DataFlux

My dog Lu and I went hiking last Sunday after the rains stopped. At the top of the trail, there’s an abandoned missile site, a relic from the Cold War. The site has been converted by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy into a picnic area, and is a regular meeting place for weekend warriors, especially hardcore mountain bikers. - Read the rest of this entry »

Business data can be a bad thing. While it is critical for every organization that has such data (and most organizations do), ensuring that it is consistent, accurate and timely is a difficult task. The difficulty is compounded when you factor in the reality that not every data quality company can support business data to any significant degree. - Read the rest of this entry »

Many data warehouse and business intelligence projects are intended for the decision analyst – an information worker whose responsibility is to seek out intelligence about the results of processes and to use that intelligence to make decisions about improving the business. Lately, though, I have noticed an increase in interest in real-time predictive analytics as a business intelligence activity. - Read the rest of this entry »

You know that dream — the one where you’re running to take a final exam for a college course you never attended? And you’re naked? Almost everyone I know has had that dream. Well, okay, not the naked part. That’s just me. But that’s for another blog. - Read the rest of this entry »

There are many aspects of data quality that can be automated. One dimension of data quality poses a problem, though – data accuracy. - Read the rest of this entry »

Data quality companies and technology continue to be focused mainly on names and addresses, and business data. I suppose that makes sense, given the historical development of data quality and the demand in the market. - Read the rest of this entry »

I love reading CIO surveys. It’s always interesting to see what’s top of mind for IT executives, and how the lists change from year to year. In 2005, IT managers seemed to be focused on process integration. In 2004, it was driving supply chain efficiencies. And before that, the e-business infrastructure was a hot topic. CRM, ERP, and IT portfolio management—all grown up now and dressed in the finery of IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)—seem to show up on lists year after year, big, hairy, audacious initiatives that they are. - Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a situation I’m sure you have come across: someone in your organization has decided that a serious problem needs to be addressed with technology. A team is assembled to evaluate technical products, compare their corresponding features, assess the products’ integration within the technical infrastructure, make recommendations and then, finally, purchase a product. The product is brought in, installed, staff members are trained on the features of the product, you are all ready to go, and then…nothing happens. - Read the rest of this entry »

Years ago, when I lived in San Francisco, I had a love/hate relationship with one of the city’s newspapers. I won’t name the paper, because it is still around and has changed considerably over the years. I liked the paper, more or less, but I never considered it a great paper. It was too thin, and its coverage of certain topics was uneven. Besides, it had too many…well, gaffes. - Read the rest of this entry »

I have a new book coming out. It will be published later this year and I’m psyched that it’s finished. It’s my third book and this time I have a co-author, my partner Evan Levy. Evan really took the monkey off my back in terms of getting 336 pages to my publisher in a reasonable timeframe (read: months, not years). - Read the rest of this entry »