All companies, regardless of size, are interested in making smarter decisions faster than the competition. This concept is the essence of a successful business.

Organizations have come to understand that, to fully meet the needs of the business and its customers, more quality information must be made available. These organizations also recognize the value of data warehousing. They know that a centralized, integrated data source can help them improve products and services, make better decisions and take steps to gain competitive advantage.

As you consider your own situation, you might ask yourself:

	How could quick and reliable information help my business?
	At what stage is my organization in the area of business intelligence (BI) and operational management?
	Have we fully considered what steps are required to get to the next level?
	Does my future include the appropriate availability management service portfolio to minimize risk and maximize availability?

Companies typically go through various phases of data warehousing. The first is reporting, and that's really asking "What happened?" The second phase is analyzing, or asking "Why did it happen?" The third is predicting, or asking "What will happen?" The next stage, what we call operationalizing the data warehouse, is taking action on that information.

Traditionally, data warehousing was used more for strategic decisions. Now it's being used for strategic and operational decisions. Strategic decisions are very important, but business operations don't change minute by minute based on the business strategy. Operational decisions include working with a customer at the front desk or in a call center. If the data warehouse those employees depend on experiences a system failure, for instance, they will have to change their business processes to overcome the lack of data. This is just one example of why it is so important to take a proactive approach to availability, applying risk management concepts to minimize the chance of downtime and prolonged outages.

That shift to operational dependence on the data warehouse is recent in the industry. In fact, we're still in the early days of active enterprise intelligence, but the trend is absolutely going in that direction. What we're trying to do is accelerate smart operational decisions in line with strategy.

Every company, regardless of size and level of technological sophistication, has the same challenge of meeting the needs of the business and its customers as quickly and efficiently as possible. The difference between success and failure often comes down to having a sound BI infrastructure that enables faster, smarter decisions.

In short, when the competition heats up, where you stand today is not nearly as important as preparing yourself to be successful tomorrow. T

Teradata Magazine-March 2008