Business Intelligence Journal | Vol. 20, No. 2
TDWI Member Exclusive
June 15, 2015
When most enterprises face a problem, they can choose from many possible options
or approaches. It’s rare to be faced with a black or white, either/or choice. So it is, too,
in this issue of the Business Intelligence Journal’s Experts’ Perspective column.
We asked our panel if calculating a return on an analytics investment is practical
given such projects have so many uncertain costs (especially given how often new
technology is used for the first time) or unquantifiable, intangible benefits. For those
of our experts recommending such calculations, we also wondered about the best way
to derive that ROI. We queried seven BI practitioners and analysts and received just
as many approaches to the problem. It’s fascinating reading.
Those aren’t the only questions posed in this issue. Senior editor Hugh J. Watson
examines the role of a BI director and asks: how do you become one, how can you
succeed, and how do you know when it’s time to move on?
Big data is a big topic today, and Norman T. Kutemperor sorts out several approaches
you must evaluate before designing a data warehouse for big data, with an emphasis
on price/performance considerations. Big data is also the subject of a discussion by
Kurt Stockinger, Frank van Lingen, and Marco Valente. They discuss the challenges
and opportunities of several big data analytics use cases, with a special focus on
the Internet of things and how to choose the most appropriate technology for your
environment.
Speaking of options, with ever-more data being produced and analyzed, traditional
BI architectures may no longer serve your enterprise well. Barry Devlin takes an
in-depth look at conceptual- and logical-level architectures driven by our need for
processing more (and more diverse) data. He examines three distinct types of data
and presents an architecture suitable for today’s demanding enterprises.
Our case study looks at how a non-profit put BI to work to help underserved youth
in Philadelphia. James Purchase looks at a different kind of expansion—one in which
we learn to shift our view of data analytics to combine historic data with current
events and unstructured data to create a new Big Picture of our enterprise.
As always, we welcome your comments about the decisions you’re making and how
these articles may have helped you. Please send them to [email protected].
James E. Powell
Editorial Director
Business Intelligence Journal
IN THIS ISSUE
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BI Director: How to Become One, Succeed, and Know When to Leave
Hugh J. Watson
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Price/Performance Considerations in Building Data Warehouses for Big Data
Norman T. Kutemperor
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From Layers to Pillars—A Logical Architecture for BI and Beyond
Barry Devlin
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BI Case Study: Non-Profit Uses Power of BI to Help Under-Served Youth
Linda L. Briggs
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Fundamental Mind Shifts for the Future of Data Analytics
James Purchase
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BI Experts’ Perspective: Projecting ROI for Analytics
Jane Griffin, Troy Hiltbrand, Paul G. Johnson, Arthur E. McDonald, Srinivas Varanasi, Steve Williams, and Coy Yonce
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Big Data Analytics in a Connected World
Kurt Stockinger, Frank van Lingen, and Marco Valente