Seven considerations for unstructured data

As organizations compete with analytics, more often they realize that structured data alone isn't enough. Unstructured data -- i.e., data sets that have not been structured in a pre-defined manner -- such as text data, audio data, image data, and video data can provide a lot of value. For example, unstructured data can help to… Continue reading Seven considerations for unstructured data

Cloud data stacks vs. Data fabrics: what is right for your organization?

At TDWI, we’re seeing that organizations are dealing with complex data environments.  In our surveys we see that more than half of the respondents are already managing 10s or 100s of TB of data.  Of that group, 15% are already managing petabytes of data. That data includes legacy data and primarily structured data, but also new… Continue reading Cloud data stacks vs. Data fabrics: what is right for your organization?

Responsible Data and Analytics

It's been a while since I've posted here. I plan to do that more regularly. So, stay tuned! Recently, TDWI published one of our Best Practices Reports on Responsible Data and Analytics. These are primary research reports that examine important topics in data and analytics. Responsible data and analytics considers the ethical, societal, compliance, legal,… Continue reading Responsible Data and Analytics

How mature is your advanced analytics program?

Advanced analytics is being deployed in a range of use cases across business units and industries, especially as data types and volume increase. One of the top use cases for advanced analytics we see at TDWI is predictive analytics to understand customer or operational behavior. Statistical as well as machine learning models are used to… Continue reading How mature is your advanced analytics program?

5 Best Practices for Building a program to become data-driven

There are organizational and technology components critical for a business to succeed in becoming data-driven. On the organizational side, a key component to succeeding with data and analytics is to create a culture that supports these efforts. Companies that succeed are typically goal-driven, transparent, empowering, and collaborative. They have strong leadership that believes in data… Continue reading 5 Best Practices for Building a program to become data-driven

The Predictive Analytics Conundrum

  TDWI research indicates that if users stuck to their plans around predictive analytics, adoption would be at 75–80% versus the 35–40% we currently see.   Predictive analytics is on the cusp of widespread adoption. Many organizations are excited to make use of the power of predictive analytics (including machine learning) because they understand the… Continue reading The Predictive Analytics Conundrum

You guessed it – women still earn less in IT than men

Since joining TDWI about six years ago, I have been following and reporting on our salary survey. The report quantifies and interprets the compensation, roles, responsibilities, skills, and experience of individual BI and IT professionals. It also provides detailed profiles of the 10 most common BI and data warehousing roles, examining age, gender, education, salary… Continue reading You guessed it – women still earn less in IT than men

3 Best Practices for Becoming More Self-Sufficient with Self-Service Analytics

My colleague Dave Stodder and I recently lead a Webinar in conjunction with our best practices report about becoming a data-driven organization.  Audience questions included several about self-service. In particular, attendees were interested in how to make self-service more accessible to managers and leaders in their organization. Let me set the stage for self-service analytics… Continue reading 3 Best Practices for Becoming More Self-Sufficient with Self-Service Analytics

Advanced Analytics: What’s Ahead for 2018

2018 will be the year of the three As:  AI, Automation, and Advancing analytics skills In 2017, advanced analytics maintained its momentum in the enterprise. Open source technologies such R and Python gained ground.  Other technologies such as machine learning continued to pique interest.  Use of the cloud become more mainstream. TDWI expects these technologies… Continue reading Advanced Analytics: What’s Ahead for 2018

Three Organizational Best Practices for Becoming Data-Driven

Dave Stodder and I just finished writing our 4Q Best Practices Report on “What it Takes to Be Data-Driven: Technologies and Practices for Becoming a Smarter Organization.”  What struck me in analyzing the data for the report is that although organizations have embraced BI and analytics, they still have a journey in front of them… Continue reading Three Organizational Best Practices for Becoming Data-Driven