’s of both HP and IBM recently expressed some discontent with the current name. Something about “Cloudy not being clear enough”. Not clear enough for what, for justifying really large invoices? And then we are not even mentioning Oracle’s CEO, who has been on a contra-Cloud quest for ages. The overwhelming majority of the 500 names the contestants submitted were acronyms, which make you wonder whether IT is truly beyond salvation. No amount of Cloud can save people that speak mnemonics, especially now IT's role is changing so significantly. Bob’s personal favorites for a new name were Cloud 9, Univac, the Matrix, and Rain. I secretly suspect some of these are acronyms in disguise.

New CIO Playbook: Positioning IT as Strategic to the Business

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST

According to a Smart Enterprise Magazine CIO report, three-quarters of today's CIOs help their companies develop new products or services. Gartner Group's 2008 Worldwide Survey of CIOs, 85 percent of CIOs are now looking toward "IT to make the difference in their enterprise strategy." This move away from "keeping the lights on" to a focus on business strategy and external customer interaction is completely changing the day to day activities of today's CIO. The result of IT's executive leadership becoming a "part of" vs. a "supporter of" the business is forcing a shift of culture and mindset across the IT organization. If CIOs do not approach this change with a sound plan, inertia may set in due to passive/aggressive behavior and create operational risk.

BI - The Game-Changing Era of Advanced Analytics

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:30:00 EST

As we enter 2010, enterprises are including more forms of diverse data into their business intelligence (BI) activities. They're also diversifying the types of analysis that they expect from these investments. These new approaches support massive data sets to produce powerful insights and analysis -- yet with unprecedented price-performance.

eBizQ: SOA in This Year and the Next

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 06:00:00 EST

It’s that time when we look back on one year and forward to the next. Over at the eBizQ forum Peter Schooff asked about SOA’s past and future: What Developments in SOA Are You Most Thankful For This Year? What Do You Think Will be the Biggest Trend or Development for SOA in 2010?

Enterprise BI: Snaplogic and Mindtouch Team Up

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 13:30:00 EST

Sophisticated and advanced analytics tools that can strategically aggregate relevant data is key to the success of every business. The right solution can be challenging to find considering that we grab information from a multitude of platforms today – enterprise, web, social networks, SAAS, you name it. Snaplogic and Mindtouch have decided to combine their respective offerings in a package that they call Business Application Integrations (BAI) which they say will work out cheaper to meet enterprise integration requirements for medium sized businesses.

Software that Sucks

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST

Here’s a classic from the tech press that really caught my attention recently: “In the context of software, the word “Enterprise” has now officially come to mean software that sucks. Enterprise Software hit the nadir of suckitude (sic) at the launch of “Enjoy SAP”. This is like the American Dental Association launching “Enjoy Root Canal”. SAP is certainly an easy target, but let’s face it, “Enterprise Software” is generally a poorly integrated mess. Working with Enterprise Software feels a bit like walking through an industrial landfill or an airport hangar. Nothing is built to human scale.”

Bad Economics Are Difficult to Shake Off

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:45:00 EST

Terry Pratchett once wrote that “Gravity is a habit that is hard to shake off”. We could make a similar comment about the financials of SaaS BI companies. As much as startups in this field would like to shake off their bad economics, reality always catches up. We’re seeing one after another SaaS BI startup [...]

SOA Across Cloud Computing

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:15:00 EST

Organizations have begun extending their SOA initiatives beyond traditional enterprise boundaries to encompass third-party, geographically remote, and even cloud-based resources. As a result, the complexity associated with migrating applications across these environments (for example, from development in India to test in the cloud to production in a hosted data center) has increased exponentially. In this webinar from Layer 7, you will learn how topology and identity issues between environments, geographies and settings (i.e., enterprise vs. cloud) can be easily resolved and even automated, dramatically reducing migration risk.

The Wailing Wall of Open Source BI

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:30:00 EST

Henry David Thoreau once wrote: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation". Much the same can be said of the multitude of users struggling with open source reporting and analysis tools like Mondrian or Jaspersoft. The difference, of course, if that those folks happen to be pretty vocal. And nowhere more so than on those vendors' own "support" forums. I double-quote the term purposely. Because what you witness on these forums falls far (very far) short of what I consider to be minimally acceptable customer support levels. Now, it's a fact that many people find solace in these communities - after all, given the massive amounts of questions posed there, some are bound to get answered quickly and (hopefully) correctly. And it's a fact that many people achieve success (or some level of it) with open source BI solutions. At what cost, we can only surmise, but clearly, resilient, persistent and courageous people are getting some work done on these platforms.

Many Unprepared for BT Disaster Recovery

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:00:00 EST

Disaster strikes. Your primary place of business is destroyed by a fire tomorrow, are you prepared to recover? According to the historical statistics, fires permanently close 44 percent of the businesses that are affected. Business continuity planning is the creation and validation of a practiced logistical plan for how an organization will restore interrupted critical functions within a predetermined time after a disaster or extended disruption. Business Technology survivability is an imperative for many organizations that operate in the global networked economy, yet some are unprepared for a natural disaster. Cisco recently shared the results of an insightful nationwide survey.

TDWI: Independence vs. Cash

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:14:00 EST

A long time ago I came to the conclusion that “independent industry analyst” was an oxymoron. But the willingness to sell independence for cash reached a new low with TDWI’s New SaaS Business Intelligence Portal. Please visit the link and see if there is any trace of independence left…

On Bringing the Good News While Clearing Out Fungus

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:15:00 EDT

I wanted to spend a little time sharing some good news with you. I am going to be Technical Evangelist for a relatively new company called GoodData. As evangelism means "bringing the Good News" to the world, this is truly a match made in Heaven for yours truly, as I will now be bringing the GoodData news to the world. Many of you will have heard about GoodData before of course. Most people in our industry know it was founded by serial entrepreneur Roman Stanek of NetBeans and Systinet fame. Sun acquired NetBeans circa 1999 for $10M and HP grabbed Systinet in 2006 for a mere bag of shells ($100M of them actually).

Cloud Security on Ulitzer: Cloud Computing and Self-Service Security

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EDT

So here’s the rub, if MSSP’s/ISP’s/ASP’s-cum-Cloud operators want to woo mature enterprise customers to use their services, they are leaving money on the table and not fulfilling customer needs by failing to roll out complimentary security capabilities which lessen the compliance and security burdens of their prospective customers. While many provide commoditized solutions such as anti-spam and anti-virus capabilities, more complex (but profoundly important) security services such as DLP (data loss/leakage prevention,) WAF, Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDP,) XML Security, Application Delivery Controllers, VPN’s, etc. should also be considered for roadmaps by these suppliers.

Join Me at the 1st Government IT Conference & Expo 6 Oct

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EDT

I hope to see you at the SYS-CON sponsored GovIT Conference and Expo 6 Oct 2009. I’ll also spend time during the day attending the day thinking through everything I’ve ever written and learned about Cloud Computing and Federal IT and hope to bring that to bear in my interactions with Jeremy Geelan, Terry Woloszyn and Barry X Lynn at the end of conference panel on Cloud Computing and Federal IT. Jeremy will focus this panel on the future and I’m sure this action-oriented panel will help bring clarity to this fast moving subject. Related posts:

Announcing: The CTOvision.com Technology Titan List

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 13:45:00 EDT

I’ve long sought to track disruptive IT on the CTOvision.com site, and have featured several firms on the CTOvision.com Disruptive IT list. A new feature on the site is the CTOvision.com Technology Titan List, where I’ll more closely track the activities of the Information Technology firms with the largest market cap. This is the first entry on this theme. One thing has become very clear through the years. The great powerhouse’s of the Information Technology industry continue to drive innovation- either through their own R&D or through purchasing innovative technologies for integration into their offerings. Those who want to track what is coming next should closely watch the big IT firms.

BI on Ulitzer - Connect with NetSuite's Cloud Computing Platform

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:15:00 EDT

myDIALS, a leading vendor of operational performance optimization solutions, today announced the integration of myDIALS 3.0 with the NetSuite cloud computing platform. myDIALS' Software as a Service (SaaS)-based business intelligence dashboards enable operational users to consistently monitor, analyze and act on data from any operational or business data source in order to optimize business processes. Built using NetSuite's SuiteCloud development platform, the combined solution helps companies gain maximum efficiency for their business processes supported in NetSuite's CRM, Accounting/ERP and Ecommerce applications.

John Ryan Launches "Business Intelligence" Topic on Ulitzer

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:30:00 EDT

John Ryan Launches "Business Intelligence" Topic on Ulitzer. John Ryan launched "Business Intelligence" topic on Ulitzer, a discussion around Business Intelligence and news concerning Business Intelligence. John is an experienced leader with a strong background of defining and executing company strategies. He is especially skilled in channel management, market analysis, brand marketing and selling technology products and services. He has successfully served in a number of executive positions and has been in management for 20 years. John is currently writing a book on increasing revenue generation.

The Art of Software Delivery

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:30:00 EDT

Often, estimates are initially made with an incomplete understanding of requirements. Estimation is done at the beginning of the lifecycle before the requirements are defined and thus the problem understood. How can you accurately estimate unless you know what the problem we intend to solve? At this point, they often represent wishes rather than realistic estimates. As the project progresses and the problem become better understood, estimates should be revisited. For example, NASA advocates re- estimation at defined points in the lifecycle. Often, a Project Manager will know that they should revise their estimates as they get a better understanding of the requirements, but are afraid to; they feel they will be viewed as a failure. A Project manager needs to be honest to themselves, their team and stakeholders.

If Government is a Platform, What Are People Building?

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:15:00 EDT

Tim Berners-Lee has been amongst those rallying to the cause, and working with Governments here and overseas to realise the opportunities in — first — simply getting data out and — second — ensuring the structure and linkages required if Government data is to form a useful foundation upon which others really can build.

Service Semiotics and the SOA Illusion

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 08:15:00 EDT

Visual representations of Services, as well as the composition and consumption of those Services, are becoming the key to many SOA success stories. Without a visual component you can show business users, SOA becomes abstruse; furthermore, as organizations leverage Web 2.0 principles to build mashups, the visualization aspect of the Web 2.0 value proposition becomes a driving force for SOA. Understanding how Services look, therefore, is a critical part of understanding how they provide value.

Game Theory and Non Zero Solutions

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:45:00 EDT

Game theory is applied mathematics enabling an evaluation of strategic decisions. Win loose or Win Win: its a choice based on our beliefs and the perceived nature of our relationships. As the networks of interdependence within and beyond communities and nations get more complex, the more enlightened people are forced in their own interests to find non-zero-sum solutions. That is, win-win solutions instead of win-lose solutions. In leadership the measure of success is not so much whether you won at anothers expense, but whether you got what you wanted because you enabled other people to achieve their dreams and to do what they want. Learn more about how the Non Zero solution is key to traversing enormous revolutionary change. If your relationships are not based on Non Zero sums they cannot be productive long term in this day and age. Watch Clinton's brief talk about this reality in todays world.

IT Financial Management Solutions Provide Visibility into Total Operations

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:15:00 EDT

You can't well fix what you can't well measure. And so the true cost -- and benefits -- of complex and often sprawling IT portfolios too often remain a mystery, shrouded by outdated and often manual IT tracking and inventory tasks.

SOA Success Depends on Service Integration

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:30:00 EST

Service integration is crucial to the success of any SOA solutions. Traditional service integration often involve using non-standard and proprietary technologies, resulting in solutions that are expensive to develop, difficult to manage, and stubborn to adapt to the business evolvement. Java Business Integration (JBI) is an effort focused on standardizing the core architecture elements of integration architectures.

How to Deal with Information Overload

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:30:00 EST

The latest trend, which is amplified by recent market events, is the growing need for governance and control over the human work being carried out around business processes and day-to-day operations. From how a loan is granted, to how an oil rig is approved for drilling, there is a concrete need to manage and control human work and make sure it adheres to standards, regulations and best practices.

Software Componentization and Competition

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:00:00 EDT

While manufacturing principles have brought higher-quality products to a wide variety of markets in shorter production times and at reduced costs, the software industry has struggled in applying the lessons of mass assembly to new application development. Manufacturing assembly in the software world requires standard building blocks to work from as the raw materials – in this case, reusable standard software components. That’s no easy task, but achievable in the software world.

Business Agility - The Value Driver for SOA

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:45:00 EDT

SOA is a simple three-letter acronym that causes a lot of confusion. What exactly is SOA and why is it at the forefront of IT initiatives around the world? Interestingly, if you ask your peers what SOA means, you'll get a wide variety of responses. Some people will talk about modular applications or reusable components, while others will describe loose coupling or standards-based integration.

SOA with Document-Centric XML Processing

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:00:00 EDT

This article introduces the concept of document-centric XML processing and a set of emerging document-centric capabilities such as cutting, splitting, and splicing documents at the byte level. It also explains how it solves one of the most fundamental technical issues hampering enterprise SOA and XML application development: the redundant serialization and de-serialization of object-oriented XML processing models such as DOM.