Tag Archives: Analytics
Meaningful Use, Data Quality and Data Access – Three Sides of the Same Coin
I had the privilege to be invited to testify to the Health I.T. Policy Committee workgroup on the topic of data quality back in November. I’ve been an advocate for the work of the committee for years and am constantly impressed with the considerable insight and genuine passion they bring to their work. The opportunity to testify, however, was my first opportunity to actually participate in the policy-making process and it certainly was both a learning opportunity for me, as well as a chance to share my thoughts on the important topic of data quality. (more…)
Nine Forms of Analytics Data That Matter the Most
Big Data takes a lot of forms and shapes, and flows in from all over the place – from the Internet, from devices, from machines, and even from cars. In all the data being generated are valuable nuggets of information.
The challenge is being able to find the right data needed, and being able to employ that data to solve a business challenge. What types of data are worthwhile for organizations to capture?
In his new book, Taming the Big Data Tidal Wave: Finding Opportunities in Huge Data Streams With Advanced Analytics, Bill Franks provides an wide array of examples of the types of data that can best meet the needs of business today. Franks, chief analytics officer with Teradata, points out that his list is not exhaustive, as there is almost an unlimited number of sources that will only keep growing as users discover new ways to apply the data. (more…)
Building the Business Case for Big Data: Learn to Walk Before You Run
In a recent webinar, Mark Smith, CEO at Ventana Research and David Lyle, vice president, Product Strategy at Informatica discussed: “Building the Business Case and Establishing the Fundamentals for Big Data Projects.” Mark pointed out that the second biggest barrier that impedes improving big data initiatives is that the “business case is not strong enough.” The first and third barriers respectively, were “lack of resources” and “no budget” which are also related to having a strong business case. In this context, Dave provided a simple formula from which to build the business case:
Return on Big Data = Value of Big Data / Cost of Big Data (more…)
Data is Not ‘Information,’ But It is Loaded With Potential
I ran across an interesting post by Dr. Michael Wu, principal scientist of analytics at Lithium, a social media strategy firm, about the value of Big Data, suggesting that too many people think the data itself is a valuable commodity. However, it is not the same as “information.”
As he describes it, “the promise of Big Data is that one could glean lots of information and gain many valuable insights. However, people often don’t realize that data and information are not the same. Even if you are able to extract information from your Big Data, not all of it will be insightful and valuable.” (more…)
How to Get Big Data Integration Right the First Time
It’s actually hard to find good guidance out there when it comes to big data integration. Everyone thinks they have the answer, but the experience is just not there, even as we watch big data integration technology appear.
One article that I recommend is by Richard Daley, entitled How to Be Successful with Big Data Integration. In this article, Daley provides some practical guidance, including: (more…)
The Value of Social Media Data Integration
The rise of Big Data, and Big Data integration, is very much of interest to those who want to leverage the value of social media data. This is data from social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and many others, that not only show trending topics but very deep insight into the minds of those who may be purchasing products or services, market trends within a specific product space, and the ability to make fairly accurate predictions around changing attitudes of specific demographics that determine future behavior. (more…)
Big Data Analysts’ Secrets, Revealed
Focus on the business impacts of analytics, not methodologies or insights…. keep the business involved in all iterations of an analytics process or project…. and remember, it’s ultimately skilled people that drive successful analytics.
These “secrets” of leading corporate analytical gurus may seem like everyday common sense, but rarely are put into practice. To find out what it takes for organizations to succeed with data analytics, Wayne Eckerson, founder of the BI Leadership Forum, recently spoke with seven exemplary analytics leaders, and distilled their advice in his latest book, Secrets of Analytical Leaders: Insights from Information Insiders. (more…)
Big Data Innovation in Analytics (Hadoop) and Hand-coding (Informatica)
I recently had the pleasure of participating in a big data panel at the Pacific Crest investor’s conference (the replay available here.) I was joined on the panel by Hortonworks, MapR, Datastax and Microsoft. There is clearly a lot of interest in the world of big data and how the market is evolving. I came away from the panel with four fundamental thoughts: (more…)
Big Data: Changing How Business and IT Interact
Most of the big data discussions have been on the technology or the numerously re-played business discoveries used as examples of big data’s power. Many companies are still in the experimental stages of big data, asking for guidance regarding what their benefits would be, how they can re-align themselves to take advantage, and what new processes might be helpful to make them successful with these powerful new capabilities. (more…)
Analytics are Like Cincinnati Chili
Ever been to Cincinnati? They have amazing chili there. Five-way chili it’s called. They stack toppings like cheese, onions, sour cream, etc. to get one, two, up to four way chili. Then chili with all the fixings served on a bed of spaghetti noodles is five-way chili. It is quite an experience and if you go all in for the five-way, it’s quite a meal. I usually take my chili three-way with cheese and onions. And at the risk of drawing the ire of Cincinnatians everywhere, I do not eat my chili on a bed of spaghetti noodles. Too much food, difficult to eat, impractical. So, how is analytics like chili? I’m going to play safe and say that analytics is not really like chili. But you can have it many different ways—at least five ways. So here I’ll outline just three ways – just how I like my chili – that Informatica OEM partners deliver analytics that embed Informatica data integration technology. (more…)