Big data is a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using traditional database management applications. By this definition it appears that big data only reflects those in business and IT, but that is not the case.
With social media just a click away, channels can encroach regularly in our lives. While some people have no issues balancing online and offline worlds, for some others it is an every day battle. Whether we like it or not, social media is shaping our lives and we have to succumb to the revolution.
More people are shopping on mobile devices than ever before. Is your business prepared to satisfy these mobile bound customers?
Perhaps surprisingly, bakers have a history of being analytics pioneers, from the first business application ever to the latest in-memory technology.
In 1951, the J. Lyons company, famous for their tea-shops throughout the UK, built and used the LEO “Lyons Electronic Organizer” computer they had built to run the very first business application ever: bakery valuations.
[And], it wasn’t just the first business application, it was also the first example of actionable, computer-powered analytics and business intelligence.
How’d that happen?
Using visualization and modelling to predict the weather.
For the first three weeks of January, I thought Chicagoland was certain to get a second straight reprieve from harsh winter. Every day, we were setting a record for the number of consecutive days without an inch or more of snow. And the temperatures hovered in the 20s, 30s and 40s – seemingly far warmer than historical Januarys.
Alas, winter has returned to the area with a vengeance over the last three weeks. While spared the 2+ foot blizzard that just hit the Northeast, we’ve had more than enough snow, ice, rain, wind and bitter cold of our own. And to think, there’s a least another month of the same …
You’ve never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, statistics guru Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called “developing world.”
This is the most unique presentation relating to the topic of Big Data I’ve ever seen. One example used by this presenter is “how would you visualize all those twitter posts relating to someone tweeting about where they just landed in order to get an idea of where people are traveling to?” Words can’t do…
I recently had the opportunity to chat with Loren Bast, Director of Business Intelligence at online humor network Cheezburger. Cheezburger invested in a new BI tool because it was unable to keep up with the amount of data it was producing across its popular humor websites such as I Can Has Cheezburger and FAIL Blog.
I asked Bast how he would have managed the project differently if he could start again. He said in an ideal world, he would have focused more on the following three things:
Big data can help businesses gain new insights at incredibly fast, real-time speeds. However, making an informed decision based on accurate information is only the first step. You have to implement that decision across your organization in order to produce the desired outcomes. But how do you do that?
If you are new to the world of Business Scorecards – Welcome! If you have been at it for a while, it might be time to have another look at what your scorecard is doing for you.
Jacques Vigeant, Product Strategy Director for Oracle Business Intelligence and Enterprise Performance Management, was interviewed in a podcast by Nigel Youell, Director of Product Marketing for Oracle Performance Management Applications, and had a very interesting discussion about the business value that scorecards add to dashboards. To listen to the podcast click here.