DataFlux

I have a blog, and I’m not afraid to use it. I like to write about my clients in my blogs. As a matter of practice, I change their names not only to protect the guilty but also to protect the successful. I am careful to “anonymize” the subjects of my stories so that no one — especially me — gets in trouble. But from time to time, I want to herald the success of a particular friend who has made great strides in the integration, propagation, and use of corporate information. More times than not I’m told no, I can’t tell the story, no matter how interesting and instructive, no matter how florid my praise. Clients who want their name mentioned in print have gone the way of the tasty tomato, album-oriented rock stations, service-minded politicians, a bra that actually does the job for under 30 bucks, and self-parking. You just can’t find these things anymore. However, when we are successful in obtaining permission to use case studies and quotes from the likes of Royal Bank of Canada, Intuit, Amgen, Bell Canada, Intrawest, ING, CheckFree, and AARP, they are usually winning stories about how a sticky data problem got in the way of the company’s ability to do business. And the results are usually knock-the-ball-outta-the-park. “We’ve aggregated all the possible consumer data in the U.S. into a single repository,” said Peter Harvey, founder and CEO of Intellidyn. Not only has Intellidyn been noted as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., according to Inc. magazine, it’s also an up-and-comer when it comes to real-time data matching and integration from a staggering number of sources. Harvey, a financial services industry veteran, saw a better way, and is using data to trounce his competitors. He deserves all the press he gets, whether it’s from Inc. Magazine or yours truly. What about you? Maybe you work for a company that’s not a household name. Or maybe you’re just beginning your customer data integration, master data management, or data governance journey. Wherever you are, I’d love to hear about your experiences, both good and bad. So drop me a note. And remember to sign your name.