Comments for datadoodle http://datadoodle.com Wed, 7 Jan 2009 00:52:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 Comment on Predicting BI trends and saying you’re sorry by James Taylor http://datadoodle.com/2008/12/17/predictions-and-apologies/comment-page-1/#comment-390 James Taylor Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:57:48 +0000 http://datadoodle.com/?p=336#comment-390 Blogged some predictions, despite your warnings, that mention yours. Check out http://jtonedm.com/2008/12/18/predictions-for-2009/ JT Blogged some predictions, despite your warnings, that mention yours.
Check out http://jtonedm.com/2008/12/18/predictions-for-2009/
JT

]]> Comment on Mashed data visualization for holiday analysts by Elissa Fink http://datadoodle.com/2008/12/05/mashed-data-visualization/comment-page-1/#comment-359 Elissa Fink Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:54:48 +0000 http://datadoodle.com/?p=332#comment-359 Ted - Glad you enjoyed the mashup and that the tiny photos added to the visual experience. Plus, a little visual humor never hurt anyone, right? Thanks. Elissa Ted - Glad you enjoyed the mashup and that the tiny photos added to the visual experience. Plus, a little visual humor never hurt anyone, right? Thanks. Elissa

]]> Comment on Play terminology by ear when selling to the mid-market by Dan Murray http://datadoodle.com/2008/11/19/play-terminology-by-ear-when-selling-to-the-mid-market/comment-page-1/#comment-322 Dan Murray Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:35:02 +0000 http://datadoodle.com/?p=294#comment-322 There's a large space which isn't being serviced well by the current players. Many companies in the 50 to 250 employee size range don't have the technical language down. While what Barbara said in her post is true, I think the number of entities who don't have the staff or technical knowledge is a much larger group. There’s a large space which isn’t being serviced well by the current players. Many companies in the 50 to 250 employee size range don’t have the technical language down. While what Barbara said in her post is true, I think the number of entities who don’t have the staff or technical knowledge is a much larger group.

]]> Comment on Play terminology by ear when selling to the mid-market by Barbara http://datadoodle.com/2008/11/19/play-terminology-by-ear-when-selling-to-the-mid-market/comment-page-1/#comment-297 Barbara Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:56:25 +0000 http://datadoodle.com/?p=294#comment-297 This is so true. And it cuts both ways. Larger midsize companies have IT teams who are knowledgeable about BI, and if you don't use all of the most proper complex jargon with them, they think you're a lightweight solution that doesn't do what they need or, worse, that you're a team of idiots who just happened to create what they wanted the first time, but what about in the future? In smaller companies, the business person is making technology purchase decisions and finds technical jargon confusing and misleading. Instead of "WebDAV" they want to hear "automated uploading" or, even better, "set it and forget it uploading." Since the midmarket is so large and so varied, you have to be very careful about appealing to both audiences without turning them off. This is so true. And it cuts both ways. Larger midsize companies have IT teams who are knowledgeable about BI, and if you don’t use all of the most proper complex jargon with them, they think you’re a lightweight solution that doesn’t do what they need or, worse, that you’re a team of idiots who just happened to create what they wanted the first time, but what about in the future? In smaller companies, the business person is making technology purchase decisions and finds technical jargon confusing and misleading. Instead of “WebDAV” they want to hear “automated uploading” or, even better, “set it and forget it uploading.” Since the midmarket is so large and so varied, you have to be very careful about appealing to both audiences without turning them off.

]]> Comment on Off the charts: “black swan” ahead? by Ted Cuzzillo http://datadoodle.com/2008/10/27/off-the-charts-black-swan-ahead/comment-page-1/#comment-256 Ted Cuzzillo Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:57:25 +0000 http://datadoodle.com/?p=243#comment-256 Yes, the Ed Brown story is something like that. It's comfort, not cure. But for anyone who's afraid to jump, the only option is to make the pot into a nice, hot bath. Yes, the Ed Brown story is something like that. It’s comfort, not cure. But for anyone who’s afraid to jump, the only option is to make the pot into a nice, hot bath.

]]> Comment on Off the charts: “black swan” ahead? by Barbara http://datadoodle.com/2008/10/27/off-the-charts-black-swan-ahead/comment-page-1/#comment-255 Barbara Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:11:02 +0000 http://datadoodle.com/?p=243#comment-255 When Benoit Mandelbrot is having sleepless nights, it *does* make you wonder if the latest happy uptick in response to the most recent Bernanke rate cut is pure delusion. While we could all benefit from some Buddhist calm, that Ed Brown story reminds me of the classic consulting anecdote of "If you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it jumps out immediately. But if you put that frog into a cool pot of water and turn up the heat slowly, it never jumps out. It just ends up cooked." If you look at the DJIA performance over the last 12 months, it looks like someone's been slowly turning up the heat. . . When Benoit Mandelbrot is having sleepless nights, it *does* make you wonder if the latest happy uptick in response to the most recent Bernanke rate cut is pure delusion.

While we could all benefit from some Buddhist calm, that Ed Brown story reminds me of the classic consulting anecdote of “If you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it jumps out immediately. But if you put that frog into a cool pot of water and turn up the heat slowly, it never jumps out. It just ends up cooked.”
If you look at the DJIA performance over the last 12 months, it looks like someone’s been slowly turning up the heat. . .

]]> Comment on Recession’s benefits for BI by Kenneth Rudin http://datadoodle.com/2008/10/23/recessions-benefits-for-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-247 Kenneth Rudin Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:58:54 +0000 http://datadoodle.com/?p=240#comment-247 Hi Ted -- I completely agree. When the tech bubble burst in 2001, BI was one of the only software segments that continued to see revenue growth (granted, the growth slowed compared to 1999 and 2000, but their revenues still did grow after the bubble collapsed whereas almost all other software segments shrank.) People are again definitely looking for innovative ways that let them do more with less. For a lot of people, this seems like trying to get blood from a stone. But as we learned when the tech bubble burst in 2001, BI is one of the most effective ways to look at what's working and what isn't so you can focus your energies on those activities that give you the biggest bang for the buck. For example, for sales management, identifying which types of deals result in the best win rates, shortest sales cycles, and largest deal sizes is the only way you can get more revenue out of your existing sales team and existing pipeline. You can’t get this insight from your CRM system, but you can with a BI solution. But the days of big, complicated BI implementations are gone. People need solutions NOW -- they don't want a big toolset that IT has to implement and maintain. This is behind the recent surge in interest in On-Demand BI solutions like LucidEra. You can get the insight you need to figure out how to do more with less, get that insight in a few days (instead of a few quarters), and at a fraction of the traditional cost of BI solutions. Hi Ted — I completely agree. When the tech bubble burst in 2001, BI was one of the only software segments that continued to see revenue growth (granted, the growth slowed compared to 1999 and 2000, but their revenues still did grow after the bubble collapsed whereas almost all other software segments shrank.)

People are again definitely looking for innovative ways that let them do more with less. For a lot of people, this seems like trying to get blood from a stone. But as we learned when the tech bubble burst in 2001, BI is one of the most effective ways to look at what’s working and what isn’t so you can focus your energies on those activities that give you the biggest bang for the buck. For example, for sales management, identifying which types of deals result in the best win rates, shortest sales cycles, and largest deal sizes is the only way you can get more revenue out of your existing sales team and existing pipeline. You can’t get this insight from your CRM system, but you can with a BI solution.

But the days of big, complicated BI implementations are gone. People need solutions NOW — they don’t want a big toolset that IT has to implement and maintain. This is behind the recent surge in interest in On-Demand BI solutions like LucidEra. You can get the insight you need to figure out how to do more with less, get that insight in a few days (instead of a few quarters), and at a fraction of the traditional cost of BI solutions.

]]> Comment on Recession’s benefits for BI by Monarch and Excel Make Your Data Work for You http://datadoodle.com/2008/10/23/recessions-benefits-for-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-246 Monarch and Excel Make Your Data Work for You Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:22:33 +0000 http://datadoodle.com/?p=240#comment-246 [...] on the BI blog datadoodle Ted Cuzzillo discussed how, given the economic conditions, it’s time to do more with inexpensive [...] [...] on the BI blog datadoodle Ted Cuzzillo discussed how, given the economic conditions, it’s time to do more with inexpensive [...]

]]> Comment on Recession’s benefits for BI by Michael W Cristiani http://datadoodle.com/2008/10/23/recessions-benefits-for-bi/comment-page-1/#comment-245 Michael W Cristiani Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:49:13 +0000 http://datadoodle.com/?p=240#comment-245 Ted, "decision makers will move to smaller tools. One person advocated 'getting beyond Cognos and Business Objects' and move toward smaller tools like Polyvista and Tableau." As you know, we are evangelical in our support for Tableau Software, its mission, tools, and respect for both the discipline of BI and the needs of its customers. That said, we are also finding decision makers need actionable information faster, and tools that allow them the freedom to ask questions without getting on line for outside (IT) help. This market is huge! At the VAST '08 conference this week in Columbus, OH (did I miss you there?), Tableau CEO Christian Chabot delivered a brilliant keynote about the future of visual analytics in business, and dispelled many myths about the scale of the demand for elegantly architected analytics tools that anyone can use for any purpose against any data store. We have found in working with our clients that that this claim from the Tableau web site home page is more than true about their software, and gets it exactly right about what businesses and non-profits, and governments, etc., want and need from BI, namely: "fast analytics + visualization for everyone "Easy. Fast. Fun. Business intelligence software that makes you and your organization work smarter. No deployment. No waiting. Just incredible ROI. Start analyzing your data like never before." Thanks, Ted, for engendering hope in these "troubled" times. MANY BLESSINGS! Peace and All Good! Michael W Cristiani Market Intelligence Group, LLC Ted,

“decision makers will move to smaller tools. One person advocated ‘getting beyond Cognos and Business Objects’ and move toward smaller tools like Polyvista and Tableau.”

As you know, we are evangelical in our support for Tableau Software, its mission, tools, and respect for both the discipline of BI and the needs of its customers. That said, we are also finding decision makers need actionable information faster, and tools that allow them the freedom to ask questions without getting on line for outside (IT) help.

This market is huge! At the VAST ‘08 conference this week in Columbus, OH (did I miss you there?), Tableau CEO Christian Chabot delivered a brilliant keynote about the future of visual analytics in business, and dispelled many myths about the scale of the demand for elegantly architected analytics tools that anyone can use for any purpose against any data store.

We have found in working with our clients that that this claim from the Tableau web site home page is more than true about their software, and gets it exactly right about what businesses and non-profits, and governments, etc., want and need from BI, namely:

“fast analytics + visualization for everyone
“Easy. Fast. Fun. Business intelligence software that makes you and your organization work smarter. No deployment. No waiting. Just incredible ROI. Start analyzing your data like never before.”

Thanks, Ted, for engendering hope in these “troubled” times.

MANY BLESSINGS!
Peace and All Good!
Michael W Cristiani
Market Intelligence Group, LLC

]]> Comment on Is BI boring yet? by Ted Cuzzillo http://datadoodle.com/2008/09/24/is-bi-boring-yet/comment-page-1/#comment-205 Ted Cuzzillo Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:52:58 +0000 http://datadoodle.com/?p=193#comment-205 Yes, that's what I mean. Bring on boring. Yes, that’s what I mean. Bring on boring.

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