Business Intelligence Journal | Vol. 18, No. 4
TDWI Member Exclusive
December 9, 2013
Snow White’s Seven Dwarfs happily whistled while they worked. These days, we
whistle in amazement that all their work could be done by such a small team and
wonder where we can find the skilled talent we need to maintain or expand our
BI initiatives.
Senior editor Hugh J. Watson, Barbara Wixom, and Thomas Pagano look at how
Hertz used outsourcing to solve their resource problems. The authors describe
what’s driving outsourcing of BI staff and what projects the auto rental firm chose
to outsource.
John Santaferraro presents a five-point plan for filling your open data scientist
positions. He touches on incentive programs, technology infrastructure, and
the value of an enterprisewide culture of analytics. Linda Briggs describes a new
program at the University of Texas at Austin that targets the business analytics
gap plaguing many organizations.
Perhaps your organization doesn’t need more resources but rather needs to use
its existing resources more effectively. Director of TDWI Research for advanced
analytics Fern Halper looks at three best practices IT and business users can follow
to work better together and achieve success in big data projects. Max T. Russell
explains how IT professionals can build a stronger relationship with their user base
by learning the art of small talk—a simple way to build trust and respect and help
the IT team play a bigger, more important role in an organization’s BI efforts.
Having the right tools and technology may also reduce the stress on resources. Nilesh
Bhatti discusses the benefits and challenges of implementing data virtualization to
help manage increasing data volumes. Organizations must be sure the data they
manage is accurate, complete, and up to date. Nancy Couture looks at how best to
implement an enterprise data quality strategy. TDWI’s David Stodder looks at why
organizations should harness the wide variety of data they collect.
Getting work done isn’t just a matter of human resources. Jorge Lopez explains how
you get more done by leveraging mainframe data with Hadoop. Although they seem
like an unlikely duo, Lopez offers some practical Hadoop use cases for mainframe users.
Organizations can also run smoother when the business strategy aligns with BI’s
capabilities, which is the subject of our BI Experts’ Perspective column. We provide
advice from Alicia Acebo, Jim Gallo, Jane Griffin, and Brian Valeyko.
Are you working smarter? Do you whistle while you work? Let us know. We
welcome your feedback and comments; please send them to [email protected].
James E. Powell
Editorial Director
Business Intelligence Journal
IN THIS ISSUE
-
Analytics Outsourcing: The Hertz Experience
Hugh J. Watson, Barbara H. Wixom, and Thomas C. Pagano
- Three Best Practices for IT and Business Users in Big Data Projects
Fern Halper
- Mainframes: The (Other) Elephant in the Big Data Room
Jorge A. Lopez
- Filling the Demand for Data Scientists: A Five-Point Plan
John Santaferraro
- Marketing IT to BI Users In-House: The Importance of Small Talk
Max T. Russell
- BI Training: Closing the Business Analytics Gap at UT Austin
Linda L. Briggs
- Overcoming Data Challenges with Virtualization
Nilesh Bhatti
- Big Data Management Platforms: Architecting Heterogeneous Solutions
Ravi Chandran
- BI Experts’ Perspective: Aligning Business Strategy with BI Capabilities
Alicia Acebo, Jim Gallo, Jane Griffin, and Brian Valeyko
- Implementing an Enterprise Data Quality Strategy
Nancy Couture
- Data Variety: The Spice of Insight
David Stodder