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New Blog Series: “Organizational Design for Analytics Success”

November 27, 2012 — Leave a comment

Having survived the Year-long assault by the Big Data Hype Machine I have decided to lift my head above ground again and take on a subject that is very critical in my mind. With all of the talk about which platform to use, who’s has the most features, who is and isn’t a Data Scientist, etc., I find that few are talking about the foundation for true Analytics Success; the Organization itself. I believe that if you don’t create an Analytics-Driven Culture and then foster it with the Organizational Design that is Optimized for Success then it is game over.

Within this series I will focus on the Top-Down view of how to design your Organization for Analytics Success. Some of the key Focus Areas will include;

  • Vision, Mission & Direction
  • Organizational Design Principles
  • OCM in support of Transformation Change
  • Readiness, Core Competencies and Competitive Differentiation
  • Leadership vs Management vs Dictum
  • Achieving Quick Time-to-Value/Competitive Advantage

As I prepare the first segment in this series there is a good e-book from IBM that is worth reading; “The Five Keys to Business Analytics Program Success:”

https://www.analyticszone.com/homepage/web/displayAcePage.action

Stay Tuned for the First Installment in this Series.

In Big Data, Business Analytics, Governance
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Information on Demand 2012_Post Conference Wrap-up

October 30, 2012 — 1 Comment

Nate Silver – Author of “The Signal and the Noise”

 

As we shift our focus from the mania of IOD to Super Storm Sandy and settle back into our weekly routines, it strikes me just how much I was saw and learned at this year’s IOD. Having missed the last two IOD’s due to reasons that I won’t get into here, I was a bit overwhelmed at first by the sheer growth in the number of Keynotes and Sessions/Tracks to choose from and the . I went to several Partner sessions on my first day of IOD (Sunday) to get a flavor for the InfoSphere Information Server 9.1/MDM Server 10.2 roll-out plans and to mentally/physically prepare myself for the activities to follow. It was clearly not enough. I found that once the official event kicked off I was juggling 2-3 sessions for every time slot available over all 4 days. I literally was slammed right up to the last event on Th before bolting for the airport. As I sit at my desk in the Client Site facility that I work out of I am having withdrawal symptoms in terms of the limited amount of information and activities that my days now consist of. I will soon be counting the days until next year’s event.

For the Captain’s of Industry whom follower my blog and Tweets, let me leave you with a few carefully chosen take-aways in terms of strategic direction and leadership;

1.- The leverage and exploitation of Information is, and forever will be, the most significant and sustainable source of Competitive Advantage that your organization has available to it. It is up to you to set the strategy and direction for your organization to capitalize on this. Do not subordinate this responsibility to your Marketing or IT folks. It is your’s alone. Own it and Lead the charge.

2.- Advanced Analytics is not a fad (unlike the term “Big Data”). It is a core competency that every Information-driven Enterprise must establish, nurture and make pervasive across all aspects of your business activities. To be successful, you must have a healthy mix of Decision Scientists, Analytics Geeks and Pragmatists who in aggregate are the core of  your “Analytics Center of Excellence”. Under your direction and leadership they must foster a “culture of analytics-based decision making and planning” for your entire enterprise.

3.- All Enterprises need true “Strategic Partners” in order to be successful. There are many who claim to be such, but few who meet the mark in terms of overall capabilities, track record, thought leadership and innovation. I continue to believe that IBM is uniquely positioned as “The Strategic Partner of Choice” in the marketplace, no matter what Vertical segment of Industry, Government or Academia you represent. However, success cannot be achieved by simply choosing  the best strategic partner. You must take full responsibility for the delivery of all strategic outcomes and manage/optimize the relationship to achieve this. I cannot emphasize this requirement enough. You are the master of your own destiny here and cannot be passive or dis-engaged in order to be successful.

Step up to these challenges Business Leaders and you will achieve the Competitive Advantage and other Strategic Outcomes that you need to remain successful/viable in your business endeavors.

 

 

In Big Data, Business Analytics, Governance, Information Governance, Information Management
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Information on Demand_Thursday October 25, 2012

October 26, 2012 — 1 Comment

How silly can it get?

Thursday was the final day for IOD and it was chockablock full of interesting activities and presentations. As you can see from the photo some of these activities involved fancy dress ala “The Three Amigos” (or whomever they are). Most silly of these was the “What’s Next?” soothsayer event at lunchtime. IBM, like other large corporations these days, requires their senior execs to humble themselves in front of customers and staff members by participating in such activities. It does bear asking “Would I trust the advice of such folks”. In this case, yes as these guys are among the best and brightest that IBM has on their team As a side note, It was good to see Irving once again after a long hiatus. I have very much enjoyed listening to his wisdom and insights over the years at Bill Zeitler’s “Analyst Gatherings”.

Day 4

For those who stayed to the end of IOD it was well worth their time and energy. Some of the best customer and product presos were on Day 4. I spent a number of hours in presentations on the Industry Models, Business Glossary, Metadata Workbench, Data Architect/Data Studio, Information Warehouse, Information Governance, Reference Data, etc. . All of these areas were integrated seamlessly into each conversation giving me ever-more confidence that IBM has worked out nearly all of the integration kinks across the InfoSphere Portfolio and has now moved forward substantially with the execution of their long-term vision & roadmap. This is a very good sign indeed. Many enterprises have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for this to be achieved so that they too can create a true “data-driven enterprise” without have to completely sweep the floor in the process (not that IBM would object to this).

I left IOD feeling very energized about “Everything Big” that IBM communicated over the course of the event. I was especially pleased to have not been assaulted by the term “Big Data” at every turn. Thank you IBM. Looking forward already to IOD 2013.

To my Captains of Industry out there, my message is simple; “If you want to create truly sustainable sources of Competitive Advantage from Information & Analytics then you have only one Partner in this journey to consider; IBM. Many others have some of the components required to achieve this desired strategic outcome, but nobody has the fully integrated capability of IBM when it comes to the end-to-end solution set & achieving early time to value.  i.e. People (Skills. Competencies), Process (Methodologies, Best Practices, Industry Segment insights) , Technology (Information Management, Analytics. Info Gov) and Culture (Change Management. Organization Optimization).

As a final note on IOD 2012, I would like everyone to take-away the beliefs that Information is one of the most critical assets that any enterprise has today. As such it is the full responsibility of the Business Leadership Team to define and execute the long-term strategy for its exploitation and governance. The IT organization is a key partner in this journey, but its role should be limited to providing & supporting the technology underpinnings for information and to manage the successful delivery of all information products as defined by the business. Until my Captains of Industry accept these responsibilities and accountabilities they will never achieve the Competitive Advantage that they so desperately want/need.

Adieux

In Business Analytics, Governance, Information Governance, Information Management
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Information on Demand_Wednesday 10/24/2012

October 25, 2012 — 1 Comment

Wednesday at  IOD provide another opportunity to drink from firehose of “Thinking Big”. The day was kicked off with two very lively presentations/talks  featuring Jeff Jonas, IBM’s Unstructured Analytics “Guru in Chief”,  followed by Nate Silver (“The Signal and the Noise”), who is a real Data Scientist by anyone’s definition. This was the red meat that the  assembled masses needed to get themselves amped up for Day 3.

 

Day 3

The 3rd day of IOD provided me with a wealth of opportunities to deep dive into some particular areas of interest/focus i.e. Business Glossary, Metadata, Industry Models, Information Governance, Customer Case Studies, etc. I found plenty of opportunities for this and was continuously juggling my schedule throughout the day to sit in on the richest of these discussions. One o

f the most compelling sets of presos were on the newly branded “Business Information Exchange (BIE). BIE is the V9.1 bundling of Business Glossary, Metadata Workbench and several other components in the InfoSphere Information Server stack into a “business friendly” suite for managing the enterprise’s Controlled Vocabulary, Business (and Technical) Metadata. The platform allows for Business Stewards and Information Governance professionals to manage Compliance, Impact Analysis and Lineage across their enterprise landscapes.

The BIE discussions continued into the domain of the Industry Models where I saw the long-term roadmap for the models from several years ago playing itself out in real-time. Th

e Industry Models are now moving into the domain of Information Architecture (IA) where unstructured information is organized using constructs as Controlled Vocabulary, Taxonomy and Metadata Tagging. This has been a critical requirement for some time now given the growth of unstructured and the rise of “Big Data: (yes, you heard me use the term in positive vain.

It is clear to me now that IBM has delivered on promises made several years back regarding “Putting the Business in the Drivers Seat” in respect to both Information Governance and Information Management. The entire Information Management Ecosystem is fully aligned with this ideal (Data Warehouses, Business Analytics, BI, etc.). As a result they are no

w without the exception the end-to-end leader in Business Informatics and Advanced Analytics. The portfolio they have created is not only Best in Class, but fully integrated from the Top Down and Bottom Up. Additionally, they have created the most flexibility along the way to integrate these capabilities into any type of enterprise landscape, not matter how heterogenous.

Captains’ of Industry take note. “IBM has positioned themselves as the Strategic Partner of Choice to support your organizations’ “Analytics Vision” no matter how large or small it might be. You owe it to your organization to engage with them in a conversation about  this journey at a time in the near future. Planning is critical to success so don’t hesitate.

Today is the final day of the IOD Death March and it is a full one as always. I will provide my review of the final day in my Friday (10/26) posting.

 

In Big Data, Business Analytics, Compliance, Governance, Information Governance, Information Management , ,
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Information on Demand_Tuesday 10/23/2012

October 24, 2012 — 1 Comment

Tuesday’s Theme at IOD was Big Analytics and IBM did it right. There was something for everyone in the offerings of the day. I was most impressed by the sheer number of Customer Applications by Industry Segment, much less the breadth of the portfolio that IBM has assembled since its initial acquisition of Cognos and SPSS.

 

Day 2

The day began with a presentation by Steve Mills, whom I refer to as the “Big Dog of the IBM Software Group”. Steve provided a good overview of the entire Information Management and Business Analytics strategy as it is currently being executed across the entirety of IBM. One could not walk away unimpressed by the sheer magnitude of IBM’s commitment to this space of the market, much less their accomplishments to date. It is clear to me that in spite of some very seasoned and formidable competition in the market, that IBM has “taken the hill” and plans on holding onto it.

For Industry Leaders out there take note; “Analytics is hard to do” no matter where you are starting from maturity-wise and in spite of you having committed your organization to becoming “an analytics-driven enterprise” it will be a long journey to get to such pervasiveness. Critical to success will be the selection of a Mentor/Partner whom will help facilitate wide cultural adoption and tangible results. Given my knowledge of the market, IBM is uniquely positioned to support you in this quest. They have acquired  a brain trust of Decision Scientists who come from all sectors of the Analytics Community. Two of the most impressive groups in the Analytics Portfolio are; the Decision Management and Risk Analytics teams. Both were constituted from companies that have been acquired (ILOG, SPSS, Algorithmics, etc.) along with IBM’s own deep bench from Research, GBS and SWG. They have a clear mandate to support Customers in accelerating their time to value and delivering strategic outcomes from each Analytics Initiative undertaken. True Yeoman’s Work in my view.

As we begin Day 3 I am going to “keep buggering on” (Sir Winston’s favorite line) and will endeavor to dig deeper into “All Things Big” in Information and Analytics here at IOD. I will be spending my time digging deeper into customer applications and testimonials as this is the real value in attending an event like this.

Stay tuned my Captains of Industry. I will report in tomorrow with an update and deeper insights for all of you to consider.

 

In Business Analytics, Information Management, Regulations , ,
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Information on Demand_Monday 10/22/2012

October 23, 2012 — 1 Comment

The Theme for this years’s IOD is “Think Big”. Most of us who advise to the business side of organization’s have no problem with this concept. We will see just how this theme pans out over the week.

Day 1

Monday was the opening for the IOD Marathon and it was a long one. It began in the “arena of loud” with the rollout of IBM’ latest Pure Systems appliance, “Pure Data”. This giant of an appliance (7′ tall) arrived on stage under its own power (complete with fog) and reminded me of something out of Dr. Who. This set the stage for many such major announcements over the day including a car giveaway (Honda “Insight”). I was sure that at that point I had transcended somehow to being on the set of the “Price is Right”. Seriously, a car give-away by IBM?

In spite of these distractions the day was a good one for Business Side interests in Information Governance, Advanced Analytics and Business Informatics. IBM rolled out major refreshes to their foundational InfoSphere Information Server 9.1 &  MDM Server 10.1 platforms. Both have shifted into the domain of “business driven” from both a configuration and daily management perspective. Finally, the Business will be able (with their IT Partners) to manage Information as an Asset over it’s entire lifecycle with a focus on Competitive Advantage and Risk Mitigation. I was impressed by IBM’s “Business Driven” roadmap for future expansions and enhancements to both of these platforms and supporting solutions.

In addition, I saw similar themes and approaches taken on the Business Analytics side of the shop with major “Business Driven” enhancements to the Cognos, SPSS & Other platforms, along with the further integration of new acquisitions into the mix.

There were a number of great customer testimonials and “lessons learned” activities as well. Organizations are really starting to break-free from  “speeds and feeds” to focus exclusively on the tangible benefits and payback delivered to the business side of the house. This has been far too long in coming, but is certainly recognized and much appreciated by myself.

Stay tuned “Captains of Industry” as I take on Day 2 of the IOD Marathon and report back on “everything Big”.

In Big Data, Business Analytics, Information Governance, Information Management ,
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Business Analytics for the Mid-Market – “Learn How to Use your Data to Create Competitive Advantage” – REGISTER NOW bit.ly/y2rNXI

February 23, 2012 — Leave a comment
In Business Analytics , ,
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Business Analytics and the Mid-Market (Part 4 of 4)- “Choosing your Business Analytics Strategic Partner”

February 21, 2012 — Leave a comment

In conjunction with a webinar that I am participating in on 2/29 ( ZD & IBM – “Get More from your Data: How Business Analytics Gives You a Competitive Advantage”), I am  posting  a series of four blogs entitled “Business Analytics and the Mid-Market“.

(To attend my webinar on 2/29, Register at: http://b2b.ziffdavis.com/webcasts/improve-performance-your-data-business-analytics/?tfso=10480 )

This is Final installment (No. 4).in that series; ”

To recap from my previous 3 postings;

  • Business Analytics (BA) is “the use of data & analysis techniques to understand your business in a a way that facilitates better decision making”. BA is “fact-based decision-making in real-time based upon a 360 degree view of the business. It portends to offer the highest potential for competitive advantage of any strategic enabler (much less tactical or operational) available in the business leaders portfolio today, much less the future.
  • To achieve true Competitive Advantage (CA) one must embrace the notion of Business Analytics  in a holistic fashion in order to create “a pervasive culture of analysis and numerical literacy”. The 5 components of a holistic approach are; People, Processes, Technology, Culture & Data
  • To achieve competitive advantage (via differentiation), much less sustain it, Organizations must make Business Analytics a core competency and foster its deep usage across all domains of the business. Business Analytics must be made pervasive across the organization
  • Critical to the successful creation of Competitive Advantage is the role of the Business Analytics Strategy. It should encompass all domains of your business and support the 5 Pillars (People, Processes, Technology, Culture & Data) of a holistic approach to Business Analytics.
  • A successful Business Analytics Strategy (BAS) is one that is fully-aligned and synergistic with the Organizations’ Long-Term Strategy (3-5 years) and companion Near-Term Strategic Goals & Outcomes (1-2 years).
  • The key to developing your Business Analytics Strategy is to find the entry and inflection points in your strategy’s execution where BA can be embedded and used as either a catalyst or an accelerator for success.
  • The value of having an Analytics Partner (AP) in this process is substantial and in the early stages of any organizations’ journey to Analytics Maturity they can make the difference between success and disappointment, much less outright failure.

“Choosing an Analytics Trusted Advisor to support your BA Strategic Planning Process”

At this point we have established that pervasive Business Analytics (BA) can be a game changer for every Organization. To achieve Competitive Advantage (CA) from Business Analytics you need a well defined Strategy that aligns all BA activities and outcomes with the Business Goals & Objectives (BG&O) defined in both the long-term and near-term strategies & tactics of the Organization. This alignment should be across all major domains of the Business/Organization. Fostering and leveraging synergies found in core information assets into Analytical Focus Areas that benefit the entire organization is the cornerstone of such a Business Analytics Strategy.

Developing a BAS requires collaboration and partnership with an Analytics Trusted Advisor in the vast majority of cases. Most organizations in the Mid-Market do not have the depth of personnel or base of applied experience required to create a comprehensive Business Analytics Strategy internally. Staff efforts are mainly focused on Operational Performance and Innovation Activities and not on strategy endeavors, therefore justifying the need for a Trusted Advisor as being paramount to success. Choosing a BA Trusted Advisor is an early step in your Analytics Journey (AJ) and should be done after a thorough and rigorous interview & selection process. There are many Business Intelligence consultancies who claim to be as good at Business Analytics, but one should be wary of such claims. Although the worlds of Information Management (IM), Business Intelligence (BI) and Business Analytics are merging together at many levels, the expertise required to develop a successful Business Analytics Strategy  is limited to a small community of Consultancies and Suppliers. In most cases you will have to take a long-term view of the partner whom you choose in the context of not only helping you to develop your BA Strategy, but ultimately helping you to acquire & deploy the necessary solutions & capabilities required to insure that the strategic outcomes successfully achieved. The Business Analytics Trusted Advisor will provide support in developing, testing and optimizing early Analytical Models & Data Sets. All of these activities will be complimented with an effective plan & activity set for Change Management & Cultural Adoption for your Organization. A holistic approach to your overall Business Analytics Strategy and its successful execution requires a long-term view of achieving success and the support of Trusted Advisor whom can provide all of these types of services to the levels required.

Choosing your Analytics Trusted Advisor does not need to be an arduous process. It could be as simple as engaging with an existing partner or conducting a quick survey of the leaders in the Business Analytics space who have focus areas on your type of business (Mid-Market) and industry segment (Service Providers, Software/Technology, Retail, etc.). The market leaders will all have consulting teams & solution sets optimized for the specifics of your size & type, as well as having a deep portfolio of  critical enablers for Business Analytics success e.g Strategy Templates, Specific Analytics Solution sets (Customer, Finance, Corporate Performance, etc.), Change Management collateral, Information Governance guidelines, etc. All of these elements will be required over the long haul as you move from Strategy to Execution t0 Outcomes. Additionally, your BA Trusted Advisor will bring an overall discipline to the overall approach by helping you to focus on early quick wins in your Analytics Journey, as you change your culture to being an Analytics-Driven one over time. The depth and maturity of your BA Trusted Advisors appraoch to achieving such outcomes while reducing risk to a manageable level is a Critical Success Factor that every organization should look from in their partner(s).

In the end, each Organization must define the criteria and process for choosing and engaging with an Analytics Trusted Advisor. Going it alone is fraught with risks and should only be advocated if the Organization believes that it has the depth of experience and know-how to achieve Analytics Success on their own. In choosing your Advisor one must look for a leader who has made/demonstrated a commitment to supporting Organizations of your size, ambitions and market focus. Only a handful of Consultancies/Suppliers in the marketplace rise to this level of distinction.

For more information on one such Trusted Advisor in the market (IBM), please check out the following links;

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/analytics/excellence-center/

http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bao/

http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/thoughtleadership/ibv-embedding-analytics.html

In Business Analytics , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Business Analytics for the Mid-Market (Part 1 of 4) “Business Analytics and Competitive Advantage”

February 18, 2012 — Leave a comment

In conjunction with a webinar that I am participating in on 2/29 ( ZD & IBM – “Get More from your Data: How Business Analytics Gives You a Competitive Advantage”), I am going to post a series of four blogs entitled “Business Analytics and the Mid-Market“.

(To attend my webinar on 2/29, Register at: http://b2b.ziffdavis.com/webcasts/improve-performance-your-data-business-analytics/?tfso=10480 )

This is installment Number 1 in that series; ” Business Analytics and Competitive Advantage”

In the world of business strategy there is one term that is is continuously  referred to by nearly everyone, but is only well understood by a few. That term is “Competitive Advantage”. In the early 1980’s a young professor, Dr. Michael Porter, began to espouse the concept of Competitive Advantage, based upon his research findings at HBS. Central to his new concept in Management Theory was the notion of “differentiation” (versus “disruption”, which came along years later from his colleague, Dr. Clay Christensen ). Numerous case studies have been formulated and books written on Competitive Advantage by Dr. Porter and many, many others since then. When I was getting my MBA at Wharton the study and analysis of Porter’s theories and early work were a central theme to the course work on Strategy altogether. For businesses to succeed they must clearly differentiate themselves in both tangible and intangible ways from their competition. The most used (but most fleeting) method of differentiation used today is Price (or perceived value by the customer). Advantages based upon price alone are short lived and very difficult to sustain over the long term, without core cost structures being inherently lower than all other competition. Pursuit of this lower cost of goods and services has fostered wave-after-wave of investment in new technologies and processes that promise to “change the game cost-wise” Little empirical evidence exists as to just how successful these investments were as competitors were quick to follow with similar investments of the own e.g. ERP, CRM, HRM, et However, what has resulted from these endeavors is the vast wealth of data that until just recently was not well leveraged due to poor Information Management practices and architectures. Enter the role and influence of the concept of “Business Analytics”. Business Analytics (BA) is “the use of data & analysis techniques to understand your business in a a way that facilitates better decision making”. BA is “fact-based decision-making in real-time based upon a 360 degree view of the business. It portends to offer the highest potential for competitive advantage of any strategic enabler (much less tactical or operational) available in the business leaders portfolio today, much less the future. We have had comprehensive Information Management and Business Intelligence solutions for many years now. IM ha provided a rich framework for collecting and organizing vast amounts of information from complex systems and unstructured sources (ala Big Data), and BI has provided a means to report and display both historical and current state information in numerous ways, but neither of  these have created true competitive advantage for most organizations (large or small). To achieve true competitive advantage one must embrace the notion of Business Analytics  in a holistic fashion in order to create “a pervasive culture of analysis and numerical literacy”. Business Analytics is not an elitest sport for Geeks or so-called “Data Scientists”, but must be regarded as part of the core fabric of the organization. It must be woven into every part of the enterprise;

  1. The People (everyone from the CEO to the front-line Knowledge Worker must embrace analytics as a source of competitive advantage and exploit it for the good of the business)
  2. The Proceses (every aspect of running and measuring the performance of the business, and governing the use & exploitation of all the information assets)
  3. The Technology (an Information-driven enterprise requires inordinate investments in the health & welfare of the entire information infrastructure)
  4. The Culture must be made numerically literate, analytics capable and driven by the desire to use information as a strategic weapon.
  5. The Data must be robust and represent all facets of the business. It must be characterized and organized for successful exploitation by the entire analytics-driven culture.

Once your Analytics-driven enterprise is firing on all cylinders, you will then realize the cumulative effect of your competitive advantage in such a fashion that no one can easiely mount a meaningful competitive threat against you or your partners without you being able to “pull the levers of differentiation” to counter it. In my next Installment ( “Where to use Business Analytics to Create sustainable sources of Competitive Advantage”) I will dig into the specifics of how Mid-Market organizations can successfully apply BA to their business.

In Business Analytics, Uncategorized , , , ,
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