How to increase reporting and querying functionality available to all end-users All custom software and software packages come with reporting functionality. That functionality is almost always sufficient to launch the application successfully. Soon after launching, the world changes because successful applications grow in terms of: The number of concurrent, active end-users. The total number of…
Political parties’ fixation on analytics poses a threat to your personal information In the olden days, there were lots of ways to disrupt elections. In at least one Canadian jurisdiction, gifts would be waiting for you outside the polling place. That’s disruption. One of the first national elections I covered was in the days when…
Like watching two vastly different galaxies collide As data science has grown in importance, it has increasingly encountered the Information Systems (IS) department. Observing these encounters in some organizations is like watching two vastly different galaxies collide. There are many loud explosions, fierce disagreements, blinding thunderbolt flashes and a lot of misunderstanding. What is the…
How to avoid being associated with a project that turns into a quagmire The novelty has worn off Business Intelligence (BI) as it expanded over the years into many organizations. BI is no longer some Skunk Works adventure that runs independently of the formal organization with little or no oversight beyond nominal executive-level sponsorship. BI…
But you must follow these best practices
Data analytics is receiving vast amounts of attention in the trade press, on many websites and at conferences. References are even spilling into the mainstream media. Can data analytics add business value to your organization? This topic is worth discussing in more depth because much of the literature talks about the value of improved decision-making.…
My list of analytics trends that will produce more value for your organization
Every year software vendors, market analysts and various IT pundits provide their lists of analytics trends. Here’s my list of analytics trends with ways to produce more value for your organization. Analytics concepts have been growing and maturing for a long time. Depending on how far back you want to look, William Playfair published the…
Fans left with an increasingly boring game
I don’t hate baseball analytics or their use by crafty baseball operations folks. I look at analytics gurus like Billy Beane, Theo Epstein and Andrew Friedman as smart guys who figured out how to exploit market inefficiencies in the game. But they’ve also inadvertently damaged the game as a fan experience and entertainment product. There’s…
Having trouble spotting trends in endless spreadsheets? Visual analytic tools can help
With its vast volumes, big data is useless without the analytic and presentation functionality of visual analytical tools. Think how difficult it is to spot anomalies or trends in endless rows of spreadsheet data. Visual analytic tools solve that overload problem. Big data is an in-vogue topic in the information technology world. Many executives see…
Are your big data scientists running amuck?
Some organizations think that big data can only produce significant business benefits if delivered through big projects that require big investments and include big risks. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here’s a look at how to respond to the frequently-discussed issues that create avoidable anxiety and cause big data success to elude you.…
Put yourself in the shoes of your customers, with the help of analytic tools and surveys, in order to market to them correctly
Building an online audience takes time. And as you start to grow online and engage with your audience more and more, you will need to build a customer persona. When you create a customer persona, you’re putting yourself in the shoes of your customer. You’re learning about their habits, behaviours and interests. Once you figure…