Nov 6, 2016 | Application/Data Integration, Business Analytics, Data Analysis, Data Management, Infographic, Uncategorized |
Business Analytics vs. Data Science
“Business analytics” and “data science” — are they basically interchangeable terms, or entirely separate professional pursuits? There’s certainly overlap on the topic of Big Data and using data to inform decisions. There is no dispute over the fact that both business analysts and data scientists use exponentially growing sources of data to do their work. [Check out PARIS Tech’s recent post on Big Data]
An article and featured infographic by Angela Guess for Dataversity.net argues that the terms business intelligence and data scientist are distinct, and not just because one pursuit applies to business, and the other to scientific results.
Click below to read the original article which accompanies the business intelligence vs. data scientist infographic.
Infographic: Business Analytics v. Data Science
Jun 6, 2016 | BI Solutions, BI Strategy, Big Data, Business Analytics, Data Analysis, Data Management, Predictive Analytics, Uncategorized |
Who doesn’t want the largest return on their investment? The article written by Chris Twogood, How To Produce Ongoing Returns With Big Data, compares current Data and Analytics systems to what he claims is actually needed in today’s businesses.
He writes, and we agree, that Data within companies only continues to grow in volume and variety. Data solutions are developed to handle one issue at a time, which causes data to remain separated and replicated over-and-over again. It’s a prime example of a short term or one-off solution, and it can’t be the best way, right?
Twogood explains, the solution is to implement a sustainable, central data and analytics model that can ensure calculation of vital analyses. Because action and decision begin with the same question…What does the data tell us?
In this article, what stood out to me and truly symbolized what PARIS Tech, the sponsor of OLAP.com, is all about: “To satisfy the individual requests of the organization, an analyst or end user should be able to access data at any time to apply the analytics available.”
PARIS Tech makes it possible for organizations to share an analytical data model in real-time from different applications. Because, like Twogood says, users need to be able to access data at any time, and even real-time. With this concept front-and-center, organizations can see:
- A reduction in time to meet new needs
- Less complexity and cost of infrastructure
- Higher productivity
Click here to read the full article.
May 17, 2016 | BI Solutions, BI Strategy, BI Studies, BI System, Big Data, Business Analytics, Business Forecasting, Business Intelligence Suite, Business Planning, Data Analysis, Predictive Analytics, Uncategorized |
Dennis McCafferty of CIO Insight recently wrote an article that addresses 11 of the top practices of Business Intelligence. With Business Intelligence controlling such key factors in today’s companies such as, analytics, business performance management, text mining and predictive analytics, it is crucially important to understand it. Let’s take a look into CIO Insight’s 11 best practices and see if you are already taking advantage of these.
- Bigger Isn’t Always Better: Just because a solution can gather a large amount of data doesn’t mean that they are helping you get the most out of the data. McCafferty thinks that trustworthiness and immediacy are the key elements.
- Deliverable Value Over TCO: When your BI solution can deliver specific ROI, you will gain higher buy-in no matter the initial total cost of ownership.
- Take Stock of Current Resources: Taking advantage and leveraging the IT that your company already owns to support your BI solution is a top practice. You can then utilize that spending on something else that will make a larger impact.
- File-Formatting Resources: Since Business Intelligence uses more than 300 file formats, it is important that you are prepared and ready to use any one of them.
- Create BI Policies for Deployment: It is important to have BI policies in place such as how the data is collected, processed and stored. This will ensure higher level of relevance and accessibility.
- Go Team, Involve Business Leaders From the Outset: You need to remain on the same page as all of the different leaders and work as a big team to keep IT on the right path.
- The Only Constant? Change: Every thing is constantly changing and evolving so this will continue to test your BI deployment at all times.
- Limit Initial User Participation: It is better to start out slow and steady when introducing initial users. If not, it can lead to confusion, errors and confusion which will impact BI’s final impact.
- Define the Project’s Scope: A BI implementation should be taken in stages and a company must know how many users and functions will be needed over time.
- Training Day: In order for your BI project to be a success, you must take the right approach to training employees and make sure that they are properly educated and feel comfortable using the new solution.
- Support Self Service: The goal of BI is to pass along the project to the appropriate department. In order to do this you must support the training plans and keep this practice as a priority at all times.
Click here to read the original article.
Dec 23, 2015 | BI Solutions, BI Strategy, BI Studies, BI System, Big Data, Business Analytics, Data Analysis, Predictive Analytics, Uncategorized |
The days of paper charting medical records are long gone. Michael Morrison gives a good look into why Big Data is vital to the Healthcare industry in his post, “Big Data Remains Hot in Health Care.”
Medical firms did not have much choice in adapting to these changes after the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act in the US in 2009 took effect, this was one of the largest efforts ever in improving patient care, ensuring proficient operations, and closing the gap of medical error. The result has been phenomenal and continues to progress.
With the ability of the medical industry to continuously run analytics, they gain critical information from high volumes of medical records and data. Morrison mentions that with advancements in patient data analytics, it is becoming the most important aspect of implementing medical analysis, which allows for patient care to be personalized. Many common road blocks that are normal in the course of patient care and health management can be corrected with the use of Big Data tools.
The National Cancer Institute has created a Big Data project that has, through Big Data research, improved cancer treatments. They are now able to learn a lot about the patient’s responses to different medications and choose the best treatment course for a specific patient. The implementation of data solutions across the entire medical industry benefits everyone involved from the provider to the patient. The next time you make a visit to your local doctor’s office or hospital, take a look around and notice how much we rely on the ongoing advances of technology. Where would be now without all of it; how much safer has it made our treatment as well as our loved ones?
Click here to read entire article.
Dec 15, 2015 | BI Solutions, BI Strategy, Big Data, Business Analytics, Data Analysis, Data Warehousing, Uncategorized |
What does December 18th, 2015 mean to you? Ok yes, it is one week before Christmas but if you are a Star Wars fan, then you know it means much more than that. The awaited release of “The Force Awakens” has caught quite the buzz around this holiday season. Jim Hopkins does an awesome job at bringing Star Wars and Business Data/Analytics side by side in his article: How Star Wars Can Help with Your Data Problems.
If you are new to Business Intelligence terms such as CRM, Big Data, Analytics, this article does a good job of laying it out clearly.
Hopkins first relates “the Force” to “the Data” in the business world. “The Force” is an abstract power that connects them and controls their world. Which is incredibly similar to “the Data”. What would we be without data? What would we analyze to gain crucial insight on the decisions that are made to strengthen our businesses? The same analogy holds true for businesses’ CRM systems. The CRM (Customer Relationship Management) connects everyone from Marketing, Sales, Finance, Support and Administration.
This leads into Hopkins’ next comparison: “The Dark Side”. Without the proper care and management of a CRM system, it can quickly turn “dark” as Hopkins puts it. Collecting large amounts of useful data is a great thing, having the ability to store and organize this information is also a great thing. However, without close attention to detail many businesses can allow their knowledge of information to turn sour. It is a crucial part to the success of a company, to pay attention to detail and making sure what is being stored is accurate. What is meant to strengthen and prosper a business, can quickly do the opposite if not properly maintained.
When Luke Skywalker is attracted to the Jedi lifestyle, he begins to gain greater knowledge of his father’s past, a Jedi master. Through this, he is able to strengthen the power he holds within himself. In the business world, we must truly understand what our goals are and how our decisions are impacting them. When we run analysis reports, what patterns do we see? What story is the data telling us?
As Darth Vader said about Luke Skywalker, “the force is strong with this one.” Hopkins relates this to having a strong set of policies and mechanisms in place when implementing any data analytic strategy or program. Everyone must be on the same page and follow the same guidelines to ensure the highest quality of data outcome within a business.
Click Here to read entire article.
Dec 30, 2014 | BI Solutions, BI Strategy, Big Data, Business Analytics, Data Analysis, Data Management, Data Warehousing, Uncategorized |
This article from the Sisense blog has a valuable little list of Bad BI Habits to Break in 2015. To-dos for the new year are suggested, like “embracing big data” and “getting a grip on all data.” We tend to agree, because data is going to continue to grow in vastness and scope for all applications. As we step into 2015, we can’t bury our heads in the sand and pretend that big (and growing) data is going to go away. Resolved: to stand tall and meet the challenge!
Check out the original post from the Sisense Blog
