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The Importance of Planning and Forecasting in BI
From PARIS Technologies
The budgeting and forecasting process for most organizations is long and tedious and occurs on an annual basis, at least. Companies try to do it more often to improve accuracy and aim to ultimately implement a procedure for continuous planning, rolling forecasts, and driver-based planning.
Unlike any other business process, budgeting and forecasting is unique because it is forward thinking. Business processes like accounting, inventory tracking, invoicing, shipping, etc. are based on actual events from the past and present.
This is a fundamental difference as it also defines how the data from these processes are managed. Essentially, actual events are captured as transactions in ERPs, supply chain systems, invoicing and accounting systems, etc., and data related to it is effectively stored in its databases. On the other hand, budgets and forecasts typically reside in spreadsheets where aggregate data is entered by several people in the organization.
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A Technical Look at Big Data
Big data can mean a number of things—and guide business decisions in countless ways. It can involve analyzing sheer volumes of data, from 100s of terabytes to petabytes. Or it can imply getting data and information from unlikely sources—sensors from a machine on an...
Infographic: Is your Data Secure
A lot of consumers and organisations are using the cloud and all that data is stored in massive data centers all over the world. Google, Facebook, the NSA and many others have built gigantic data centers that can store up to a Yottabyte of data! But how secure is your...
An Extensive Glossary of Big Data Terminology
Big data comes with a lot of new terminology that is sometimes hard to understand. Therefore we have created an ABC of big data that should give some insights. Some of the definitions refer to a corresponding blog post. Of course this big data glossary is not 100%...
Avoid Screwing Up Predictive Analytic Projects
Whether you're new to predictive analytics or have a few projects under your belt, it's all too easy to make gaffes. "The vast majority of analytic projects are riddled with mistakes," says John Elder, CEO at data mining firm Elder Research. Most of those aren't fatal...
CRM Software: Does Visualization Matter
It may be difficult to register, but traditional CRM solutions have been around for 15-20 years (Siebel Systems was founded in 1993 and Salesforce.com in 1998). Since then, they have evolved from simple contact management solutions to sophisticated commercial...
Don’t Have A Big Data Strategy Yet? Good
Big data noise has reached the point where most are reaching for the ear plugs. And with any good hype bubble, the naysayers are now grabbing attention with contrarian positions. For example, The New York Times expressed doubt about the economic viability of big data...
The History of Data Visualization
Data visualization has come a long way. From simple cave drawings depicting the success of a hunt to the intricate dashboards we have today connecting to millions of rows of data. It’s always good to know where you came from in order to better understand where you are...
Big Data Changed the Way We Think About Data Warehousing
Expectations from organizations have changed the demand for data. The change requires organizations to gather and manage very large data sets – terabytes and petabytes of data – for processes and near real-time analysis and predictive analytics, and is due, in part,...
Is Embracing Analytics a Rush to Judgment?
Allow me to take a contrarian view to the rapid interest in applying analytics. Have we seen this kind of story before? Is there a rush to judgment that analytics is the elusive cure-all magic potion or panacea that management has been seeking in order to achieve...
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Resources
Types of OLAP Systems
MOLAP, ROLAP, HOLAP... what's the difference? And modern OLAP for this century.
History of OLAP and BI
Learn about the history of OLAP technology with this comprehensive inforgraphic