When I read a blog, I often find myself in deep thought as I approach the end, trying to determine if the author has said anything that I might be able to use. A blog doesn't have to say anything. Nor does it have to be useful to me specifically. It might simply offer a personal reflection on life. As a person who also writes blogs, I…

This is the second article in a series. The first article is available here.

How to implement a temporal database

Not every database requires a temporal database implementation, but some do. We can help you get started. As discussed in our previous article, the SQL-2011 standard included clauses for the definition of temporal tables as…

What is a temporal database?

A temporal database is a database with built-in support for handling data involving time.

This definition  is from Wikipedia. It is simple and straightforward. Since we expect every database to have some kind of support for time operations, we could say that all databases are temporal databases based on this definition.

The reality…

Your custom MDM solution: Don’t make these mistakes (Part 1)

Most MDM implementations will be based on a commercial software product.  By relying on a packaged solution, the architectural considerations have been addressed by the software vendor, allowing the project team to focus on the data management considerations.  However, there are cases when a custom MDM solution may be needed.  When proceeding down the path of custom development for MDM, we have some advice for you:…

Smart organizations are using the power of data science and data produced by embedded sensors and machine devices to better measure performance, discover patterns, prevent problems, and improve…

Understanding how data converts from data to information to intelligence can be seen in the flow across the databases in an enterprise. What is a data warehouse? How do we get Business Intelligence? In this video I explain the high level view of how large corporations like Dell evolve their data to the front-end BI applications.

#iwork4Dell

Business analytics comes in three (3) general flavors: descriptive, predictive and prescriptive. See: …

Relationships are built on trust and mutual understanding – if a company wants customers to trust them with their data, the company must foster that trust. Data governance and sensitivity about your customers’ data must be enforced internally and communicated externally – to your customers.

When…

Relationships are built on trust and mutual understanding. Building a 360 degree customer data profile facilitates the marketers’ understanding of their customers.  This in turn, helps marketers provide their customers the best experience and service, target product offerings, and produce relevant communications. The key to building a 360-degree customer profile is aggregating as much relative data as possible.  Centralizing the 360-degree profile in an easily accessible and robust…

The Impact of Big Data Analytics on Healthcare & Your Health

Often we take good health for granted.  However if you or a loved one has ever experienced a sever injury, disease, or other health event, it is often a life changing occurrence, which turns one’s life upside down.  Today, there is more information available to patients to understand the symptoms, outline event progression, and summarize treatment options thanks to the Internet.  However, there is…

Excellent customer communications is now a recognized component to drive sales and give Insurance companies the competitive advantage. Here are some tips when utilizing analytics to solve marketing solutions while keeping the customer in mind:

• Create a single profile of the customer. Use big data and data management strategies, such as refining existing platforms to provide the ability to…

Two weeks ago I attended the Customer Insight & Analytics Exchange in London, in which I participated as a speaker. See Maz Iqbal's account of these two days here:

http://thecustomerblog.co.uk/2012/07/12/customer-insight-analytics-exchange-highlights-from-day-2/

One of my personal highlights from day 1 was Suresh Vittal's presentation (Forrester). He…

There is no question that the USA (in fact, most of the world) would be well-served with more quantitatively capable people to work in business and government. However, the current hysteria over the shortage of data scientists is overblown. To illustrate why, I am going to use an example from air travel.

On a recent trip from Santa Fe, NM to Phoenix, AZ, I tracked the various times:

Past week I attended a Marketing colloquim where I was invited as a panel member to discuss the new realities of marketing performance and metrics. What struck me was the growing importance of Data across sectors and company size. But aside from the consensus that existed on the importance of Data in defining, adapting and evaluating go-to-market approaches,  there were a multitude of opinions on how to realise this – in particular on the amount  of technology investments…