BI and Data Management
Jun 01 2012
Be careful with agile methods if...
We've written a number of posts about agile techniques of project management on this site, all in a spirit of advocacy. A comment at my personal site on one of the most recent reminded me that agile/scrum isn't necessarily the right solution in all situations, and in some it may work but needs to be applied carefully. After that comment I thought it would be interesting to write about situations in which agile methods should be applied with care, if at all:
May 30 2012
Is My Data Really Mine?
My colleague Bill Wooten recently wrote about the value of privacy and shared his thoughts on the book “Privacy and Big Data” by Terence Craig and Mary E. Ludloff. I also read the book and was both fascinated and disturbed by how much potentially revealing data is readily available to consume. As a data professional, I get excited about combining data in new ways and delivering insight that was previously not available. As a consumer and user of technology, it is disturbing to know how my information is being used.
May 25 2012
Method for Creating an Object Prompt in BusinessObjects
On a recent project, there was a requirement to create a BusinessObjects Xcelsius dashboard that had a number of bar charts for which the one of the chart axes would be selected by the user. For example, the user had the option to display in the y-axis either the time period, product category, or location. Because of technical issues, we were constrained to using Query as a Web Service (QaaWS) for our data connection. Typically, we would tackle such a requirement by creating a different QaaWS connection for each different attributes that the chart would need to display. However, this can quickly become unmanageable as the different attribute combinations increased. An alternative approach could be to create the BusinessObjects Universe based on stored procedures and have the stored procedures handle the logic of applying the correct attribute based on the user selection. This was not pursued since we wanted the Universe to be usable outside of the dashboard.
May 14 2012
What is the value of your privacy?
Recently, a group of my CapTech colleagues met to discuss “Privacy and Big Data” by Terence Craig and Mary E. Ludloff. A common theme throughout this discussion was the ethical use of personal data.
May 03 2012
Earned Value - Bringing Business Performance Management to IT
As many firms seek IT operational efficiencies to speed processes and reduce risks, they often overlook a powerful tool which may provide a resolution. Using process modifications and metric derived insight, Earned Value (EV) is the logical alternative to increasing staff in order to obtain greater throughput.
EV provides greater visibility into real project status for all stakeholders and thus creates a scenario for better management of tasks, early determination of whether a project is in trouble and estimation of what will be needed to complete it.
The EV Process: