Regardless of the industry, new regulatory compliance requirements are more often than not treated like the introduction of a new tax. A few may be supportive, some will see the benefits, but most will focus on the negatives – the cost, the effort, the intrusion into private matters. There will more than likely be a... more
In the old days, data quality process was executed as a one-way process: IT gets access to raw data and builds lineage and mapping for the data, then passes them to business analyst to perform analysis. Often time analyst finds the data she received are not up to the required standard so she ends up spending... more
As I browsed my BBC app a few weeks ago, I ran into this article about environmental contamination of oil wells in the UK, which were left to their own devices. The article explains that a lack of data and proper data management is causing major issues for gas and oil companies. In fact, researchers... more
It is troublesome to me to repeatedly get into conversations with IT managers who want to fix data “for the sake of fixing it”. While this is presumably increasingly rare, due to my department’s role, we probably see a higher occurrence than the normal software vendor employee. Given that, please excuse the inflammatory title of... more
Forget degrees from Harvard or MIT, forget NoSQL, Hadoop or OBIEE. These are all powerful tools but they will not win you the face-off. It starts with who you are (or are not), who or what you are going up against and what has happened in the past. Why should martial arts be a job requirement... more
In almost all cases, poor quality master data is not a laughing matter. It can directly lead to losing out on millions either through excess costs or lost opportunity. However, there are occasions where poor data has a lighter side. One such case happened in the mid ‘90s whilst I was implementing ERP for a... more
It has never been a more challenging time to be a Chief Risk Officer at a financial services firm. New regulations (CCAR, Basel III, BCBS 239, Solvency II, EMIR) have increased the complexity of the role. Today, risk management organizations must use precise data to measure risk, allocate capital and cover exposure. In addition, they... more
Recently, I presented a Business Value Assessment to a client. The findings were based on a revenue-generating state government agency. Everyone at the presentation was stunned to find out how much money was left on the table by not basing their activities on transactions, which could be cleanly tied to the participating citizenry and a... more
For the past few years, the press has been buzzing about the potential value of Big Data. However, there is little coverage focusing on the data itself – how do you get it, is it accurate, and who can be trusted with it? We are the source of data that is often spoken about –... more
Analyzing current business trends helps illustrate how difficult and complex the Communication Service Provider business environment has become. CSPs face many challenges. Clients expect high quality, affordable content that can move between devices with minimum advertising or privacy concerns. To illustrate this phenomenon, here are a few recent examples: Apple is working with Comcast/NBC Universal... more