Ajay Ohri

The divided world of Business Intelligence

The world of business intelligence is divided between the haves and have not � the want to be and the could bees.

Divided between camps of open Source and closed source

.Microsoft alliances versus IBM alliances with SAP alliances and Oracle alliances. Jostling like knights at King Arthur�s tables. Writers in the BI blogosphere are trapped in exclusive arrangements, their own quest for intellectual satisfaction and the inherent frenzy at which technology changes faster than you can say the word � Cloud manifesto�. There are BeYe network, Intelligent Enterprise ,CIO world , Company Blogs at SUN, IBM and SAS, superbly written individual blogs , blog aggregators -some of whom do share their knowledge out.But some don�t.

And the customer is confused- where is the intelligence in a divided business intelligence world.

BI Customers in a Recession

A customer is the most important visitor on our premises,

he is not dependent on us.

We are dependent on him.

He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it.

He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it.

We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.
Mahatma Gandhi –

And why do 1/3 rd of BI installs go wrong and what customer protection is there in an industry that allows 1/3 rd of installs to give negative ROI.

Divided we bill is better than united we serve.

Author- These are my Personal Views only.

Offshoring and Technology

The world is getting flat. Despite Microsoft �s attempts to reduce Indian h1 visa holders by sending some of them home � and then remote working from there. Who needs immigration when you can work at a low cost location near your family using Skype, PayPal ,and a secure remote desktop.Nobody reminding you that you are two shades lighter and your cost is lower so you should charge lower rates. Like charge less than an illegal Mexican immigrant sweeping the garbage.You don’t need health care in India, you fall sick there are tens of millions others hungrier and younger who will work at 5 $ /hour lower than you would.or 5 $ a hour lower than the Mexican janitor would.

But thanks to technology � you can compete with the Boston Brahmins without going to Boston. If American people can work from their homes and tele-commute for US companies in the US- they can certainly work for US companies sitting on a beach at Pataya. No Hb1 visas are needed for hiring mathematicians in East Europe � just internet connection, Skype, PayPal and a remote desktop connection.

And I have a dream-The only color that matters will be grey � the color of your brain cells.And green �the color of environment and the money you get.

Comprendez vous ?

History of BI Month

Here is a good video tutorial from a cool guy working for Microsoft. If you have 10 minutes 36 seconds to spare � then watch it here –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1y5jBESLPE

10 minutes 36 secs is all it takes

April 2 Announcement

Please note that the announcement on April 1 of SAS Institute investing 20 million dollars in R was an April Fool�s joke. I really enjoyed the emails, and discussion .

Cheers,

Ajay

SAS Institute invests in R project

A SAS spokesperson has confirmed to this blog that they have invested in the R �Core project to help build next generation algorithms . The new R powered SAS would not be sold as licenses but would be hosted on Amazon EC 2, thus users pay only for the time of usage.The shift to SaaS is expected to boost SAS�s revenue while at the same time helping small consultants and big clients like banks to cut costs.The official announcement had been planned for release during the RUser conference however the announcement was moved earlier due to rumors building up early this week due to leakages from SAS R and D ( called birdie leakages). The size of the investment is expected to be more than 20 million USD , the exact amount is expected to be disclosed later.The R Core team would be using this for much needed investments in GUI development and up gradation of the website besides offering R courses in East European universities. An expectation of an annual prize for R User of The Year is also expected to take place.

Also Jim Davis ,SVP Marketing ,has clarified that he did not mean to demean all business intelligence industry by his remarks at SAS Global Conference that

� Business intelligence is an over-used term that has had its day, and business analytics is now the differentiator that will allow customers to better forecast the future especially in this current economic climate.Business intelligence doesn�t make a difference to the top or bottom line, and is merely a productivity tool like e-mail.

He clarified that this was just a part of the annual summer marketing campaign and he was just doing his job as marketing person. Which person in marketing does not send messages against the competition,� he pleaded.

In an unrelated development, Anne Milley ,head of strategy at SAS has been appointed leader for video conferencing to cut down on SAS institute�s frequent jet flyer miles.

Beating the Recession Back

Interesting Webinar �Courtesy www.Smartdatacollective.com

How to Boost Service,Cut Costs and Deliver Great Customer Experiences �Even in an Economic Downturn

http://smartdatacollective.com/client/sdc/1/

The paradox of tougher economic times is that customers demand more value, not less, at exactly the moment companies are looking for more cost-effective ways to deliver service. Web and mobile technologies provide important avenues to both savings and quality but the key to success remains knowing more about your existing and potential customers than your competitors do. To win the business of today’s mobile, tech-savvy, product-educated, value-conscious customers you have to dig deeper, think harder, and truly understand their preferences and behavior. You have to deliver a customer experience that is superior to one they can get somewhere else or you’ll lose their business