In order to make the best decisions for your enterprise, you must first evaluate the present. This is the theme for the December 2006 issue of Teradata Magazine: strategically using insights from current movements in business intelligence (BI) and data warehousing to shape your company’s future. What follows is my correlating set of quotes regarding five important trends.

Operational BI

“Thought is sad without action, and action is sad without thought.” —Henri-Frédéric Amiel

For many years it was argued that data warehousing and BI were about more than just reporting. In fact it was the evolution from simple business reports that caused many companies to question the ability of their existing architectures and tools to promote the business and move it forward.

Today it is commonplace to hear companies talk about the need not just for reporting and analysis but for actionable information as well. Information that is relevant, timely and, in many cases, predictive so that we can not only have thought with action but also, in some instances, take action before the thought even occurs.

The standard today has become operational BI, and the new foresight is that companies are requesting “triggered” BI. Basically, triggered BI is the actions that are carried out automatically based on business rules and supporting data.

Infrastructure standardization

“All for one and one for all.” —Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers

This trend has proven to be correct to a degree, but was a bit myopic in that it forgot the integration part of the infrastructure puzzle. It is not enough to have the right tools and effectively use them; they also have to work together to achieve the desired goal.

This oversight can be seen in many arenas. For example, some companies work to standardize on a database, front-end tool, or load strategy only to find that the chosen product and processes did not meet the complete needs. They may have standardized on a hardware platform that did not scale with the software choices, or they consolidated the data only to hit a management issue, or they used a front-end tool to navigate the larger volumes. So while standardization was a good goal, it often ended up short on the desired benefits.

Having said that, the standardization concept is a good one, and it is being successfully achieved. Its real benefit is the ability of many tools to communicate and work together. This benefit is seen largely in the message and enterprise architectures that hold the environment together. To the degree that it has led to consolidating platforms by using capable tools, it is an added bonus.

Strategic approach to information

“What is right is not always popular, just as what is popular is not always right.” —Anonymous

Today, many companies and business groups talk about wanting to be more responsive and strategic and to think longer term. However, in practice, those same people will execute on the short term—the tactical and the reactive.

Many crisis management solutions actually make the long-term problem worse, but it is the “quick fix” that is immensely popular. There’s no argument that it gets results (to a degree) and takes the immediate heat off the situation. Unfortunately, management can get so caught up in the short-term solutions that they have no time for the long-term thinking and planning.

Thankfully, executives, business owners and technology leaders are beginning to appreciate the need to balance solving the immediate problem with providing for a sustainable future. The data warehouse arena is now being seen as a collaboration between business and IT with the business community providing the direction and longer-term roadmap. The key decision makers are realizing it’s senseless to solve today’s problem at the expense of creating others tomorrow.

Much of this is credited to the first trend, operational BI, and, to some extent, the second one, infrastructure standardization. With the adoption of operational BI, companies can move faster, not slower. Any “point solution” today has to support quicker development to the next “point solution” tomorrow.

Master data management

“They have one language and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and nothing they propose will now be impossible for them.” —Genesis 11:6

I have to say that the trend of achieving a fully centralized data system still has a long way to go, but at least it is beginning to take a forefront in people’s minds and spending priorities. As companies received more insight and interactive analysis from the BI systems, it has been noticed that data quality and consistency are the main culprits to much of our dysfunctional corporate behavior.

When analyzing the issue, people are starting to understand that many systems and processes built in isolation need to be integrated. Reinforcing the underlying foundation of data models and process integration, we are now swinging the pendulum back to centralized information.

As companies achieve their master data management (MDM) objectives, they will see a greater level of communication and agreement among their functions. They will experience a better analysis process, which will lead to greater cohesion across the enterprise and, ultimately, a higher value derived from their actions.

Consulting on BI and data warehousing

“Learn from the mistakes of others; you do not have time to make them all yourself!”
—Anonymous

Over the past few years there have been many new entrants into the data warehouse field. Consequently, Teradata, more consulting companies and third-party vendors have added data warehouse centers of expertise to help customers achieve the promised value of a data warehouse system.

In addition to the rise in consulting and integration, there has been a significant upgrade in the quality of the services and methodologies offered. It is now understood that the planning, implementation and usage of the data warehouse environment is different from the traditional development processes of the operational or online transaction processing (OLTP) systems. Using consulting and vendor assistance enables executives to fill the gaps in their enterprise structures.

At the same time, the consultants are getting much better in the process and outcomes, and customer agreements and expectations are being enforced. It is no longer just a technology problem; almost everyone understands that the non-technical aspects are much more important. This has led to a further rise in governance, expectation management, the capture of return on investment (ROI) and other process-focused engagements offered through consulting services.

Summary

The trends from the past few years are coming true. As such, many visionaries are making predictions as to the next wave of trends. Talk of radio frequency identification (RFID), geospatial, data visualization, seamless integration throughout the processes, and the like, crowds the airwaves and magazines. Many of us have a hard time accepting their future (given the hardships we face today) but it does sound exciting.

It has often been said, “The only way to predict the future is to have the power to shape the future.” What future are you trying to shape, and what steps are you taking to make it a reality for your company? T

Teradata Magazine-December 2006