Faced with the ongoing confusion over the term ‘Big Data,’ here’s a handy – and somewhat cynical – guide to some of the key definitions that you might see out there.
The first thing to note is that – despite what Wikipedia says – everybody in the industry generally agrees that Big Data isn’t just about having more data (since that’s just inevitable, and boring).
As businesses begin to realize the benefits of cloud computing and business data mobility, they may be overlooking one of the most important issues any enterprise can face: information management in the event of litigation. While the IT department probably has a disaster recovery plan for handling various computer system failures, is there also a…
According to many CFOs, the firm really needs to set aside more of this money for investments that will move the business forward in growth and profits. This frustration is a reasonable sentiment. Diverting scarce capital into projects that merely “keep it running” are hardly awe-inspiring.
But what jumped out at me was one culprit, or should I say scapegoat, that many CFOs blamed. One respondent was quoted saying that the “basic foundational structure of IT is inadequate to take the company forward, but no one can build the business case to tackle it.” (emphasis added)
Really? The current infrastructure is holding the company back but no one can demonstrate the value of improving it?
It has been said that it is very difficult to determine ROI for Business Intelligence software. In a blog entry on B-Eye-Network by Wayne Eckerson, How to Measure BI Success, he mentions many types of measurements. It is always important to measure the performance of your Business Intelligence software to make sure that there is continuous value. What about those organizations who avoid a BI software purchase due to cost concerns and the expectation that the software will not fulfill its promises.
Why not try before you buy?
(This is the first of 7 articles discussing frustrations with the EPM industry. To be sure you don’t miss out on any articles of interest, please sign up for our weekly newsletter at http://www.epmchannel.com/register-for-our-weekly-digests/.)
I recently read an article on entrepreneurship that featured Richard Branson. In the article, Branson was quoted as saying that the “real opportunity in business is the ability to identify the frustrations in a particular area and have real solutions to remedy those frustrations.”
That started me thinking about the common frustrations that I have seen while working in the Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) industry for the last 15 years. Here are seven common frustrations that I see frequently along with some recommended solutions.
Mobile devices have become incredibly popular in the consumer and enterprise worlds, as more businesses begin to see the benefits of cultivating a strong bring your own device (BYOD) policy. Several reports have revealed that corporate expenditures, both capital and operational, can be reduced by allowing employees to bring in their own technology.
However, security remains a major question among those with executive jobs, as unsecured devices can spell disaster by way of data breach and loss of corporate information. It is the responsibility of a business’ decision-makers to ensure the integrity of all information technology (IT) operations, which can be mitigated through IT departments.
A recent survey of 1,000 Americans was conducted by Wakefield Research for Citrix. The results suggest that Americans like to think they’re on top of the latest innovations in cloud computing, but in reality know little about it. Unfortunately, even more people think that the cloud is tied to the weather in some way.
Read some of the [highly embarrassing] statistics here.
“The Cloud” has become one of the hottest buzz topics in the industry this year, and what started out as a topic mostly of interest to IT executives is quickly moving to the radar screen of CFOs and Finance Executives.
Some of the advantages of cloud-based applications include improved time to value, reduced up-front costs, leveraging 3rd party skill sets and having a scalable environment to support future growth. Some of the considerations and risks include security, performance, integration of cloud-based applications with on-premise systems and long-term costs of ownership.
Find out more here.
“Enterprise analytics” is a widely used term these days. As often happens, though—it’s being used in different ways, by different groups, for different reasons. Enterprise analytics can refer to any or all of these three concepts:
1. Access to analytics capability (so users throughout the enterprise can perform their own local analytics)
2. Access to enterprise-level analytics (so some users can see reports or dashboards that incorporate data from the whole enterprise)
3. Analytics platforms that can function at an enterprise level (working with multiple data sources and formats)
Consultants, business writers, software companies, and IT execs may all be using the term enterprise analytics to meet their own communication needs—so conversations can get a little complicated, and research can be somewhat confusing.
Pity the enterprise software conglomerate, its salespeople abandoned at the altar, its customers fleeing from committed relationships. Shed a tear for the server maker, no longer able to lock-in long-term sales, support and service engagements. Their customers are cheating on them with sexy new startups.