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December 2, 2010

Four Evolving Technologies That Enable Faster, Better Decision Making

Michael A. Schiff
Principal Consultant, MAS Strategies

Topic: Experts in Data Warehousing

It wasn't that many years ago when most business meetings ended with the assignment of "action items" that included follow-up tasks involving the analysis of issues or opportunities that had been raised during the meeting. Typical examples included determining why a particular retail store, sales district, or product is experiencing a decline in sales; why a manufacturing plant or assembly line is experiencing a higher rate of defects; if and/or why customers are defecting to the competition; how best to staff a project; or where to test market a product introduction.

In today's world, the use of technologies such as near- real-time analytics, advanced search engines, and robust mobile platforms now enable many of these analyses to be made during, rather than between, meetings. Let's take a closer look at some of these enabling technologies and how they are transforming your enterprise

Technology #1: Near-real-time Analytics

Because there is no precise definition of near-real- time, I prefer to use the term "right-time analytics" instead. This simply means that the underlying data will be as current as it needs to be for analysis purposes. Operational business intelligence, running directly against transaction processing systems or very frequently (if not continuously) updated data warehouses, allows organizations to analyze very current data to reach a decision and/or take corrective action as soon as a problem arises.

Technology #2: Mobile Platforms

Although access to information was once limited to desktop computers (and before that to dumb terminals), this is certainly not the situation today. Low-cost yet powerful computer-enabled devices (including smart phones, netbooks, and tablet and laptop computers), combined with the growth in high-speed wireless Internet access, permit users to access information and perform analyses during business meetings regardless of where they are being held.

For the most part this was not possible in the 20th century. In fact, whenever I hear someone complain about how slow their Internet connection is, I remind them that it is still much faster than dial-up connections. I sometimes even remind them (if they are old enough to remember!) that it is many, many orders of magnitude quicker, and definitely much more convenient, than going to a library and using a microfiche reader; technology that was prevalent prior to the Internet. Today, users can have immediate access to in-house or cloud-based data warehouses and operational systems to facilitate their decision- making. Furthermore, most smartphones now support a wide variety of downloadable applications, many of which can used to access and analyze data.

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Technology #3: Browsers

I consider the evolution of browser technology as a key catalyst behind the growth of mobile access. Browsers enabled the use of thin-client interfaces rather than PC- or mini-computer-based thick-client platforms that were required to support the client side of an application. Furthermore, Web browsers, which originally ran only on PCs or Apple computers, are now designed to support a much wider variety of mobile devices including smartphones. Mobile devices also enable decision-makers to "Tweet" their followers and seek immediate help and advice.

Technology #4: Enhanced Search Capabilities

Thanks to Internet search engines such as Ask.com, Bing, Google, and Yahoo!, what once took hours (if not days) to research can now done quickly and delivered almost immediately to mobile devices. Many BI vendors have augmented their core products with search capabilities, allowing users to quickly locate relevant internal analyses and reports. The truth may be out there, but it needs to first be located before it can be useful.

The Bottom Line

The ability to quickly access and analyze data for "in- meeting" decisions represents a practical example of how emerging technologies have continued to evolve to support real-world business issues and decision-making processes. After all, what we now call business intelligence was once known as decision support systems.

Users are advised to apply these technologies in a cost- effective manner. For example, users and data warehousing practitioners should make sure that they do not create an environment where a data warehouse is updated much more frequently than business needs require. In many environments, right-time analytics only requires a weekly or daily update; in these environments right-time may not necessarily be real-time. Finally, although Internet search engines can bring a world of data to your mobile device, don't assume that everything you access is true. Be careful out there!

Michael A. Schiff is a principal consultant for MAS Strategies. He can be reached at mschiff@mas- strategies.com
.

Copyright 2010. TDWI. All rights reserved.



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