BI industry

The future of BI in two words

April 24, 2012

What’s the future of BI? Last fall, one sharp source of mine answered, “Two words: Tableau and QlikView. You didn’t hear it here.” Those are startling words coming from that source, a well-regarded BI consultant known for big-name clients and their big deployments. At about the same time, a column of mine appeared in Information [...]

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My latest at BI This Week: “What Shifting IT/Business Battle Lines Mean for BI’s Future”

April 9, 2012

Line-of-business analysts are advancing on IT’s old territory. Five thoughts on what it means for both parties. Read it here.

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Talking, talking, talking about big data

February 28, 2012

Hang out for a few days at an industry event and you’re doused in trends, hearsay, and preoccupations. It permeates your mind. Acquired phrases come out of your mouth, the hotel food starts tasting good, and at night your dreams may tell you more than you want to know about hot topics. Sometimes, I just [...]

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Looking for Kool-Aid at the Tableau conference

November 21, 2011

It’s no secret that some people hear about Tableau’s passionate users and wonder what all the fuss is about. Back in June, in fact, one skeptical industry analyst tweeted to a Tableau fan, “Pal, you seem to have had a bit too much Tableau Kool-Aid.” Tableau users I know just shrug. People who say things [...]

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Conditions for the rise of analysts: my latest TDWI column

October 5, 2011

See my latest column in BI This Week (TDWI), “6 Conditions for the Rise of Business Analysts.” As they rise, analysts may end up ruining the neighborhood for both IT and business people.

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Steve Jobs on elegant, simple solutions, and a plea

August 26, 2011

I hate to be so timely, but I saw a Steve Jobs quote today that I like. When you first start off trying to solve a problem, the first solutions you come up with are very complex, and most people stop there. But if you keep going, and live with the problem and peel more [...]

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Big BI and the ladder man to come calling at the Tableau conference

August 15, 2011

Howard Dresner is a celebrity in the business intelligence industry, but most people at last year’s Tableau conference didn’t even recognize him when he showed up there. Who needs BI? Tableau Software liked to think it had left BI behind. BI people, after all, were the control freaks who denied access to data. They sneered [...]

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The joy of 6.1

August 4, 2011

There’s nothing like a Tableau release. No one but Tableau users tweet so exuberantly, not even a flock of birds at dawn. What’s going on here? This week Tableau Software released version 6.1, on paper just a single decimal point up from last fall’s Six. We got more iPad readiness, improved maps, and other handy [...]

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Top three ways BI buyers choose badly

July 11, 2011

A veteran sales person at a major vendor of business intelligence products lists the top three reasons for buying decisions. The reasons are contrary to most people’s view of themselves as sophisticated.

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The Dow of BI

June 23, 2011

How do we take the pulse of the BI/analytics industry? What if those who promote the technology, advise the clients, and build the systems actually measured their collective progress with a number? It would be an ongoing, forever-updating, simple benchmark. It would be the industry’s Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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