by
Seth Grimes
November 16, 2008
The Open Source Enterprise: Its Time Has Come
The problems that made open source code impractical for many businesses are falling away. Add in the 'cheaper' factor, and this should get interesting.
by
Charles Babcock
November 15, 2008
Cool BI: Rating the Latest Innovations
Rich, interactive reporting interfaces, in-memory analytics and social networking may be cool, but how much value do they add to business intelligence. This article examines the maturity, value and mainstream appeal of leading innovations.
by
Cindi Howson
November 10, 2008
BI at 50 Turns Back to the Future
Hans Peter Luhn envisioned a "business intelligence system" way back in 1958, but only recently has BI begun to serve up knowledge instead of numbers.
by
Seth Grimes
November 2, 2008
Kimball University: Maintaining Dimension Hierarchies
Dimension hierarchies and pre-computed aggregations can make or break your data warehouse. Here's how to design, load and maintain true hierarchies while working around bad data sources and optimizing for usability and performance.
by
Joy Mundy
October 27, 2008
Five Steps to Optimizing BI and Data Warehouse Performance
The pressure is on business intelligence and data warehousing professionals to handle ever-higher data volumes and ever-more-complex queries while reducing decision latency. Follow this five-step approach to identify key business drivers, optimize system performance, guide new technology deployments, improve responsiveness, and invest for future performance demands.
by
David Stodder
October 20, 2008
SaaS Integration: Real-World Problems, And How CIOs Are Solving Them
Installing SaaS applications is easy. It's integrating them that can drive up the cost and complexity SaaS is supposed to avoid.
by
Mary Hayes Weier
October 18, 2008
SaaS Integration Specialists Find Their Niches
From appliances to integration wizards, they're providing plenty of choices.
by
Mary Hayes Weier
October 18, 2008
Scaling The Data Warehouse
Data warehouses aren't just exploding in size, they're also supporting more users and increasingly complex queries, all in shorter time frames. Here's how to make sure yours is ready to scale.
by Richard Winter
October 11, 2008
7 Gotchas That Wreck Data Warehouse Scalability
Warnings from data warehouse consultant Richard Winter.
by Richard Winter
October 11, 2008
EBay Turns To Analytics As A Service
Virtual private data marts eliminate the need for costly new physical data marts.
by Richard Winter
October 11, 2008
Microsoft And Oracle Are Scaling Out
New products involve running large data warehouses on clusters of small, low-cost servers.
by Richard Winter
October 11, 2008
Kimball University: Practical Steps for Designing a Dimensional Model
What does it take to develop a robust dimensional model? Here's how to get from requirements-gathering to final approval in a process that will ferret out the good, bad and ugly realities of your source data and help you avoid surprises, delays and cost overruns.
by
Margy Ross
September 29, 2008
Enterprise Search: Microsoft, Google, Specialized Players Vie For Supremacy
Enterprise search assists in litigation, securing sensitive data, managing information, and building smarter applications. Oh, yeah, and finding that PowerPoint slide from 2006. But which vendor is best to partner with, and what are the technical challenges?
by
Andrew Conry-Murray
September 27, 2008
Operational Performance: What Sets Best-In-Class Companies Apart?
Are your daily decisions based on fact? A new report by Aberdeen Group finds that best-in-class companies succeed by finding the right key performance metrics and tying day-to-day decisions to larger corporate goals.
by David Hatch, Aberdeen Group
September 22, 2008
20 Cloud Computing Startups You Should Know
Young companies are emerging as software and service providers in the cloud. These newcomers can help you deploy and manage IT resources in new ways.
by
John Foley
September 20, 2008
Q&A: Gartner's Roy Schulte on Choosing BI, BAM or CEP
Event processing looks like the next big thing in IT, but Gartner analyst Roy Schulte says it comes in three varieties: low-latency BI dashboards, lower-latency Business Activity Monitoring (BAM), and ultra-low-latency complex event processing. Here's how to spot candidate apps, pick the right technology, and start with the right architecture.
by
Doug Henschen
September 15, 2008
Q&A: Steve Strout on ASUG's New Business Objects User Group
ASUG exec says Global BusinessObjects Network will raise customer wants and needs to SAP management. But what about existing user groups, 'BOB' discussion forum and possible costs?
by
Doug Henschen
September 8, 2008
Special Report: Business Intelligence Gets Smart
From desktop integration and BI services to smart applications and SaaS offerings, here are the trends top companies are incorporating in their BI initiatives, and what you can learn from them.
by
Doug Henschen
September 5, 2008
Celko on SQL: Dividing the Spoils
In this database programming challenge, SQL guru Joe Celko explores various ways to split commissions among multiple sales people.
by
Joe Celko
September 2, 2008
Seven Steps to Successful BI Competency Centers
From setting a strategic vision and gaining C-level support to promoting successes and responding to emergencies, follow these seven suggestions for developing BICCs that boost business performance.
by
Doug Henschen
August 24, 2008
Report Warns Of Data Warehouse 'Bottleneck' In Real-Time Analytics
In a report entitled "Really Urgent Analytics: The Sweet Spot for Real-Time Data Warehousing," Forrester advises intelligence and knowledge management professionals to familiarize themselves with the various approaches for adapting a data warehouse to meet real-time requirements, and, if necessary, consider bypassing the data warehouse altogether.
by Antone Gonsalves
August 18, 2008
Of BI and Baseball: Two Reports Present Vendor and Product Standings
It ain't over till it's over, and Forrester and BIScorecard reports say the business intelligence playoffs are a long way off.
by
Doug Henschen
August 11, 2008
Kimball University: Eight Recommendations for International Data Quality
Language, culture, and country-by-country compliance and privacy requirements are just a few of the tough data quality problems global organizations must solve. Start by addressing data accuracy at the source and adopting an MDM strategy, then follow these six other best-practice approaches.
by
Ralph Kimball
August 1, 2008
Enterprise in the Cloud: Q&A with Google's Rishi Chandra
As product manager at Google Enterprise, Rishi Chandra is responsible for spreading search appliances, Google Apps and a growing portfolio of services into the business world. Continuing a series of interviews on cloud computing, Intelligent Enterprise asks Chandra about Google's plans for applications, underlying infrastructure and meeting the demands of the enterprise.
by
Doug Henschen
July 21, 2008
Six Steps to Better Sales Forecasting and Demand Planning
Most companies are immature and uncoordinated when it comes to sales forecasting and demand planning. Follow these six steps to increase forecast accuracy, speed planning cycles, reduce inventory costs, end stockouts and increase customer satisfaction.
by Robert D. Kugel CFA
July 14, 2008
IDC Report Shows Steady Growth for BI, Pent-Up Demand for Analytics
Microsoft, SAS and SPSS lead marketshare gains in 2007. Analyst sees media and academia driving mainstream demand.
by
Doug Henschen
July 3, 2008
Ride the Next Wave of Flexible 'BI Workspaces'
Forrester Research says SaaS and in-memory options will let power users and analysts gain insight without IT bottlenecks. Embrace the trend, but beware the costs and risks.
by
Doug Henschen
June 30, 2008
Kimball University: Microsoft SQL Server Comes of Age for Data Warehousing
With new compression, partitioning and star schema optimization features, Microsoft's SQL Server 2008 is catching up with the state of the industry in data warehousing. Here's why these three capabilities are crucial for scalability and performance on any platform.
by
Warren Thornthwaite
June 23, 2008
Guide To Cloud Computing
The market is getting crowded with Web-based software and storage offerings. Here's what you need to know about the cloud computing strategies of Amazon, Google, Salesforce, and five other leading vendors.
by
Richard Martin
J. Nicholas Hoover
June 21, 2008
Data Warehouse Alternatives Make a Hit in India and Europe
Telco Reliance scales with DW appliances. Web marketer TradeDoubler loads and queries faster, cuts cost with a column-store database.
by
Doug Henschen
June 20, 2008
Are You Ready for Advanced Analytics?
You can now buy analytics as an add-on module for your BI suite, but you'll need expertise to make the leap into predictive analytics.
by
Doug Henschen
June 16, 2008
Predictive Analytics: Peer into the BI Crystal Ball
A new Aberdeen Group survey finds that there's no silver bullet in predictive analytic success. Here's a sampling of the approaches best-in-class firms are using to spot trends, understand customers, and proactively tune products, pricing and positioning.
by David Hatch
June 16, 2008
Q&A: Amazon on Enterprise Computing in the Cloud
Speaking at this week's Enterprise 2.0 Conference in Boston, Amazon's Adam Selipsky says enterprises are already embracing the agility and economies of scale of cloud computing.
by
Doug Henschen
June 9, 2008
How to Get to Better Planning and Budgeting
A new Ventana Research report finds that most companies are falling short on the basics of performance management. Here are five sets of diagnostic questions as well as best practices for broader, more responsive and more effective planning and budgeting.
by Ventana Research
June 1, 2008
Q&A With Gartner's Don Feinberg on Database as a Service and Cloud DBs
Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and Sun are now fueling the growing fire around the database-as-a-service and cloud database markets, but what's the difference between these offerings and what's the appeal? Database guru Don Feinberg defines terms and raises important questions about reliability and security.
by
Doug Henschen
May 23, 2008
Your Next Data Warehouse? Size Up Column-Store Databases and Appliances
These approaches may beat out conventional databases in price and performance. Here's how to find products that fit with your company's data analysis needs.
by
Doug Henschen
May 22, 2008
Intelligence on the Go: Mobile Delivery of BI
Many BI vendors now offer modules that let you deliver just about any report to smart phones, but as a major retailer, a health care provider and a major government agency have discovered, practical, tactical wins are the key to mobile success.
by
Doug Henschen
May 19, 2008
New York Stock Exchange Ticks on Data Warehouse Appliances
Netezza deployment replaces mega data warehouses while cutting query times from hours to seconds.
by
Doug Henschen
May 16, 2008
A Mashup Gives New Meaning to 'Military Intelligence'
In one of the most successful Web 2.0 projects in government to date, the Defense Intelligence Agency takes a mashup approach to build a military situation-awareness dashboard.
by
Nelson King
May 12, 2008
