For Business Process & Applications Professionals

In-Database Analytics: The Heart Of The Predictive Enterprise

by James G. Kobielus, November 12, 2009

Visionary organizations are adopting an emerging practice known as "in-database analytics," which supports more pervasive embedding of predictive models in business processes and mission-critical applications. With in-database analytics, enterprises migrate . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Refresh Your Information Management Strategy To Deliver Business Results

by Rob Karel, James G. Kobielus, August 11, 2009

Many enterprises lack a framework to ensure business alignment with their information management (IM) strategies. Yet sound strategy is critical for prioritizing IM investments. Business issues driving the urgency for a revitalized strategy include: 1) . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Fit Your Data Architecture To Your Analytical Needs

Forrester's Business Intelligence Data Architecture Decision Tool Helps You Make The Right Choice

by Boris Evelson, Rob Karel, July 9, 2009

Delivering business intelligence (BI) effectively depends on a data management architecture that fits your reporting and analytical requirements. Unfortunately, many data warehousing (DW) and BI professionals overlook the need to optimize an end-to-end . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

How SaaS-Able Are Content, Collaboration, And Data Software Categories?

Only Some Categories Possess The Innate Characteristics Suited To SaaS Delivery

by Craig Le Clair, Ted Schadler, July 8, 2009

Many enterprises are considering information and knowledge management (I&KM) software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions as alternatives to on-premise software installations and perpetual-license models. In response, I&KM vendors — old and new — have . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Massive But Agile: Best Practices For Scaling The Next-Generation Enterprise Data Warehouse

by James G. Kobielus, June 3, 2009

Information and knowledge management (I&KM) professionals continue to expand the scale, scope, and deployment roles for their enterprise data warehouse (EDW) investments. Today's most demanding EDW environments support petabytes of aggregated data, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

To BW Or Not To BW?

Migration Paths Are The Burning Question For SAP BI Users

by Boris Evelson, James G. Kobielus, May 13, 2009

The January 2008 merger of SAP and Business Objects created numerous opportunities and challenges for business intelligence (BI) and data warehousing (DW) professionals. The good news was that SAP now offers several leading, best-of-breed BI and DW products. . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Enterprise BI Survey Q&A: BI Professionals Recognize The Need To Focus Beyond Tools

Forrester's Perspective On BI Survey Client Responses

by Boris Evelson, Rob Karel, March 17, 2009

Business intelligence (BI) remains a top priority for many enterprises, but delivering successful BI capabilities goes far beyond just the tools and enabling technologies. Historically, foundational BI best practices in data governance, data quality management, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

BI Belt Tightening In A Tough Economic Climate

Practical Advice Applicable To Any Economic Condition

by Boris Evelson, February 20, 2009

As an economic downturn becomes a sobering reality, enterprises look for various ways to increase revenues and reduce costs. While overall IT budgets become targets for cost cutting, business intelligence (BI) applications and infrastructure need not . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Data Warehousing Platforms, Q1 2009

Teradata, Oracle, And IBM Lead, With Microsoft Strengthening

by James G. Kobielus, February 6, 2009

In Forrester's 54-criteria evaluation of enterprise data warehousing (EDW) platform vendors, we found that Teradata, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft lead the pack because each offers mature, high-performance, flexible, secure, and robust solutions. Teradata . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Data And Content Classification: Your Trusted Information Backbone

by Rob Karel, Leslie Owens, January 14, 2009

The information that powers your business — like a sales forecast or voice of the customer analysis — mixes data (such as inventory counts) and content (such as promotional strategies). Enterprises rarely store such data and content in the same place . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Forrester's Business Intelligence Data Architecture Decision Tool  (130 KB XLS)

by Boris Evelson, Rob Karel, January 12, 2009

This decision tool will help I&KM professionals evaluate their options for logical data architectures to support Business Intelligence, such as physical BI repositories vs. federated data access to operational data stores, enterprise data warehouses . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Topic Overview: Business Intelligence

by Boris Evelson, November 21, 2008

Business intelligence (BI) is a set of methodologies, processes, architectures, and technologies that transform raw data into meaningful and useful information. It allows business users to make informed business decisions with real-time data that can . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

Topic Overview: Must-Read I&KM Research For An Economic Downturn

by Matthew Brown, Connie Moore, Rob Karel, October 29, 2008

Financial bailouts, downward consumer spending, and roller-coaster stock markets are starting to put pressure on information and knowledge management (I&KM) professionals. Will industry consolidation mean gut-wrenching systems consolidation? How will . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Federation: Sharpen Your Focus On Vast Constellations Of Data

by James G. Kobielus, October 2, 2008

Scattered business information permeates many enterprises. This disunited data often conforms to various schemas and formats, resides in sundry databases and applications, and falls under the purview of myriad owners, administrators, and business domains. . . .

For CIOs

What Are The Hot Roles In IT?

by Marc Cecere, August 14, 2008

Near-term demand for hot roles in IT will be driven by the need for local and cross-discipline knowledge, changes in technology, greater emphasis on managing risk and the enterprise, and a limited supply of key roles. For example, business architects . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Really Urgent Analytics: The Sweet Spot For Real-Time Data Warehousing

by James G. Kobielus, August 11, 2008

While information and knowledge management (I&KM) professionals occasionally demonstrate returns on their real-time data warehousing investments, most business intelligence (BI) architectures continue to rely on enterprise data warehouses (EDWs) as . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Vendor Snapshot: Illuminate Solutions Breaks Through Traditional BI Barriers

by James G. Kobielus, August 8, 2008

Illuminate Solutions is a young Spain-based analytic database vendor that offers a compelling new approach optimized for complex, dynamic, ad hoc queries. Illuminate's correlation database uses what it calls "value-based storage" to greatly reduce the . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

I&KM Pros Brace For DW Industry Consolidation

Microsoft's DATAllegro Acquisition Is The Tipping Point

by James G. Kobielus, Boris Evelson, August 4, 2008

Many information and knowledge management (I&KM) professionals consider the data warehouse (DW) appliance niche as distinct from — and a bit less mature than — the market for enterprise-grade DW solutions. There is still some validity in that viewpoint, . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

The Global Information Management Services Forecast: 2007 To 2012

Business Intelligence Services Dominate A $7.3 Billion Market

by Tim Sheedy, July 31, 2008

Information management solutions are moving to the center of IT strategies as a way of driving IT and business alignment and delivering real and visible value to the business. And wherever there is a hot growth market in IT, there are plenty of IT consultants, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Appliance Power: Crunching Data Warehousing Workloads Faster And Cheaper Than Ever

by James G. Kobielus, April 4, 2008

Appliances are taking up permanent residence in the heart of the enterprise data center — the data warehouse (DW). DW appliances — in all their bewildering proliferation — are moving into the mainstream. The reason? They are preconfigured, modular devices . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Data Governance: What Works And What Doesn't

by Rob Karel, September 10, 2007

The demand for trusted information continues to spiral upward, driven not only by investments in customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management, business intelligence, and data warehousing, but also . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Data, Data Everywhere!

Very Large Database Issues And Implications For Business Intelligence

by Boris Evelson, July 23, 2007

The information revolution is producing mountains of digital data that are becoming more and more challenging to process and analyze. Not only are businesses generating more data every day, but our approach to data analysis (structured databases, indexes, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Death To The BI Data Silo? Not So Fast

by J. Paul Kirby, February 15, 2007

The infamous data silos used for business intelligence (BI) that isolate different business domains and obstruct innovation often deserve their pariah reputation — but not always. The right framework for deciding which silos go to the gallows requires . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The 10 Mandatory Steps For The First 90 Days Of A Data Warehousing Project

The First Project Sets The Tone For Future Data Warehousing Success

by J. Paul Kirby, February 13, 2007

Leaders of data warehousing initiatives have a limited amount of time to establish the processes and make the decisions that will chart the course of the initiative's long-term success. Organizations with the most success resolve several key issues and . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

Topic Overview: Data Warehousing

by J. Paul Kirby, January 23, 2007

Organizations collect data from many sources, transforming it into a common format and context and loading it into one or more databases for insight and action, ultimately with a view toward better decision-making and innovative responses to market factors. . . .