Save the date - Gartner has released preliminary details for next year's BI & IM summit - to be held in Sydney on 2-3 March 2010.
Business Intelligence and Performance Management will play a significant role in helping your organisation identify and understand the potential impact of the new world order (post-global credit crisis), providing the vital insight thathttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif business leaders will find invaluable.
New ways of using BI, coupled with the increasing sophistication of analytic applications and the emergence of mash-ups, offer huge potential for IT to help build the business in this new world.
However, while BI offers significant potential in supporting the business, obstacles still abound: unengaged business sponsors; lack of business user involvement; fragmented information silos; BI toll proliferation; poor data integrity coupled with poor quality and inconsistency; skills gap; low adoption rates amongst business users.
Full details available on Gartner.com
BI - the Key to Competitiveness
A recent survey of more than 2500 CIOs worldwide shows that Business Intelligence and Analytics top the agenda when it comes to boosting corporate competitiveness.
The comprehensive study, conducted by IBM earlier this year, compares how fast-growth companies use technology compared with lower-growth companies.
83% of respondents indicated that Business Intelligence and Analytics were key to boosting corporate competitiveness - making BI the most popular initiative across the entire survey group.
Read the full article on Forbes.com
The comprehensive study, conducted by IBM earlier this year, compares how fast-growth companies use technology compared with lower-growth companies.
83% of respondents indicated that Business Intelligence and Analytics were key to boosting corporate competitiveness - making BI the most popular initiative across the entire survey group.
Read the full article on Forbes.com
BI Tool Shootouts - A Waste of Time?
Having just put the phone down after talking to a customer about a product evaluation process, I thought I'd share a few thoughts on BI Product Evaluations or "Shootouts". Many companies in New Zealand have dedicated a fair swag of resource to this process over the years, so here are our considered thoughts.
There are two things about BI Tool Evaluations we feel should be highlighted:
1) They shouldn’t take too much time and their outcomes shouldn’t be a deal breaker for the project.
2) They must be heavily oriented toward the end user community, as they are the ones who will be actually using the tools, not the IT people.
It amazes us when IT shops spend several man years evaluating BI tools on behalf of and in isolation from their end user community. If the entire solution was going to be developed in this tool, and the solution was only allowed to use features that were provided by this one tool for ever more, then fair enough. In reality though, with an open BI architecture in place, there is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. No end to end solution should ever be entirely developed within one product’s development realm.
Here’s Stellar’s editorial comment on tools evaluations: Don't waste too much time on tool evaluations. While the arcane mechanics of each tool are being dissected by technical people in white coats, the end user business community is demanding a solution to their problems "right now" before their window of business opportunity closes. So whatever you do, make sure these guys get involved early and buy into the tools chosen.
Tools evaluations should be done once the BI technical architecture is established and understood. We have seen several examples of tools being selected to perform roles that they are not really capable of doing. If they were evaluated against a mature BI architecture backdrop, where these roles are clearly documented, these mistakes would not have happened.
The BI Tool segment of the IT industry is churning out some great products. In its proper role, virtually any BI Tool today is rock solid and can provide 80 to 90 percent of the functionality required by the average kiwi company. There are some “horses for courses” situations to be sure, where one tool stands out above the others in a particular role, but as a general rule, they are all pretty good these days.
Give us a holler if you need help – remember, we are 100% product independent!
There are two things about BI Tool Evaluations we feel should be highlighted:
1) They shouldn’t take too much time and their outcomes shouldn’t be a deal breaker for the project.
2) They must be heavily oriented toward the end user community, as they are the ones who will be actually using the tools, not the IT people.
It amazes us when IT shops spend several man years evaluating BI tools on behalf of and in isolation from their end user community. If the entire solution was going to be developed in this tool, and the solution was only allowed to use features that were provided by this one tool for ever more, then fair enough. In reality though, with an open BI architecture in place, there is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. No end to end solution should ever be entirely developed within one product’s development realm.
Here’s Stellar’s editorial comment on tools evaluations: Don't waste too much time on tool evaluations. While the arcane mechanics of each tool are being dissected by technical people in white coats, the end user business community is demanding a solution to their problems "right now" before their window of business opportunity closes. So whatever you do, make sure these guys get involved early and buy into the tools chosen.
Tools evaluations should be done once the BI technical architecture is established and understood. We have seen several examples of tools being selected to perform roles that they are not really capable of doing. If they were evaluated against a mature BI architecture backdrop, where these roles are clearly documented, these mistakes would not have happened.
The BI Tool segment of the IT industry is churning out some great products. In its proper role, virtually any BI Tool today is rock solid and can provide 80 to 90 percent of the functionality required by the average kiwi company. There are some “horses for courses” situations to be sure, where one tool stands out above the others in a particular role, but as a general rule, they are all pretty good these days.
Give us a holler if you need help – remember, we are 100% product independent!
Looking Past the Flash of Dashboards
We've been receiving a lot of interest lately from customers wanting to construct "Executive Dashboards". I guess this stems from a growing need by upper level management to more effectively monitor core business performance in the wake of the global credit crisis. Whatever the case, the need for greater visibility and awareness of key performance metrics are driving renewed interest in executive dashboards.
Dashboards are certainly nothing new. You'll find a plethora of information about them on the Internet and in various textbooks, and you're probably well aware of the various whiz-bang applications available on the market for constructing fancy visualisations. Unfortunately, when it actually comes to designing something meaningful for executive management, the message can often get lost in the over exuberant use of dashboard gadgetry... resulting in an overpowering visual experience for users.
In response to the rising demand for executive dashboards from customers Stellar's resident dashboard specialist - Chris du Toit - has put together an excellent discussion paper to draw attention to fundamental design considerations for effective dashboard creation. If you're currently constructing an executive dashboard, or thinking about it, Looking Past the Flash of Dashboard Design will help to refocus your efforts on what is and isn't important, which of course will help you to fulfil your greater goal of providing an effective platform for delivering business insight to management.
Recession-Proof BI
IT budgets are not immune to the recession, having come under pressure as cost-cutting measures sweep through organisations, but the market for Business Intelligence tools is thriving despite the deflationary times.
MIS100 organisations list Business Intelligence as one of their top-priorities over the coming year. Effective BI implementations are crucial for providing decision makers with the information needed to steer their organisations through the current turbulence and lessen the effects of the recession.
Accordingly, CIOs are being asked by their organisations to improve and make the most out of their BI implementations.
Read the full article on CIO New Zealand
MIS100 organisations list Business Intelligence as one of their top-priorities over the coming year. Effective BI implementations are crucial for providing decision makers with the information needed to steer their organisations through the current turbulence and lessen the effects of the recession.
Accordingly, CIOs are being asked by their organisations to improve and make the most out of their BI implementations.
Read the full article on CIO New Zealand
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