Midsize Insider is a valuable repository of expert content tailored for small-to-midsized business owners and IT decision makers. Expert insights and perspectives in the Midsize Insider are gleaned from actionable business experiences and will assist readers in creating efficiencies, cutting costs and delivering results.

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Mobile Data Consumption Skyrockets – from Terabytes to Exabytes, and Counting

Mobile data consumption is at an all time high, and is expected to continue growing at colossal rates - faster than data usage by desktop PCs and laptops. Mobile users are hanging up on costly 'cheap' calls, and using social ...

an article by on May 16, 2013

Take an Integrated Approach to ERP with IBM Business Services

Aberdeen Groups finds that best in class companies use service firms to augment their ERP strategies. Data mining for actionable ...

an article by on May 14, 2013

Self-service – are we there yet?

A couple of weeks I was having a conversation with a group at Enterprise Data World in San Diego about self-service BI. The consensus seemed to be that although businesses are jumping on board and implementing some form of self-service, ...

an article by on May 13, 2013

Data and Analytics for Midsize Online Businesses

The data and analytics for website traffic provide midsize businesses with the information needed to improve and manage a website. These metrics offer important factors when improving a website, which can also improve site revenue and traffic. Each site has ...

an article by on May 9, 2013

iOS Web Traffic Still Growing, According to Study

Web traffic from tablets and smartphones has been on the rise in recent years as users become more accustomed to using mobile devices rather than traditional desktops to navigate the web. However, even though Android has been gaining in sales, ...

an article by on May 9, 2013

How to Pick the Right Business Intelligence Tool for Your Company

Today business intelligence (BI) has emerged as a must-have technology for any midsize company, because of the versatility the field has within a midsize setting. By using a proper business intelligence tool, midsize companies can make sense of the troves ...

an article by on May 2, 2013

BI and Analytics – The Best Tools for Your Midsize Business

Using business intelligence (BI) and analytics tools in your midsize enterprise is one of the best ways to secure your competitive position. Research shows that companies that make good use of BI and analytics software enhance their financial position and ...

an article by on May 2, 2013

The Business Analyst and Your Midsize Enterprise

The business analyst has become an increasingly important part of the successful operation of any midsize enterprise. A result of greater reliance on software as a service (Saas) provided by external vendors is less need for IT professionals to be ...

an article by on May 1, 2013

How Visual Analytics Can Help Your Midsize Business

Visual analytics are an important tool for IT administrators to use to help their midsize businesses become more efficient and effective. Everything employees and executives do within a company generates data. This may cover planned production, sales, marketing, human resources ...

an article by on May 1, 2013

Work-force Science: What Employee Big Data Reveals

Big data is being used to provide insights on people in the work place, including both employees and job applicants. Dubbed "work-force science," many companies like IBM and Oracle are taking a closer look at what data, algorithms and metrics ...

an article by on May 1, 2013

Business Analytics Means Big Data Is Not Just for Big Companies

Large enterprises rely on business intelligence to maintain and grow market share. But because these big companies tend to be the most visible users of big data, are they affecting how the concept of big data it is defined? Is ...

an article by on Apr 30, 2013

Business Analytics Adoption in Midsize Business: Overcoming Barriers

A revolution has occurred in business. The new "business normal" is defined by disruptive change; now is a more uncertain time than any other time in history for businesses. They face greater demands than ever from stakeholders, customers, and regulators ...

an article by on Apr 30, 2013

Leverage Big Data for an Improved Customer Experience

A key challenge for companies seeking better customer relations is to use the large amounts of data they collect to improve the way customers experience their organizations. In a new study, the CMO Council finds that IT and marketing professionals ...

an article by on Apr 29, 2013

Big Data Barriers Between IT and Insight

In their 5th annual Digital IQ Survey, investment firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) recently found that four main barriers are standing between businesses and proper use of big data. The wholesale adoption of this type of data analytics is still in its ...

an article by on Apr 29, 2013

Building Computer Information Systems for Midsize Businesses

Small businesses can run on peer-to-peer networks, but as the business grows, it needs computer information systems that can handle the increase in traffic. Traffic growth can be internal or external. Online businesses usually see both of these metrics increase, ...

an article by on Apr 26, 2013

Analytics and Business Intelligence - Tools for Taking Action

For the community of IT professionals at midsize firms, both analytics and business intelligence (BI) are familiar terms that convey a straightforward meaning. Analytics is the art and science of finding patterns in data. As such it has been a ...

an article by on Apr 26, 2013

BI Tools for Better Analytics

Business Intelligence (BI) tools provide the architecture for midsize businesses to translate otherwise meaningless collections of data into actionable information that can be used to make decisions. No matter how complicated or simple, BI tools are often the backbone of ...

an article by on Apr 25, 2013

The Importance of Agility in Business

Agility in business is no longer optional for midsize businesses; it's a must for success. But what exactly does agility mean? The term "agile" originates in a process created by software developers that was focused on meeting users' needs, delivering ...

an article by on Apr 24, 2013

Big Data Adoption Still Low: Survey

A recent study completed about data management professionals reveals that senior IT administrators are still hesitant to make use of big data. The world of analytics has grown to such a tremendous size that professionals seem to be unwilling to ...

an article by on Apr 24, 2013

Using Business Analytics to Gain Insight From Large Volumes of Data

Midsize businesses face many challenges. With more customers using web and mobile interfaces to interact with companies, one of the most pressing is how to cope with ever larger volumes of data on all aspects of their operations.While the petabytes ...

an article by on Apr 24, 2013

IBM Business Analytics Solves the Problem of Big Data

Does big data help a business or hinder it? The problem most midsize businesses face today is that data is coming in at such a rate that IT staff can barely keep up with it. It's too much information for ...

an article by on Apr 18, 2013

The importance of time to value

The BI market place is flooded with messaging from vendors saying they can provide analytical platforms and access to information faster, better, easier, and cheaper. This is true in many ways due to the shifts in technology: storage is more ...

an article by on Apr 16, 2013

The New Face of Business Analytics: a 3.0 World

According to Thomas Davenport, writing for the Wall Street Journal, business analytics is moving into what he calls "Analytics 3.0," a combination of the small, structured data sources of version 1.0, with the big data collection and Hadoop warehousing of ...

an article by on Apr 12, 2013

Control Your Files On Any Machine With Information Rights Management

These days, when enabling effective collaboration, documents are often shared between users inside and outside of the workplace, it is vital for midsize companies to have proper safeguards in place to ensure that when they are shared with third parties, ...

an article by on Apr 12, 2013

Web Traffic: Tablets Beat Smart Phones

When it comes to web traffic, tablets rule. According to a new study, for the very first time, tablets are now driving more traffic to Internet sites than smart phones. The study is interesting for midsize businesses who aim to ...

an article by on Apr 11, 2013

Big Enterprise Data Provides an Opportunity for a Smarter Business

Enterprise data continues to undergo a transformation. The buzzword "big data" is ubiquitous in the media, appearing almost daily in mainstream newspapers and broadcasts. The growth of social networking drives both the volume and velocity of data, and the successful ...

an article by on Apr 11, 2013

2013 IT Spending Prediction Revised to $3.8 Trillion

IT research firm Gartner has revised its IT spending prediction for the year 2013. Gartner expected a trimmed IT investment outlook for the running year due to global economic concerns such as the US budget debates and the Cyprus dept ...

an article by on Apr 8, 2013

MDM Solutions for Midsize Firms

Mater Data Management (MDM) solutions enable companies to organize the processes, governance, policies, and standards that revolve around their common data. At one point, MDM solutions were only considered by enterprise-level businesses. However, in today's fast-paced business world, midsize firms ...

an article by on Apr 8, 2013

IBM Increases Business Analytics Clout with New Acquisition

IBM is making a grab for more clout in the growing business analytics market with their acquisition of California company Star Analytics. They haven't been shy about snapping up other business intelligence (BI) properties such as Varicent and Cognos, and ...

an article by on Apr 8, 2013

Business Process Management in Tech Firms Honored at Gartner 2013 Awards

Technology research firm Gartner recently honored business process management (BPM) in technology companies at the 2013 BPM excellence awards in London. The winning companies are British Telecommunications (BT), the Lego Group, and online insurance company Verti, according to ITProPortal.British Telecommunications ...

an article by on Apr 8, 2013

Is Your Information Technology Effective?

The continuing sense of frustration with IT everywhere has resulted in a shift to decentralization of roles that were formerly the strict domain of IT. Ultimately little of what IT has done has gone away, but much of it is ...

an article by on Mar 29, 2013

How Data Insights Can Help Your Midsize Business

Do you need to engineer a rapid improvement in business performance? Data insights can help you. Your midsize business can gain these insights by implementing a range of business intelligence tools to harvest, analyze, and implement information generated through internal ...

an article by on Mar 29, 2013

Gartner: Big Data to Skyrocket in 2013

According to Gartner, big data is of big interest to IT managers today. The research firm predicts that IT leaders will continue to invest in larger scale deployments to remain competitive in the market. As big data solutions become more ...

an article by on Mar 29, 2013

Sources of Primary Data for Business Analytics

Big data has brought business analytics to the front seat in market research. There are two types of data that businesses rely on to make better marketing decisions: primary data and secondary data. Both B2B and B2C midsize businesses benefit ...

an article by on Mar 27, 2013

Thinking Through the Forecast

I just caught this article in the Insiders Group blog and thought I would comment about our demand forecasting experiences and how they can be applied to the midsize business. About the sales forecast.  Or for that matter any forecast. ...

an article by on Mar 27, 2013

Big Data Analytics Takes Web Advertising Beyond the Click

A new study of advertising on Facebook suggests that the impact of Web advertising is more subtle than online advertisers have assumed. It isn't all clicking on ads. Just seeing the ads can influence users - an influence that can ...

an article by on Mar 27, 2013

Increase Customer Conversions With Customer Intelligence

In today's competitive marketplace, it is crucial for midsize companies to utilize technology to gain every advantage possible in the areas of increasing revenue while improving the customer experience. The field of customer intelligence has emerged in recent years to ...

an article by on Mar 26, 2013

The time is ripe for business intelligence (BI) for SMBs

The past few years have been marked with many advancements in technology – better processing speeds, higher storage capabilities, flexible deployment models, broader mobility, and a focus on business-facing software solutions. And all of these have led to better BI: ...

an article by on Mar 25, 2013

Compost Analytics for the City

This is a classic example of vehicle routing using analytics.  I have worked on problems as disparate as ambulance routing in semi rural counties and routing log trucks to pulp mills, to minimizing the travel of fork lifts in product ...

an article by on Mar 24, 2013

Reliable Sources of Data and Information Key for Midsize IT

To make the most of "big data," midsize companies must not only collect but analyze its constant flow. IT admins, therefore, need to both identify reliable sources of data and information for mining and leverage robust business intelligence (BI) solutions.Finding ...

an article by on Mar 22, 2013

How to Gain Deeper Insights Into Your Midsize Business With Analytics

Using business analytics can give you deeper insights into what's really happening in a midsize enterprise. The best analytics tools can help IT managers turn streams of unstructured data into information that CEOs can actually use. While much of the ...

an article by on Mar 22, 2013

Can mid-market companies really use Big Data and Predictive Analytics?

The question of the day is whether mid-market companies can really use and gain benefit from Big Data and Predictive Analytics. Although many companies in this category don't have a great deal of expertise in this area, with a bit ...

an article by on Mar 22, 2013

Aberdeen View: What You Should Know Before the Sales Call

Sales organizations have many more sources of information available to qualify prospects and understand when and how to approach them. ...

an article by on Mar 20, 2013

Adding Social to Operational Data in Your Midsize Business

Is operational data alone enough to grow your business? Every day your business generates more data. All your operations, both internal and external, provide additional information that can help you to improve your business. The issue with the data is ...

an article by on Mar 20, 2013

How Smarter Analytics Can Help Midsize Businesses

How can smarter analytics help midsize businesses? We live in an era of big, plentiful data - the issue is how to use it effectively, and IT administrators can take a leading role in making this happen. A smart analytics ...

an article by on Mar 20, 2013

Survey: HR Professionals Seek Big Data Solutions

A new survey has found that HR professionals are seeking big data solutions. For midsize companies, effective human resource software positively impacts morale and therefore affects the bottom line. The right analytics software can make a difference. Too Much Data ...

an article by on Mar 14, 2013

Embracing Information Management as a Discipline

Information Management (IM) is a foundation upon which companies are forging competitive advantage. Consider attracting customers with the savings potential of telematics and the claim savings opportunities it creates. It’s an absolute game changer in the auto insurance industry and ...

an article by on Mar 12, 2013

Customer Information Management's New Partner: Business Analytics

While customer information management might conjure up images of customer files and CRM software, they are only part of the story. Today, customer information includes not only traditional transactional and customer data, but also the wealth of customer feedback and ...

an article by on Mar 12, 2013

Follow The Money

Any sales professional worth her salt knows to “follow the money.” Traditionally, we interpret that as, “Who has the budget?” While that’s important, it’s no longer sufficient for sales success, or more importantly, for our customers’ success. We have to ...

an article by on Mar 8, 2013

The Unstructured Data Challenge for Midsize Firms

Today's world is full of unstructured data. It has been said over and over again that 80 percent of the entire planet's information falls under this category. To remain competitive, midsize firms must make sense of it when they can ...

an article by on Mar 7, 2013

Do or Die: Gartner Says Data Analytics Crucial

Stored data is a revenue generator for businesses, according to Gartner vice president and analyst Bill Hostmann - but only when it's properly analyzed and the results of that analysis applied. Speaking at the company's Intelligence and Information Management Summit ...

an article by on Mar 5, 2013

Information and Analytics: an Essential Combination

Midsize IT admins face the hard reality of big data coming from a host of internal and external sources, all of which needs to be stored, mined, and ultimately used to plot a company's future course. Companies must therefore find ...

an article by on Mar 5, 2013

How to Gain Competitive Advantage with Analytics

When you stop to consider the overwhelmingly rapid evolution that has taken place with midsize business, it's a wonder IT can keep up, let alone understand how to gain competitive advantage. In the last decade, commerce has shifted toward an ...

an article by on Mar 4, 2013

Study: Tablets Beat PCs for Search Ads

When search ads appear on tablets they are more effective. That's according to new findings which show the impact that tablets will have on marketing and advertising campaigns at midsize firms today.The SearchThrough search advertising, companies can place online advertisements ...

an article by on Mar 4, 2013

Gartner: Business Intelligence Spending Has a Steady Outlook

Business intelligence (BI) is now the fourth largest applications software segment, according to a new Garner study. Midsize firms are projected to be part of BI's continued growth.A Steady Growth PredictionGartner says the BI software spending market is set at ...

an article by on Mar 1, 2013

Pervasive Analytics: a New Frontier in Business Analytics

With its focus on more informed, timely decision making, business analytics has understandably become a buzz-worthy topic among chief executives and strategy makers in recent years. But the future of business analytics is moving down through the rest of the ...

an article by on Mar 1, 2013

Three Questions for Midmarket Executives to Test Your Big Data and Analytics IQ

The term “big data” is ubiquitous in business today, and predictions that surround big data and related analytic technologies abound.   The proliferation of information and diversity of opinion on this subject makes it difficult for midsize business leaders to determine ...

an article by on Mar 1, 2013

Process Automation and the IT Advantage

Business process automation (BPA) techniques attempt to automate specific IT functions. By restructuring resource and labor distribution, in addition to implementing integrative software, midsize businesses can gain several advantages through increased automation, including reduced costs and streamlined work flowThe Case ...

an article by on Feb 28, 2013

What is Data Mining? Midsize Firms Unlock the Answer

Midsize firms are unlocking the answer to the question: What is data mining? The fact is, it enables them to make better business decisions by analyzing all the volumes of information collected on a daily basis. It is a very ...

an article by on Feb 28, 2013

Study: Midsize Firms Demand Big Data

Big data demand is on the upswing at midsize firms. According to a new survey by Microsoft more than 75 percent of midsize firms intend to implement big data solutions by next year.Big NeedsMicrosoft sponsored the survey "Global Enterprise Big ...

an article by on Feb 28, 2013

Management Information System - Integrated and More Powerful

Traditionally, a company's management information system managed two kinds of data, operating and customer data. Operating data was internal and the operating managers had access to it. Customer data was for marketing managers, and the sales and marketing people used ...

an article by on Feb 28, 2013

The Cheesecake Factory asks IBM for Serving of Big Data Analytics

A lot of ingredients go into keeping restaurant kitchens moving smoothly to serve their customers. One of those ingredients is data - not just the pattern of customer orders, but the availability of fresh ingredients and a host of other ...

an article by on Feb 28, 2013

Governance Software and Midsize Firms

Midsize businesses are looking for effective governance software to manage their growing data. Technologies like virtualization and cloud computing have changed the game, as has the consumerization of IT and BYOD policies. As a result, IT managers at midsize firms ...

an article by on Feb 27, 2013

Customer Feedback and the Midsize Succcess Story

Customer feedback is no longer a "nice to have" feature for companies. Gone are days when midsize businesses could operate on simply the strength of their good name, responding to customer concerns at leisure. Now, consumers expect companies to engage ...

an article by on Feb 26, 2013

Big Data Analytics: Finding Order in Information Chaos

Information is constantly generated - and now stored - by companies of all sizes. This digital proliferation has been termed "big data," and smart organizations are learning how they can uncover actionable insights from huge volumes of customer, employee, and ...

an article by on Feb 26, 2013

Predictive Analytics World to Inspire Midsize Firms

Many midsize firms will be heading to Predictive Analytics World conferences this year to learn about ways to capitalize on the surge of digital data. Various industry professionals will converge in Toronto, London, Berlin, and various US cities, ready to ...

an article by on Feb 21, 2013

Online Analytics and Your Midsize Business

Using online analytics could give your midsize business a competitive edge. That's because, increasingly your customers are going online and mobile. A 2012 survey by Pew Internet found that 81% of American adults use the Internet. What's even more important ...

an article by on Feb 21, 2013

Content Analytics: What It Means and Why It Matters to Midsize Businesses

Most midsize companies view analytics as an indispensable business tool. It helps track email campaigns, monitor social influence, and follow visitors all the way from the landing page to the shopping cart. Content analytics puts an interesting twist on what ...

an article by on Feb 21, 2013

Database Sizing

Database sizing remains an enigma to many. The norm for years has been to “guesstimate” and pad. And pad and pad. Every level and every signer wants to be sure they have padded so the system does not need additions ...

an article by on Feb 21, 2013

Develop Your IT Competitive Advantage

A competitive advantage results from the unique characteristics of your business, and it allows you to perform better than competitors in specific areas. Traditional competitive advantages have been due to factors like location, cost advantages, team capabilities, and product development. ...

an article by on Feb 20, 2013

Data Integration Is Vital for Business Analytics

When performing business analytics, a wide variety of disparate data sources makes the overall work more unwieldy. Because of this, data integration becomes a vital part of any analytical solution. It is important to consolidate as much of any corporate ...

an article by on Feb 20, 2013

Can Your Business Benefit From Modern Data Mining Techniques?

Big data has become one of the hottest buzzwords in the information technology industry. However, due to the vast nature of the field, many midsize businesses now entering the area often are overwhelmed with the options available to them when ...

an article by on Feb 20, 2013

Big Data Platform--Standing Up to the Load

Big data is not just a buzzword. Big data is ... really, really big. It is estimated that 2.5 quintillion bytes--or 2.5 exabytes--of new data are generated every day. About 90 percent of the data now stored anywhere in the ...

an article by on Feb 20, 2013

The Changing Role of the CIO

The CIO role is changing. A changing business environment is redefining the role from a technically-focused one to that of a true business leader. We’ve been saying this for years, but this time, it’s for real. Companies are increasingly “meaning ...

an article by on Feb 15, 2013

Using Strategic Business Intelligence

Strategic business intelligence - the words are simple, yet many midsize businesses are unsure how to integrate a business intelligence system into their workflow. Part of the problem is the amount of data generated - it can be so overwhelming ...

an article by on Feb 14, 2013

Twitter Analytics – What Your Midsize Business Can Learn

Twitter has become integral to the online presence of any social business. After Facebook, it's the second most popular social media site (according to BizJournals). That's why it's important for businesses to measure their interactions with a Twitter analytics solution. ...

an article by on Feb 14, 2013

Information Integration - The Art of Creating Perspective

A great deal of ink and electrons are being spilled over the Big Data revolution. It is not hype. The ability to store and crunch data is growing at a spectacular rate. These vast quantities of data can provide a ...

an article by on Feb 13, 2013

Using Industry Analysis to Boost SMB Competitiveness

The ability to run industry analysis could make the difference between running a midsize business that is truly competitive and having one that is barely hanging on. There is a huge amount of data out there to inform your business ...

an article by on Feb 12, 2013

Business Analytics Gap Prompts Market Change

The 2013 business analytics market is one of widening gaps between expectation and application performance, says a recent Big Data report by research firm Ventana. As companies demand more from their business intelligence (BI) and data mining solutions, midsize business ...

an article by on Feb 12, 2013

Application Performance Monitoring for Midsize Firms

Application performance monitoring (APM) solutions are necessary for apps to run at their best. With the rise of virtualization and cloud technologies, midsize firms today look to implement reliable, integrated APM solutions to unlock their data analytics needs.The Wonders of ...

an article by on Feb 12, 2013

Trend Analysis: Using Twitter to Predict Flu Outbreaks

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University may have found a new way to facilitate trend analysis using big data from social media. The researchers have developed a filtering technique to help find relevant information from Twitter feeds. Using this filtered data, ...

an article by on Feb 7, 2013

IT Jobs Market Reflects Technology Trends

Cloud computing, mobile technology, and business intelligence (BI) are three of the hottest trends in the tech media world. Yet does all the talk about them reflect reality or, as has happened before in the tech universe, does it contain ...

an article by on Feb 7, 2013

ITIL Framework: An Advantage for Midsize Business

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of guidelines with a focus on service management. The ITIL framework is often behind the successful organization and management of a midsize firm's IT infrastructure. Today it is considered the most ...

an article by on Feb 7, 2013

Fusion-io Pushes Flash Memory Forward

Fusion-io just announced a new flash product designed for companies that want to convert a large data center to the fastest memory available. The move raises some questions about where memory in the data center is headed, and getting on ...

an article by on Feb 7, 2013

Developing a Branding Strategy With Analytics

Today's consumers have more options than ever when it comes to choosing products and services, which might find your midsize business in a cramped market. A successful branding strategy can help your company stand out from the crowd, differentiating your ...

an article by on Feb 6, 2013

Big Data Jobs Are About to Explode

With each passing day, midsize organizations accumulate more and more data, either through new innovations using existing infrastructure or through new endeavors like cloud computing. As the value of all this data starts to become clear, there is going to ...

an article by on Feb 6, 2013

IBM Lowers Cloud and Big Data Barriers With New Processors and Storage

IBM today accelerated its strategy to drive big data and cloud computing adoption with the addition of new Power Systems ...

an article by on Feb 5, 2013

Predictive Analysis: a Look to the Future

Predictive analysis is an effort to divine future behavior based on current and past data. Using statistics, machine learning, modeling and data mining, predictive analytics solutions help businesses make smarter decisions by offering insights about customer and employee behavior as ...

an article by on Jan 30, 2013

DNA Data Storage: Could Data Really Live Forever?

Data backups and long term data archiving in coming decades may be in the form of biological DNA data storage. DNA carries the promise of vast density and stability, and could mean that data could last forever. According to an ...

an article by on Jan 30, 2013

Data Mining Software - What Gets Dug Up?

Data mining is a popular term for one step of the knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) process, which allows companies to "sift" through large data sets and find previously unknown patterns or relationships. Precursors to the term, used in the ...

an article by on Jan 30, 2013

Big Data Analytics and the Rise of Intelligence-Driven Security

The big data era poses its share of challenges for data security. Data isn't just bigger: It is more complex, stored in more varied ways, and the most sensitive data may not be obvious. All of these factors can make ...

an article by on Jan 30, 2013

A Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Form of BYOD

Companies look for competitive advantages, especially the sustainable kind. They result in higher profitability, but their key feature is a moat. This means that competitors who want to duplicate your success will find it difficult. They have to figure out ...

an article by on Jan 22, 2013

Gathering Customer Demographics Using Business Analytics

Gathering customer demographics requires IT at midsize businesses to do more than focus on big data. In fact, rather than focus on big data, which has been the popular trend in businesses of all sizes for the last few years, ...

an article by on Jan 18, 2013

Gain a Global Competitive Advantage by Leveraging Business Analytics

In a digitized world, whether you are a brick and mortar or an e-commerce midsize business, you can use digital data to gain a global competitive advantage...if you know what data you need and how to put it to work ...

an article by on Jan 18, 2013

Mobile Data Traffic Surged During Holidays

Despite relatively low retail numbers, mobile data traffic continues to grow exponentially. A recent article in Forbes detailed impressive numbers for the mobile industry, stating, "In Belgium, the leading operators KPN, Mobistar, and Proximus all saw more than 100% growth ...

an article by on Jan 9, 2013

The Value of ITIL Certification

Information technology services are the backbone of every company in this globalized, online, instant-access world. IT in midsize business is one segment that continues to grow. As an IT professional, you can remain competitive and establish your expertise with IT ...

an article by on Jan 8, 2013

Has Windows 8 Closed Microsoft's Window of Opportunity?

It has been two months since the launch of what Microsoft hoped would be its new flagship operating system, Windows 8 - a move CEO Steve Ballmer considers one of the top three events in the company's history. The jury, ...

an article by on Jan 3, 2013

AWS Opens Door To Big Data

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is offering a new storage service tailored to the demands of big data. The service, called High Storage, will offer fast access to large amounts of data. For IT at midsize firms, options such as this ...

an article by on Jan 3, 2013

Amazon Web Services Announces Data Pipeline Update

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has unveiled a new round of updates to the AWS cloud space. The latest service addition is called the Data Pipeline, a workflow-based tool that enables IT managers to automate and schedule data workflows from a ...

an article by on Jan 3, 2013

Choosing Cloud-Based IT Infrastructure Functions for Business

Most companies have developed their IT infrastructure on three levels. They process some data locally, some on enterprise-wide systems, and some equipment serves to interface with external IT systems. For midsize businesses, local processing can mean a single location or ...

an article by on Jan 2, 2013

Teradata Bridges Gap in Big Data Skills With Free Certification Training

"Big data" has progressed beyond its initial buzzword phase into a business reality. Judging from most media reports, data-focused jobs are expected to increase dramatically over the next few years as businesses seek to make sense of the tremendous flood ...

an article by on Dec 31, 2012

Big Data Analytics: Food Genius Extracts Meaning From Menus

Startup Food Genius is bringing big data analytics to the food industry by using data gathered from menus to better understand things like restaurant trends, food concepts, and customer dining behavior. An article from GigaOM reports that the company database ...

an article by on Dec 27, 2012

What Are Analytics and Why Do They Matter to IT Departments?

Analytics is the term applied to the mass amounts of data analysis that occurs within companies that allows business leaders to understand and interpret client behavior.What Are Analytics Able to Tell You About Your Business?While most people are familiar with ...

an article by on Dec 26, 2012

StoreIQ Purchase Moves Big Data Forward

As the IT side of midsize businesses continue to grow, the question of what to do with all that unstructured data becomes more important. It's a question that isn't going unnoticed by the major players in the tech industry, and ...

an article by on Dec 20, 2012

Information Lifecycle Management – Keeping on Top of the Flow

Information is not static. On the other hand, the ways that information is used and preserved in an organization are not completely chaotic. Information has a lifecycle, which invites and requires information lifecycle management. Information is created either in a ...

an article by on Dec 20, 2012

MDM Market Has More Tools, Fewer Vendors, Says Garnter

A recent Magic Quadrant report from research firm Gartner shows that while the master data management (MDM) market has a wider variety of tools than in past years, those tools come from fewer vendors. With enterprise and midsize IT pros ...

an article by on Dec 20, 2012

Make a New Year’s resolution to re-visit your PESTLE and SWOT

As another year draws to a close, it’s the perfect opportunity to reflect on what your business or organization has ...

an article by on Dec 20, 2012

Instagram Changes Terms of Service, Spawns Backlash

It was bound to happen. It was inevitable. It was only a matter of time before somebody somewhere would figure out a way to take the countless images uploaded to the world wide web every day by average people and ...

an article by on Dec 19, 2012

The MidMarket and BYOD

The trend the industry is seeing where staff members bring their own smartphone or tablet computer in order to improve their own personal productivity is often seen in media reports. Typically this is discussed as Bring Your Own Device or ...

an article by on Dec 18, 2012

Google Search to Get FTC Antitrust Tweak

Google will reportedly modify search results showing snippets from websites. The move is one of several that Google will voluntarily undertake in order to allay antitrust concerns raised by the FCC. The Google search tweaks underline one of the basic ...

an article by on Dec 18, 2012

Two techniques to help define organisational success and help you avoid drowning in data

I was fascinated to read that the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, is apparently using a specially defined dashboard on ...

an article by on Dec 17, 2012

Big Data has Personal Potential, Says Genomics Company Founder

Big data is everywhere, and almost everything from an IT perspective. Any piece of information that can be collected, should be, and then it should be mined for clues about how - in conjunction with other disjointed data pieces - ...

an article by on Dec 14, 2012

How Analytics Tools Can Help Your Midsize Business

Want your business to thrive? Then you need analytics tools. These tools are the only way you can make sense of the ever-increasing data streams flooding into your business. Analytics is a growth area for IT professionals. For midsize businesses, ...

an article by on Dec 14, 2012

Super Networking

Been reading in recent Inc Mag articles recently and found this one by Scott Gerber that was on point.  Answering ...

an article by on Dec 12, 2012

Hewlett-Packard CEO Whitman Rallies the Troops

In a recent keynote speech, Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman tried to rally her troops, boost customer confidence, and reassure investors that the technology giant is ready for a comeback. It seems to have worked; HP's stock is up 3 percent ...

an article by on Dec 11, 2012

Predictive Analytics Outlines the Shape of Things to Come

The desire to get a glimpse into the future is an ancient one. But most of the methods people try in attempting to do so did not work very well. Horoscopes and Ouija boards do not offer reliable results. Even ...

an article by on Dec 10, 2012

Cloudera Valuation Shines a Light on Big Data

Big data specialists Cloudera just completed another round of funding, this one valuating the company at close to a billion dollars. This new funding makes it obvious that the smart money in Silicon Valley is betting on an explosion in ...

an article by on Dec 10, 2012

Business Intelligence Solutions Becoming More Popular

Business intelligence is a relatively recent term coined to refer to the processing of raw data into a usable format for immediate use in marketing and many other disciplines, including finance, as demonstrated in a recent article in CIO. Earlier ...

an article by on Dec 7, 2012

Harnessing Big Data: Giving Midsize Business a Competitive Edge

Are you on the fence about the value large quantities of big data can bring to your midsize business? If so, it may be time to another look at the reasons data is so important to organizations. Chances are, your ...

an article by on Dec 7, 2012

Midsize Loyalty Biometrics For Retail

I have been looking at both engaging and value adding  plays for the midsize business in loyalty systems.    I ...

an article by on Dec 6, 2012

Why Strategic Analytics Is a Must for Your Business

Strategic analytics is nothing new for midsize businesses, but new tools mean you can get more from analytics than ever before. For as long as people have been doing business, they have analyzed the factors that affect their daily operations, ...

an article by on Dec 6, 2012

Data Analytics: Vital for Optimizing Business Information

Considering the rapid growth of business information, even at midsize companies, data analytics becomes an important part of deriving competitive value from that mass of facts and figures. Having a well-honed process in place, supported by technology, goes a long ...

an article by on Dec 5, 2012

Business Intelligence: Key Tools for Midsize Business Decision Making

If you are a midsize business executive looking to increase productivity and decrease the costs of information gathering and analysis, it may be time to question your intelligence.Business intelligence (BI) refers to a wide range of technology applications and tools ...

an article by on Nov 30, 2012

Partnerships, alliances and piecrust promises

Announcements of partnerships and alliances come in every day. I seldom comment on them. After watching the industry for decades, I've come to view these announcements with a great deal of skepticism. Most midmarket decision makers would be well advised ...

an article by on Nov 28, 2012

HP Considers Freebie Analytics after Autonomy Snafu

Hewlett-Packard (HP), isn't having a banner year. With losses in hardware sales and a less-than-stellar profit outlook, CEO Meg Whitman needs some good news. The purchase of Autonomy - and with it, the IDOL information management product - looked like ...

an article by on Nov 27, 2012

Big Data Increases Mean Data Center Disruptions, Says IBM

Midsize IT admins often read "Big Data" as "big problem," since high expectations now exist not only for the collection of information but cost-effective use. To make matters worse, admins also have to sell the idea of data analysis to ...

an article by on Nov 26, 2012

Obama's Campaign Technology: Lessons in Big Data Analytics

Obama's campaign technology may have changed the game for future political campaigns. Instead of relying solely upon the track records of seasoned consultants to lay out strategy based on gut instinct, experience, and interpretation of the poll-of-the-day, Obama's strategy was ...

an article by on Nov 26, 2012

Social Media Analytics Benefits Midsize Business

While most midsize businesses know that social media sites are valuable online marketing tools, few understand how to monitor and interpret their activity on these sites.Social media analytics efficiently provide valuable insights into how well your efforts contribute to your ...

an article by on Nov 20, 2012

IBM Provides Ecosystem Financing

An interesting piece just received about how IBM is provide financing for its clients.  Quite a broad opportunity to drive opportunities for growth. ' ... IBM recently announced that it is providing its ecosystem of business partners with $4 billion ...

an article by on Nov 20, 2012

Improving Information Management with Big Data

The explosion of big data remains one of the most important current technology trends for the senior IT professional. It is important to realize big data provides an opportunity for midsize businesses to beat their competition by leveraging enhanced business ...

an article by on Nov 19, 2012

Can your organisation quantify acquisition cost?

If you’re a regular visitor to my blog, you may remember that I’ve previously written about the hazards that can ...

an article by on Nov 19, 2012

Gaining a Competitive Advantage With Business Analytics

Every midsize business wants to gain a competitive advantage, especially in a tight economy. One way to do that is by implementing a business analytics solution for your business. Everything you do in the company and all your external interactions ...

an article by on Nov 19, 2012

Understanding Business Analytics

Many company owners wonder how business analytics can help them. The truth is, it's the best way to keep your business healthy. Every business has streams of data generated from both internal and external operations. This type of analytics helps ...

an article by on Nov 19, 2012

Harpooned Orca: The Big Data Analytics Election

Both campaigns in the 2012 presidential election put big data analytics to work for their "ground games"--identifying the voters who supported them and getting them to the polls. And the analytics efforts of the two campagns had very different results, ...

an article by on Nov 13, 2012

Benchmark and simplify before you automate

A common challenge for businesses of all sizes is the necessity to do more with less; to deliver greater benefit ...

an article by on Nov 12, 2012

Nokia Launches Lumia 920 at Low Price Point

Finnish company Nokia has released a lower price point for the Lumia 920 than rival smartphones by Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. The low purchase price encourages consumers to purchase the model, which may boost Nokia sales and increase ...

an article by on Nov 12, 2012

Will Location Analytics Change How Midsize Interacts With Customers?

Location analytics may bring added value to organizations' data mining activities by offering broader and more detailed ways to look at customer behavior. By looking at what people do, what paths they take, and what they buy, it may be ...

an article by on Nov 12, 2012

Titan Supercomputer and the Need For Speed

A new computing speed champion, the Titan supercomputer, is now open to scientific researchers. In the near term it will be used for such timely tasks as modeling the behavior of hurricanes. Other scientific uses range from improving the combustion ...

an article by on Nov 2, 2012

Interview: Desert Mountain Golf, Arizona

Those of you who read my blog regularly may remember that I recently published an article entitled “Using Data to drive Sustainability”, where I referred to the Desert Mountain Golf community. Desert Mountain is a mid-size business located in Arizona, ...

an article by on Oct 31, 2012

Does Your Marketing Team Measure Up?

As a midsized company, you've likely built a talented, experienced, and energetic marketing team. If you've done your job right, you've created a critical mass of both people and skills that meet your needs today and, hopefully, for your future ...

an article by on Oct 31, 2012

IBM Cognos Software Pulled into Patent Disputes: Analyze This!

Patent disputes are nothing new in the technology market, but they have typically centered around consumer product usability and design. Now, IBM partner BrightStar Partners (BSP) is under fire for its work on IBM Cognos analytics software--and the suit comes ...

an article by on Oct 29, 2012

IBM's InfoSphere, SmartCloud Beefed Up for Big Data

Don't expect a mobile app for either one of them. But IBM is updating its SmartCloud and InfoSphere offerings to meet the challenges of the big data era. Amid the waves of consumer-gadget hype that are overwhelming tech news, this ...

an article by on Oct 29, 2012

CEOs Want More Big Data Access for Employees

A survey conducted by technology research firm Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) finds that top business executives want big data access for more of their employees in hopes that more people using analytics tools would lead to a more productive organization. ...

an article by on Oct 25, 2012

Using data to drive sustainability

Environmental sustainability is a dilemma for today’s organisations and consumers. Organisations generally want to maximise profits—but there’s increasing attention and ...

an article by on Oct 22, 2012

Big Serves and Big Data

Readers of my blog know that I’m a technology buff. After all, it’s big part of how I keep the lights on. Lesser known, though, is that I fancy myself a respectable tennis player and a pretty big fan of ...

an article by on Oct 17, 2012

Big Data for Everyone: The Midmarket is Included

A new catch phrase has been getting a great deal of attention in the information technologies market recently. Let's consider what this phrase refers to, whether it is really something new, the up and coming tools that allow organizations to ...

an article by on Oct 17, 2012

Google Policy: EU Cracking Down on Privacy

The Google policy of combining all privacy settings into one catchall generated a lot of controversy. And now it is generating some action. The EU is telling Google to provide an opt-out for its customers.For the IT community at midsize ...

an article by on Oct 17, 2012

1010data Launches Big Data Marketplace

The privately held cloud vendor 1010data has launched Analytical Dataspace, a cloud-based community that essentially serves as a marketplace for buying and selling big data as well as platform for accessing analytics applications and tools.Although the company is not new ...

an article by on Oct 15, 2012

Google's Neural Network Makes Advances in Artificial Intelligence Field

Google's neural network, distributed across 16,000 processors and running over 1,000 computers for 10 days, made some advances in the artificial intelligence field by learning to recognize people, animals, and other objects by "watching" YouTube videos. According to an article ...

an article by on Oct 11, 2012

Cloud Computing for Midsize Businesses

OCDQ Radio is a vendor-neutral podcast about data quality and its related disciplines, produced and hosted by Jim Harris. During this episode, Ed Abrams and I discuss cloud computing for midsize businesses, and, more specifically, we discuss aspects of the ...

an article by on Oct 10, 2012

Next Steps for Business Analytics? Gartner VP Says Precise and Personalized

Data analysis gets a great deal of press. It's the "next big thing," the way companies will get ahead of their competition or dig themselves out of a market rut. But with data warehouse layers and online analytical processing (OLAP) ...

an article by on Oct 9, 2012

TechAmerica Big Data Report Highlights Skills Shortage in Data Analytics

TechAmerica have released a new big data report looking at the role of government in big data analysis. The report details the current level of engagement in the area and also points to what the government can do going forward ...

an article by on Oct 5, 2012

The State of the Cloud

In my second book, The Next Wave of Technologies (originally published in early 2010), I wrote about the difficulties that many organizations face as they attempt to move away from antiquated technologies, applications, systems, and mind-sets. Long story short: Change ...

an article by on Oct 3, 2012

MySQL Users Say Big Data Isn't So Big

Big Data is hot, and a part of the Big Data buzz is that it is too big to be handled by traditional relational databases. But at a recent Oracle event in San Francisco, a number of users of Oracle's ...

an article by on Oct 3, 2012

Why Big Data is Like Porn

I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description ["hard-core pornography"]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see ...

an article by on Oct 2, 2012

Big Data Is the Future of IT, but Can It Really Predict?

Midsize business IT pros have a dual problem with big data: sorting through the reams their company generates every day and figuring out "what comes next" from that extrapolated data. Pundits love to talk at length about the future of ...

an article by on Oct 2, 2012

Rules and Decision Management

The large enterprise can think about how to systematize their business processes and the rules that they use to make ...

an article by on Sep 26, 2012

Social Media Marketing: From Monologues to Dialogues

“With social media analytics,” Ed Abrams and Jay Hakami recently blogged, midsize businesses “can calculate the ROI and assess the effectiveness of their social media marketing campaigns by tracking both the actions of consumers and the influence of their top ...

an article by on Sep 25, 2012

Don’t drown in data: Decision making needs curiosity

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing…” – Albert Einstein How does ...

an article by on Sep 23, 2012

Analytics as a Database Operation

An interesting example of how a mid market company can gather and integrate and leverage data.

an article by on Sep 21, 2012

Google Analytics: Powerful and Easy to Use. But is it Dangerous?

It's easy to criticize Google. They're a big player in the industry, worth billions of dollars and constantly in the news over one alleged privacy breach or another. The company offers a wealth of useful, innovative services. While lauded for ...

an article by on Sep 19, 2012

When it comes to projects, are you picking the winners?

Innovation is critical for organisational survival. Whether it’s a new product innovation, or creating better and slicker processes, organisations need to adapt to stay afloat. They need to find new ways to reach out to their customers, and new ways ...

an article by on Sep 18, 2012

GoodData Business Intelligence Services Promises to Make You Money

Big data seems to be the catchphrase of the moment, but for the company known as GoodData, business intelligence and big data is more than just mining data to find more efficient ways of operating or to save costs; it's ...

an article by on Sep 17, 2012

Google Upgrades Big Data Tool BigQuery with Batch, Excel Query Support Features

With the latest upgrades to its big data tool BigQuery, Google continues its quest for dominance in the big data services market. The big data market has seen rapid growth as enterprises search for new ways to collect and analyze ...

an article by on Sep 14, 2012

Google Violating Internet Privacy Laws, Another Government Authority Alleges

Google has faced a number of controversies surrounding Internet privacy laws as various IT security research firms, rivals including Microsoft and Apple, and even government agencies have leveled accusations against the way it stores and uses personal information from its ...

an article by on Sep 14, 2012

The Enterprise Risk Pendulum

I have been giving quite a bit of thought lately to the topic of enterprise risk management. In large part, this stems from the fact that I have worked on more than a few projects in which my client’s risk ...

an article by on Sep 13, 2012

Google Synonym Recognition: Pros and Cons for Midsize Business Websites

Have you ever done a Google search and realized that some of the sites showing up were related to the keyword phrase but did not exactly match the search phrase? This is Google synonym recognition, which is a part of ...

an article by on Sep 13, 2012

Is Data Tech's New Trend?

The tech world has seen many trends since computers exploded more than three decades ago. In the last 30 years, those trends have included Internet, smartphones, but now the latest trend may be related to software instead of hardware. The ...

an article by on Sep 13, 2012

Storage Market Growth a Sign of Industry Deficiencies?

After taking some strong hits last year due to manufacturing issues, the market for digital storage is roaring back to life with impressive growth numbers and strong signs of a bright future. While good news on its own, the market's ...

an article by on Sep 13, 2012

The Social Download: How Analytic Insight Helps Mid-Size Retailers and Suppliers

By Ed Abrams (left), IBM VP of Global Midmarket Business, & Jay Hakami (right), President and CEO of Sky IT Mid-Size retailers and suppliers are in the midst of evolving the way they are serving the individual consumer. Every Facebook ...

an article by on Sep 12, 2012

Sports Analytics Can Translate to Business

Business technology concepts don't always have to be first deployed in some factory or office setting, where the pure banality of the subject is enough to cause disinterest in even the most ardent observer. Some of the most exciting aspects ...

an article by on Sep 12, 2012

Gartner Says Open Data Better Than Big Data

The IT research company Gartner Inc. claims open data can prove to be far more valuable for generating business growth and innovation. The benefits of big data are less apparent for many small and midsize businesses because smaller firms have ...

an article by on Sep 11, 2012

Social Media for Midsize Businesses

OCDQ Radio is a vendor-neutral podcast about data quality and its related disciplines, produced and hosted by Jim Harris. During this episode, Paul Gillin and I discuss social media for midsize businesses, including how the less marketing you do, the ...

an article by on Sep 10, 2012

Symantec Corp. Releases Free Tool to Aid Big Data Analysis

The growing use of big data by firms is driving major IT vendors like Symantec Corp. to develop solutions that make big data analysis easier and more affordable, which comes as encouraging news for midsize businesses using or considering big ...

an article by on Sep 7, 2012

2013 IT Budgets Hit Stalemate

2013 IT budgets look to have hit a stalemate, according to research conducted across Europe by IDG Connect. The research shows that for the coming year, IT business and decision-makers were almost evenly split between supporting IT initiatives that either ...

an article by on Sep 7, 2012

Gartner Urges Development of BYOD Policies

Midsize businesses and other enterprises must think about policies to manage the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, say Gartner research analysts. The trend is likely to increase in coming years, and enterprises need to get ready. It is likely to offer as ...

an article by on Sep 7, 2012

Big Data and Hadoop

In this three-minute overview video, I explain Apache Hadoop and touch on some of its functionality. What say you? This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise ...

an article by on Sep 4, 2012

Windows 8 SmartScreen Reports Downloaded Applications to Microsoft

Microsoft was caught sending private information back when it released its Windows 98 operating system, and now SmartScreen will send application information in Windows 8. Microsoft has slowly moved away from privacy concerns and some newer settings check for validity ...

an article by on Sep 4, 2012

Google's Disavow Tool and What It Means for Midsize Businesses

In April 2012, Google released a change to the algorithm called Penguin. This new algorithm change hit several midsize businesses on the Internet that are now tasked with cleaning up inorganic backlinks. The Penguin update evaluates backlinking efforts used by ...

an article by on Sep 4, 2012

What a Reduction in Search Engine Ad Revenue Means for Midsize Businesses

Five years ago, you could come up with a content idea, throw up a blog, and place ads on it for revenue. Even midsize businesses monetized pages and external blogs, using ad revenue networks such as Adsense, Infolink, or Adbrite. ...

an article by on Sep 4, 2012

Oracle Survey Shows Big Data Brings Losses

Business organizations are accumulating big data at unprecedented rates, but turning big data into big revenues is still a major challenge faced by many businesses, a recent Oracle survey suggests. A recent CloudTimes article reports that the survey of 333 ...

an article by on Aug 29, 2012

Cloud Computing is the New Nimbyism

NIMBY is an acronym for “Not In My Back Yard” and its derivative term Nimbyism usually refers to the philosophy of opposing construction projects or other new developments, which would be performed too close to your residence or your business, ...

an article by on Aug 28, 2012

Hadoop Business Intelligence Training Offered at Big Data University

Hadoop business intelligence (BI) training is being rolled out at the IBM Big Data University through Jaspersoft, one of the world's leading providers of BI software. Jaspersoft announced that it would offer the training for Hadoop BI platforms at no ...

an article by on Aug 27, 2012

#ExpertSysChat Tweet Chat

I recently participated in the #ExpertSysChat Tweet Chat on “Integrated Systems & Virtualization for Midsize Businesses” which took place on ...

an article by on Aug 24, 2012

As ‘Big Data’ Soars, IBM Sees New Midmarket Opportunities

With businesses seeking to derive new intelligence about their businesses from the vast amounts of data they collect, IBM is ...

an article by on Aug 24, 2012

My Klout Score Went Up, but What Does It Really Mean?

Measuring social media influence may be becoming more meaningful. Klout recently announced that they have updated their service to add context and substance behind a user's Klout score. According to an article by the Chicago Tribune, Klout now includes 400 ...

an article by on Aug 20, 2012

Your customers want to be empowered. Are you selling them short?

It’s a difficult and crowded market place out there. Customers are more and more demanding and have unprecedented access to ...

an article by on Aug 18, 2012

Big Data Continues to Surge

The past few years have seen remarkable growth in the amount of information that businesses can accumulate, which has directly led to the growth of the Big Data movement, a movement in the business intelligence (BI) community that can discern ...

an article by on Aug 17, 2012

Mobility in the Enterprise

In this video, I discuss issues to related to mobility for mid-market organizations. Feedback What say you? This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions ...

an article by on Aug 16, 2012

PureFlex Expert System for IT Operations

I worked on several large scale expert systems applications during the AI drive of the 1990s. One of the areas ...

an article by on Aug 16, 2012

Behavioral Fraud Prevention Analytics Heating Up, but Market Cooling Off

It's all about behavior. New business analytic techniques don't just focus on data, but on what that data, in sum total, can predict. The behavior of customers, businesses, and even hackers can now be predicted with sophisticated analytical programming, including ...

an article by on Aug 16, 2012

CRM Data is Incorrect or Out of Date

Frost & Sullivan and IBM write about the problems with CRM data. The article contains many statistics about the problem ...

an article by on Aug 14, 2012

The Age of the Mobile Device

Bob Sutor recently blogged about mobile devices, noting that “the power of these gadgets isn’t in their touchscreens or their elegant design. It’s in the variety of apps and communication services we can use on them to stay connected. By ...

an article by on Aug 14, 2012

Why smart organisations move from data gathering to actionable data

Data is a main artery of modern organisations. In a volatile and rapidly changing environment, it is those organisations that ...

an article by on Aug 12, 2012

A Retail BI Case Study

Papa Gino’s is a restaurant chain based in Dedham, MA. It specializes in American-style pizza along with pasta, subs, salads, and a variety of appetizers. There are over 200 Papa Gino’s locations in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode ...

an article by on Aug 2, 2012

The Marketing Feedback Loop: Are Your Programs Working?

Today, marketing programs take on various personalities. Some are based on traditional techniques that rely heavily on outbound methodologies. They ...

an article by on Aug 2, 2012

Could Office 365 Change the Traditional Software Sales Model for Businesses?

Microsoft Office is one of the few software suites on the "must-haves" list for midsize businesses. Whether your business is writing code or selling tomatoes, chances are good that you have managed data in Excel, crafted memos in Word, and ...

an article by on Aug 1, 2012

IBM Analytical Decision Management Software Launched

IBM has unveiled its predictive analytics application called Analytical Decision Management which automatically correlates with and analyzes big data, allowing business organizations to embed hyper-intelligence into many business decisions they make. According to a CloudTimes article, this software is capable ...

an article by on Jul 31, 2012

SAP Poll Shows Growth of Big Data Use by SMEs

A web poll executed by Harris Interactive, in partnership with enterprise application software vendor SAP AG, shows big growth of big data adoption by small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). According to a CloudTimes article, this survey was conducted among ...

an article by on Jul 25, 2012

Embedded Analytics Offer the Business Industry Challenges and Limitations

Embedded analytics provide the capability to optimize business performance and enhance data relevancy while working within the confines of a single enterprise application environment. The technology gives IT professionals and midsize business users alike the ability to execute analytical operations ...

an article by on Jul 23, 2012

Last to Cool

In the current issue of Vanity Fair, Kurt Eichenwald writes about Microsoft’s Lost Decade (the naughts). In case you’re wondering, in the 2000s the company’s stock flat-lined. In an interview about the fascinating article, Eichenwald talks frankly about CEO Steve ...

an article by on Jul 17, 2012

Business Analytics, Past and Future

I have been a long time practitioner of business analytics, the use of quantitative methods to improve business processes. Starting ...

an article by on Jul 17, 2012

Analytics Education on the Rise; Companies Like IBM, SAS Offer Real-World Solutions

A wide range of tools now exist for IT admins of all levels to compile, analyze, and report data. But despite an increasing amount of technological options, adoption of such data analytics tools has been slow, in part because of ...

an article by on Jul 11, 2012

Mobile App Analytics: Google Analytics Expands Mobile Measurement

Google has introduced Mobile App Analytics, new reports that help quantify mobile app performance and customer engagement, something that IT analysts at midsize businesses may find of interest. The reports help to gather metrics within a mobile application at key ...

an article by on Jul 11, 2012

Data is not a Platform

Ken Oestreich on GigaOM writes about data as a platform. From the piece: And, if the data is becoming so valuable, then analyzing and mining it ought to provide incremental revenue streams beyond the traditional product-based business model. But consider ...

an article by on Jul 10, 2012

Security BYOD Tweet Chat

I have not been particularly fond of the public Tweet chat, an organized interaction between vendor experts and anyone who ...

an article by on Jul 6, 2012

The Age of Twitter's Platform

As usual, Fred McClimans got me to thinking with this blog post in a tweet: "Are we witnessing the beginning of the profitability of Twitter AND the end of its present value? @berkson0 @nigelcameron" — FRED MCCLIMANS (@fredmcclimans) June 30, ...

an article by on Jul 5, 2012

IT-Centric Business Intelligence Models Outdated Says Forrester Research

The world of business intelligence (BI) is moving away from the IT-centric models of the past, according to new report from Forrester Research. The report states that enterprise BI models that rely heavily on IT for reporting are "unsustainable," as ...

an article by on Jul 5, 2012

Big Data Lessons from Orbitz

One of the week’s interesting technology stories was On Orbitz, Mac Users Steered to Pricier Hotels, an article by Dana ...

an article by on Jun 28, 2012

Global Food Supply Chain Improvement and Protection

I just got a chance to interview N2N Global, a business intelligence and analytics provider for food supply chains...

an article by on Jun 26, 2012

The NFL and Data Resistance

The National Football League is nothing less than the acme of contemporary American sports. Ratings are off the charts and the league’s recent TV deal represents the standards by which other leagues are ultimately judged. (Spoiler: they wish that they ...

an article by on Jun 26, 2012

Supercomputer: US Regains Cutting-Edge Lead

The United States has regained the crown for the world's most powerful supercomputer. The Top500 list, released at the International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg, gave the title to an IBM Blue Gene/Q computer called Sequoia. It achieved a processing speed ...

an article by on Jun 25, 2012

Performance Analytics: Good for Tennis, Now Loved by Business

Tennis viewers now take it for granted that before a match at Wimbledon or the US, French, or Australian Open that they will be treated to a slew of information about players and their chances in the tournament based on ...

an article by on Jun 25, 2012

From Business Rules to Business Values

Few would argue that over the past ten years the pace of change has increased significantly in business. Now more ...

an article by on Jun 22, 2012

HP Gemini Server: Keeping Cool Under Pressure

The easiest way to keep a data center cool is to stop it from overheating in the first place, and this is one of the goals of the newly announced HP Gemini server platform. It will be suited to tasks ...

an article by on Jun 21, 2012

Mining Analytics Data Without Getting Egg on Your Face

Midsize companies are inundated with promises about how analytics data, when properly mined, can have a transformative impact on their business. But what sounds great on paper and in e-mails often becomes much more complicated once it's put into practice, ...

an article by on Jun 20, 2012

"New Analytics" Revolutionizes BI Practices

The emergence of novel technologies like social networking and mobile computing have had a major impact on business intelligence (BI). "New analytics," a term consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) uses to describe the new era of BI and data analysis, is ...

an article by on Jun 19, 2012

Business Analytics Defined as Much by "Where" as by "What"

Dealing with Big Data has been a top priority for businesses over the last several years; as terabytes and petabytes of information are generated, even small and midsize business IT admins must make sense of it all, of finding patterns ...

an article by on Jun 18, 2012

Dot What? ICANN to Release New Top-Level Domain Names

Since January 12, 2012, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has accepted about 2,100 applications for new domains. Currently, the Web is made up of 22 top-level domains that everyone is familiar with, such as .com, .net, ...

an article by on Jun 15, 2012

Business Leaders Invest in IT and Focus on KPIs, Survey Finds

A recent blind survey conducted by HP has found that business leaders, as opposed to business "laggards," are distinguished by their investment and savvy use of IT and also by their strategically aligned key performance indicators (KPIs), with an emphasis ...

an article by on Jun 15, 2012

The Graystone Effects of Big Data

As a big data geek and a big fan of science fiction, I was intrigued by Zoe Graystone, the central ...

an article by on Jun 14, 2012

Midmarket Study and My Experience

Have always been interested in how smaller to mid size companies can utilize large enterprise technologies and processes. Having worked ...

an article by on Jun 13, 2012

2012 IBM Global CEO Study: Analytics and Social Media Drive Innovation

The latest IBM CEO study released today presents a well-rounded look at how CEOs are steering their businesses in today's global market, and the information should be studied closely by those in the mid-market where a majority of today's business ...

an article by on Jun 13, 2012

Hyperadvocacy Patterns on Twitter: Research Sheds Light on Relevant Social Analytics Parameters

A researcher from the Georgia Institute of Technology has identified four Twitter behaviors that capture hyperadvocacy patterns, distinguishing propaganda from the Tweets of ordinary Twitter users. The results of the study could lead to new techniques that will aid IT ...

an article by on Jun 8, 2012

MIT and Intel Partner Up to Advance Big Data

Businesses have long been utilizing data analysis to increase sales, improve customer retention, streamline processes, maximize performance, and minimize risks. But the dawn of supercomputing is set to revolutionize business analytics: Advancements in technology now enable organizations to extract meaningful ...

an article by on Jun 8, 2012

Windows XP Demise Is Imminent as Microsoft Gears Up for Windows 8

Failing to start migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 could place your midsize company behind the eight ball, costing your company thousands of dollars in support costs, according to PCWorld. Although Microsoft has campaigned for XP users to upgrade ...

an article by on Jun 8, 2012

Analytics ROI Tied to Broad Use, New Study Finds

In the new technology market, ROI is king. It's not enough to advance a solution that will perform well over time but which can't adapt to the raging influx of big data, nor are CEOs and managers willing to increase ...

an article by on Jun 8, 2012

The IT threat that could kill your growing company

hazard a guess that if you were to hear the phrase “IT threat”, you would immediately think of viruses, worms, ...

an article by on Jun 7, 2012

New Smarter IBM Analytics

The quantity of financial sector data is increasing at some 70% a year, says an article in CIO. So it ...

an article by on Jun 6, 2012

Google and the DMCA Process: New Report Shows Upward Trend in Copyright Infringement Claims

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) protects copyright holders from having their works copied and distributed on the Internet. Have you ever had your content stolen online? Google devalues websites with significant amounts of duplicate content across the website. For ...

an article by on Jun 4, 2012

Your Business Analytics Strategy: Why Choosing the Right Department Matters

The market for business analytics is going nowhere but up, thanks to more sophisticated ways to predict customer behaviour and analyze large sets of data. But slick software isn't the only thing that's going to inform midsize business success, no ...

an article by on Jun 4, 2012

Microsoft's Flat Datacenter Storage Sets a New Speed Record

As big data gets bigger and companies seek to quantify every aspect of their business, the need for not only efficient analytics but the ability to quickly sort through reams of heterogeneous information is essential. Old-school computing systems, which saw ...

an article by on May 31, 2012

Data Analytics Is Revolutionizing Health Care and the Mid-Market

The big deal surrounding analytics and big data in general has always been an abstract notion of what they can do for businesses and organizations, especially for those in the mid-market who have a massive amount of stored data but ...

an article by on May 31, 2012

Word of Mouth has become Word of Data

In a previous post about overcoming information asymmetry, I discussed one of the ways that customers are changing the balance ...

an article by on May 31, 2012

Yahoo Genome Joins Market as Service-Based Analytics Solution

Yahoo announced this week that it will join the quickly expanding world of business analytics with its marketing- and advertising-focused Yahoo Genome project, scheduled for release in July. The company's foray into business intelligence (BI) follows other industry power players ...

an article by on May 30, 2012

SMBs Barrier to Big Data Analytics

One out of every three American mid-market businesses are interested in big data analytics. But there is one important thing is preventing them from moving ahead: the lack of expertise to implement the right solutions.Techaisle published a press release on ...

an article by on May 30, 2012

CIOs Know Remarkably Little About Their Networks

A new survey out of Europe raises some serious concerns about corporate networks and the people that run them. As data and bandwidth needs continue to skyrocket in the wake of cloud computing and ever more powerful applications, CIOs need ...

an article by on May 29, 2012

EMC World 2012: Big Data Is Changing Everything

The growth of centralized computing has led to a massive spike in the amount of data that businesses have collected over the past few years. At EMC's annual conference, the company's leaders highlight this fact as one that has the ...

an article by on May 29, 2012

Consumer Insights lead to Better Tickets for Fans, Increased Sales for Promoters

Remember the days of camping out and waiting in line for hours for concert tickets? Chances are the last time you purchased event tickets, it involved a few minutes on your smartphone or tablet, not hours on a sidewalk. You’re ...

an article by on May 23, 2012

The New Business Intelligence Is Changing the Game

In-memory analytics may have begun as the natural progression from disk-based analytics, but the new technology may be changing both IT and business much faster than anyone could have expected. New reports of companies shaving months off of project times ...

an article by on May 22, 2012

Information Asymmetry versus Empowered Customers

Information asymmetry is a term from economics describing how one party involved in a transaction typically has more or better ...

an article by on May 22, 2012

Digital IQ a Necessary Number for Midsize IT Admins

Everyone wants to talk about business intelligence (BI). Providers want to talk about it because they want you to buy their products and subscribe to services, while CEOs and project managers are certain if they don't use BI technology they'll ...

an article by on May 22, 2012

A Business Intelligence Tool

I have worked for a number of small and medium size business intelligence applications.  When a business has to address these kinds of problems without a consultant it is often an issue to properly scope out the problem.  or at ...

an article by on May 21, 2012

Yahoo Genome: Looking to Crunch Big Data

Yahoo Genome is a tool designed to help online marketers analyze large data sets, allowing them to target advertising more accurately. Yahoo's move into Big Data analytics comes just weeks after Google launched its own Big Data tool set.For Yahoo, ...

an article by on May 17, 2012

HTC EVO Hoping to Make Mobile Business Inroads in Competitive Market

If you have a business, you need a smartphone. If you're an employee, if you're a manager, if you're an IT pro--you need a smartphone. So goes the line we're being sold by mobile communications companies across the globe, and ...

an article by on May 17, 2012

Does your organisation know its VIPs?

What do you think of when you hear someone described as a VIP? If you’re anything like me, the term ...

an article by on May 14, 2012

Google v. Oracle: What the Verdict Could Mean for APIs

The partial verdict in the Oracle-Google trial found that Google had infringed on Oracle's copyright of 37 APIs. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the key question of whether Google's use of the APIs fell under the ...

an article by on May 11, 2012

New Mobile Apps Offer Midsize Businesses Easier Ways to Perform

It's no surprise that mobile technology is starting to dominate the business cloud; devices like Windows phones, iPads, and Android-based tablets have been using cloud-like structures to communicate for years. They would have advanced the cloud agenda even if platform ...

an article by on May 10, 2012

Real Business Intelligence for Midsize Companies Means Asking the Right Questions

Cloud-based business intelligence (BI) software solutions are on the rise, and their popularity is now such that midsize businesses are sure they need to have at least one analytics solution in-house to maximize their ROI. Unfortunately, many companies aren't sure ...

an article by on May 10, 2012

Predictive Analytics Goes Deep, Catches Pass From Tech Giant IBM

Beyond the simple data analysis of standard business intelligence (BI) software, predictive analytics solutions give midsize IT the ability to not just crunch numbers but get a glimpse of what the future may hold--this is an invaluable asset in the ...

an article by on May 4, 2012

SAP HANA Versus Oracle: Scenes From the Database Wars

Vishal Sikka, head of technology at SAP, did not mince words in responding to criticism from Oracle. He described Oracle comments on SAP HANA as "falsehoods." The campaign-style rhetoric underlines the stakes for vendors of database-related technology. What started the ...

an article by on May 4, 2012

Outgrowing Your Systems

In this video, I discuss mid-market organizations that have outgrown their legacy applications–and what they should do about it. Feedback What say you? This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses ...

an article by on May 3, 2012

Millennials and the New Data Mind-Set

Let’s face it: As a group, Millennials don’t have the best of reputations, at least among many old-school cognoscenti. They’re always texting. They tweet too much and don’t read proper books. And we older folks believe that their collective dismissal ...

an article by on May 3, 2012

Listen to the things your customers don’t tell you!

Product development is an important task for companies of all sizes. Carried out effectively it is an essential way to ...

an article by on May 2, 2012

"Facebook of Medicine" a Potential Model for Midsized Business?

Researcher Leslie Saxon recently announced everyheartbeat.org, an ambitious "Facebook of medicine" network that allows users to record their heartbeats. Eventually, Saxon hopes that the site will become a health repository of big data for researchers to study health patterns and ...

an article by on Apr 30, 2012

Big Data Brought to You by Cloudera and IBM

IBM recently announced their partnership with Palo Alto start-up Cloudera. Cloudera's Distribution Including Apache Hadoop (CDH) as well as its Manager is meshing with IBM's Big Data platform to deliver unprecedented business intelligence solutions. This is outstanding news for midsize ...

an article by on Apr 30, 2012

From Nuts.com to Web Traffic Decline: Lessons Learned for Midsized Business

When the family owned and operated Newark Nut Company expanded from a bricks-and-mortar dried fruit and nuts business to a Web presence, it found that the desirable domain name, Nuts.com, was already taken. The company instead went with NutsOnline.com, and ...

an article by on Apr 30, 2012

Radius Launches Small Business Sales Intelligence Platform

Radius, the newly rebranded company formerly known as Fwix, is closing the small business sales intelligence gap with a new application targeting the smaller firms. The small business market comprises approximately 65 percent of the US economy, yet it is ...

an article by on Apr 30, 2012

Intel-Cray Deal: Maximum Overdrive?

Intel has reached an agreement to buy critical technologies from supercomputer-maker Cray. The Intel-Cray alliance underlines Intel's efforts to beef up its high-end technologies. In the broader picture the deal shows the industry commitment to maximum performance. This performance is ...

an article by on Apr 27, 2012

New Security Analytics Offerings Are the Next Big Step in Network Security

As company data and systems become more and more valuable, the community of criminals interested in accessing those systems are only growing stronger and better funded. Many mid-market companies that once thought their information worthless to all but their competitors ...

an article by on Apr 27, 2012

IBM Linux Support Gets an Upgrade

IBM announced boosts for its Linux support, including expert integrated systems and Linux-specific PowerLinux servers. While the IBM-Linux relationship is long-standing (Big Blue has provided Linux support since 1999), these developments underline a growing trend toward open source support by ...

an article by on Apr 27, 2012

Fujitsu Develops Big Data Solution but Faces Industry-Wide Skills Gap

The growth of powerful computing solutions over the past few years has given businesses of all sizes the ability to capture massive amounts of information. Turning that information into actionable intelligence, a process called "big data," may seem simple on ...

an article by on Apr 25, 2012

Avoid Downtime With a UPS

Even if your business has never experienced a power outage, there's no guarantee that there's no blackout in your future. If you want to keep your company going and avoid downtime and potentially a loss of productivity and data, due ...

an article by on Apr 25, 2012

Open Source Does Not Mean Free

The open source community often calls its software "free," but it is more accurate to say that the licensing and acquisition is free. Setup, installation, and operation of the software is not free, whether companies do it themselves or hire ...

an article by on Apr 23, 2012

Google Fusion Tables: Making Big Data Easier to See

The Google Fusion Tables app has gotten new features designed to make data patterns easier to visualize. Google's efforts with Fusion Tables underlines one of the greatest and yet subtlest challenges in business analytics: making data visible to the user.We ...

an article by on Apr 23, 2012

The importance of Proactivity, Reactivity and Data

The word “proactive” seems to be in increasing use within the business world, and “proactivity” is often seen as must-have ...

an article by on Apr 21, 2012

Nuance, M-Modal Brings Speech Recognition Systems to Hospitals

Intelligent speech recognition systems continue to make their way into the enterprise, as shown by a number of voice recognition software vendors' foray into voice-driven medical records systems. Nuance, best known to small and midsize businesses for its Dragon Naturally ...

an article by on Apr 20, 2012

IBM's DB2 10 Launches, Promises Big Data Integration

IBM's update of their DB2 10 software brings automated database management to overburdened IT professionals by offering continuous data compression, analysis, and data access. In addition, the software accommodates both structured and unstructured information and promises ease of integration between ...

an article by on Apr 20, 2012

Intelligent Data Management Strategies

In this video, I talk about the importance of a data management strategy. Fancy tools are great, but is the data good? Do you know what to do with these tools? This post was written as part of the IBM ...

an article by on Apr 19, 2012

Talking Business about the Weather

Businesses of all sizes are always looking for ways to increase revenue, decrease costs, and operate more efficiently. When I ...

an article by on Apr 19, 2012

PC Market Shows Signs of Life Among Midsize Businesses

Midsize firms, it seems, are still buying PCs, in spite of reports of their demise. That is the takeaway from reports that the PC market, expected to decline in the first quarter of 2012, instead showed a modest uptick. The ...

an article by on Apr 18, 2012

Reaching Federal Decision Makers: The Social Media Conundrum

A new survey by research firm Market Connections Incorporated found that 35 percent of federal decision makers use LinkedIn, nearly double the number from the year before. According to an article in Federal Computer Week, the survey was based on ...

an article by on Apr 17, 2012

Smart Grid Pushes Data Analytics Development

Power grids have to supply peak loads that are higher than their average loads. This means that a lot of generating capacity is idle, waiting for the occasional peak. Smart grid technology can shift the peaks so that they are ...

an article by on Apr 13, 2012

The Future of Business Analytics: Mobility and Depth

The growth of analytics over the past few years has already had a massive impact on general business decisions, greatly helping those who understand the benefits of business analytics and hurting those who have yet to grasp the concept. As ...

an article by on Apr 13, 2012

Native Client: Google Sends Mixed Messages

Google recently said it had abandoned its Native Client technology, marking it "won't fix" (i.e., bound for the dumpster). Then, it said oops: The project is still in development after all.So what gives? Was this a garden variety public relations ...

an article by on Apr 13, 2012

Business Analytics Skills Now in High Demand for Midsize Business

Big Data is something even small and midsized businesses now need to worry about--every day, companies generate staggering amounts of information detailing everything from computer and storage use to IT efficiency and consumer preferences. The challenge doesn't lie in collecting ...

an article by on Apr 13, 2012

Oracle Stakes Claim in Business Analytics Landscape

Big data isn't a new concept for IT admins and management at midsize business--over the last few years, the technology space has been awash with predictions about increasing amounts of data and the difficulties companies have in managing all the ...

an article by on Apr 11, 2012

Data Analysis Similar to Puzzle Solving

Data analysis typically deals with large quantities of information that data sources generate on a continuous basis. Companies can process the information as streaming data or collect it and process it in batches. If they have the data-processing capability, companies ...

an article by on Apr 11, 2012

IBM's Watson Supercomputer Brings Deep Analytics to Cancer Care

IBM's Watson supercomputer, which rose to fame by besting former champions on Jeopardy, is now bringing its real-language analytics to cancer care. The hope is that a powerful analytical machine can help doctors better individualize treatments for patients. This revelation ...

an article by on Apr 10, 2012

IBM Analysis Tools Could Find Patterns in Midsized Data

It's easy to talk about "Big Data," but for many midsized businesses, it's harder to see exactly how that data can be used to increase revenue. In part, this is because of the staggering amount of information now collected by ...

an article by on Apr 10, 2012

Business Intelligence Talent: Needed and Wanted

IT staff today might believe they have all the knowledge they need to stay competitive, but according to a recent analysis, this isn't always the case. More than ever, IT managers are searching for something more. They are looking for ...

an article by on Apr 9, 2012

Investing in IT Can Lead to Big Gains, Study Says

New research turns conventional wisdom on its head: Investing in IT delivers greater financial returns than does investments in research and development (R&D) and advertising.But the findings aren't black and white. Researchers found that the impact an IT investment had ...

an article by on Apr 9, 2012

Girls Around Me: A Privacy Alarm Bell?

The tech commentariat is abuzz with discussion of a creepy mobile app. The app Girls Around Me has in its current form been disabled and pulled from the Apple App Store. But it stuck around long enough to demonstrate, all ...

an article by on Apr 6, 2012

HP Restructure Focuses on Merge of Print and PC Divisions

For decades, printers were a safe bet for technology manufacturers--and none so much as Hewlitt Packard (HP). Over the last 20 years, the company's print division has been a significant source of income. But with mobile devices slowly taking over ...

an article by on Apr 6, 2012

Verizon: Most Cyber Attacks in 2011 Could Have Been Avoided

Verizon released its annual report on data breaches recently, and the results included some interesting reports on the nature of how data breaches occur. According to the report, 80 percent of attacks were motivated by opportunity rather than personal interest ...

an article by on Apr 6, 2012

Understanding Big Data

In this video, I discuss the explosion of data (structured, unstructured, and semi-structured) and what organizations are doing about it. What do you think? This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize ...

an article by on Apr 5, 2012

Will Big Data be Blinded by Data Science?

All of the hype about Big Data is also causing quite the hullabaloo about hiring Data Scientists in order to ...

an article by on Apr 5, 2012

7 questions all midsize businesses should ask before buying IT

In my previous article, I referred to the theory of Schumpeter and described how growing organisations can become “dinosaurs” that ...

an article by on Apr 5, 2012

Process: Making Analytics Work for Every Company

When I worked with analytical methods in the big enterprise, it was often the case that work had already been done to map out the business processes involved.   In the mid 1980s we were already using methods like expert systems ...

an article by on Mar 29, 2012

HP Bets on a PC Future

HP's decision to merge its famed but faltering printer division with its PC division may be like one sinking ship rescuing passengers from another. Analysts are already raising questions about whether merging the divisions will produce the claimed synergies or ...

an article by on Mar 29, 2012

Business Intelligence Embraced by Small and Midsize Businesses, Survey Says

Business intelligence (BI), isn't just for large enterprises any longer. According to a recently published survey, small and midsize businesses are adopting it to be more competitive. Furthermore, they are turning to the cloud to make that happen. The survey, ...

an article by on Mar 28, 2012

Don’t become a “dinosaur”!

Back in the dim and distant past, when I was at university, I remember studying the theories of Schumpeter. You ...

an article by on Mar 26, 2012

New Predictive Analytics Software from IBM

CIO Insights Reports reports about new Predictive Analytic Software and services from IBM.  I have thirty years of experience with the use of analytical methods to improve company decision making.   Analytical methods are fundamental to improving business operations.   First ...

an article by on Mar 23, 2012

Increasingly Robust Data Analytics Software Blurs Lines Between Management and IT

IT admins in business of all sizes have heard the buzz about data analytics, and many are crying out for the purchase of software powerful enough to handle the deluge of Big Data coming their way. While this need has ...

an article by on Mar 23, 2012

Business Analytics Evolution Relies on Integration, Diversification

Tools for managing big data are now common even for small and midsized businesses, and IT admins are often on the hook for making sure this data is used effectively. Recent moves by software developers and industry giants, however, show ...

an article by on Mar 23, 2012

Social Analytics and Twitter: Another Look at Predictive Analytics and What Twitter Data Lacks

Recent Super Tuesday election results demonstrated that Twitter-based data alone was not enough to forecast winners. It also showed what kinds of information are still lacking in the field of social predictive analytics. Attensity, a Palo Alto-based social analytics company, ...

an article by on Mar 23, 2012

Location-Based Services Increase Foot Traffic and Revenue, Says Report

Location-based cloud services are expected to grow into a $12.7 billion dollar industry by 2014 and it appears that IT managers at small and midsize busineses ought to start paying attention to the opportunities available within this sector, reports TechCrunch. ...

an article by on Mar 23, 2012

The End of Big BI?

In the mid- to late 1990s, many organizations undertook large business intelligence (BI) projects at considerable expense. The vast majority of these companies deployed BI applications via a sequential or Waterfall methodology, often taking a year or more to implement. ...

an article by on Mar 21, 2012

Is your management dashboard deceiving you?

As businesses grow, decision making can become more and more difficult. In today’s complex business environment, knowing how your business ...

an article by on Mar 21, 2012

Annual Physical Society Meeting: IBM Says It's Time to Start Making Quantum Computers

IBM has made some critical advancements in quantum computing recently. So much so they state it is time for them to start making systems. They plan to display their advancements at the Annual Physical Society meeting. Their goal is to ...

an article by on Mar 16, 2012

Windows 8 and Windows Live: Windows 8 Replaces Windows Live for Microsoft Account

With the buzz stirring about Windows 8 and Windows Live, Microsoft has released the latest information for Windows Live users and IT managers who plan to implement the new Windows 8 operating system on the network. IT managers and users ...

an article by on Mar 16, 2012

Kony 2012 Viral Video Demonstrates Rise of "Smart" Consumer

Most viral videos are about silly cats, cute kids, or outrageous stunts. However, the latest must-see video on the Internet has a different message. Entitled Kony 2012, the 30-minute video purports to shine a light on the cruel leader of ...

an article by on Mar 15, 2012

Amazon CTO Says Big Data Needs Bigger Picture at CeBIT Conference

Big data is now a reality for businesses of every size--even small and midsize IT admins have to deal with the constant input of data sets that are too large to manage using typical database tools. Effectively analyzing this data ...

an article by on Mar 14, 2012

Anonymous Makes Good on Vatican Attack One Week After Imperva Report is Released

Several weeks ago, the news broke that security firm Imperva had been tracking "hacktivist" group Anonymous over a period of 25 days and had witnessed the launch and failure of so-called "Operation Pharisee," which was supposed to bring down the ...

an article by on Mar 14, 2012

QR Codes Get Transactional, Make Comics Talk, and Maybe Win You $40,000

Quick response codes or "QR codes" are doing more than ever. They're being used in a transactional image recognition and mobile payment system called Simply Tap, as part of an interactive experience through Valiant's talking comics, and as clues in ...

an article by on Mar 14, 2012

Pulse 2012: The Shift Toward Smarter Infrastructure

Pulse 2012 is officially underway, and the four central focuses of the conference can provide some powerful insights into the short-term future of IT. While the cloud, mobility, and data security may already be on most IT managers' radar, the ...

an article by on Mar 13, 2012

Android Market Re-Branded as "Google Play"

Android Market is dead. Long live Google Play! Though the new moniker might sound a little juvenile, the newly re-imagined mobile service has already rolled out on the PC platform and will be coming to all Android phones in the ...

an article by on Mar 13, 2012

Political Sentiment: Can Twitter Predict a President?

Some data analysts are looking at political sentiment in social media data to make predictions around the presidential campaigns. Attensity looked at 800,000 Tweets from February 25 through March 2 and measured "positive sentiment and share of voice for each ...

an article by on Mar 12, 2012

Real-Time Analytics for Big Data Coming by the End of 2012

The old joke goes that "military intelligence" is an oxymoron, and the same is sometimes said of business intelligence (BI). Simply put, businesses of all sizes have trouble making sure their right hand knows what their left is doing, especially ...

an article by on Mar 12, 2012

Watson Supercomputer: Jeopardy Champ, Goes to Work for Citi

Ever since the public was introduced to the Watson supercomputer, which is really more of a computing system, they have been fascinated by the possibilities of a computer that can think like a human. Now, banking giant Citi has teamed ...

an article by on Mar 12, 2012

Mobile BI Comes of Age

When the iPhone launched in late June of 2007, naysayers abound. Many alleged technology experts doubted whether an expensive phone lacking a keyboard would be a hit with consumers, never mind the enterprise. After all, 2007 was arguably the acme ...

an article by on Mar 8, 2012

Miami Dolphins and IBM: Stadium Analytics at Their Finest

In a world of decreasing disposable income and increasing entertainment choices, companies have to continue to stand on the bleeding edge of technology in order to have a chance of success. This can be especially difficult for companies whose core ...

an article by on Mar 8, 2012

Mathematicians Needed: Big Data Calls for Big Brainpower

Big data is getting big buzz, but when most of us hear about big data, we probably think in terms of sheer number crunching: machine horsepower rather than brainpower. But getting the most out of big data is a big ...

an article by on Mar 8, 2012

Medical Analytics: IBM Speeding Up Critical Care

In emergency rooms and other critical care environments, speed and accuracy matter. Timely and correct identification of symptoms, treatment options, and other factors impacting critical care is literally a matter of life and death. Responding to this most urgent of ...

an article by on Mar 7, 2012

Windows 8: The End of Windows?

Microsoft is previewing Windows 8, which radically redefines the familiar Windows interface. In fact, windows, as such, are being phased out. The familiar interface will still be available, at least on desktop and laptop systems, but it is headed for ...

an article by on Mar 7, 2012

Details of Failed Anonymous Attack on the Vatican Bring Security Issues to Light

Back in August 2011, Anonymous announced an op known as Operation Pharisee, which was aimed squarely at bringing down several of the Vatican's websites and disrupting a planned papal visit to Spain. Though much of the hacktivist group's tactics are ...

an article by on Mar 2, 2012

PartnerWorld 2012 Leadership Conference Highlights the Future of Big Data

The IBM PartnerWorld 2012 Leadership Conference got underway on Monday this week, and while much of the conference was devoted to helping business leaders use IBM solutions to grow their business, a major theme was certainly the future of big ...

an article by on Mar 2, 2012

Cloud Computing and Export Laws: Are You Exporting Illegal Data?

Cloud computing has opened a new world of discovery for data storage and sharing. Its ability to share both data and computing resources has caused the world to look upon it as the first major information technology of the 21st ...

an article by on Mar 2, 2012

Consumer Bill of Rights Could Provide Stricter Privacy Standards

Online privacy has become a huge issue, in part thanks to recent breaches of consumer information stored from iPhones and other mobile devices. Though consumers haven't exactly pushed for this type of legislation, a digital privacy-focused consumer bill of rights ...

an article by on Feb 29, 2012

Oracle's Exalytics Heads for SAP HANA Death Match

Oracle Exalytics, a specialized appliance that stores memory data in RAM, has been launched into the marketplace. It is pitted against SAP's HANA, which uses similar technology. The two firms are already engaging in a furious war of words.The verbal ...

an article by on Feb 28, 2012

IBM Scoops up Mathematicians for Big Data Analysis

Mathematicians with a Ph.D. are what employers are hiring, and IBM is leading the pack. Math majors used to look forward to statistical analysis with insurance or pharmaceutical companies, but now they are finding their way into the world of ...

an article by on Feb 28, 2012

IBM's Senti-Meter Predicts Oscar Winners in Early Analysis

A sentiment analysis tool called the Senti-meter, developed by The Los Angeles Times, IBM, and the University of Southern California's Annenberg Innovation Lab, predicted Midnight in Paris as an Oscar winner, according to an article in Technorati. The tool examines ...

an article by on Feb 28, 2012

White House Launches Online Privacy Push

The White House has announced plans for an online "privacy bill of rights," saying that it will work with Congress to protect Internet users' privacy. The plan calls for voluntary cooperation by firms: For this reason, some critics might call ...

an article by on Feb 28, 2012

Predictive Analytics: A Fusion of Man and Machine

"Predictive analytics," the art of knowing what consumers want before they do, is one midsized businesses are rapidly getting to know, as it represents a way to not only find new customers but retain those that are already brand-loyal. What's ...

an article by on Feb 28, 2012

Exascale Technology--Is the US Falling Behind?

The European Union is planning to boost funding for exascale computing technology, even amid austerity. Meanwhile, US funding support for exascale technology is stagnating. Will the US end up falling behind the cutting edge of technology?No matter who develops it, ...

an article by on Feb 27, 2012

CIA Software Strategy Change Could Have Broad Impact

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is changing the way it purchases software. Instead of entering into licensing agreements with vendors, it will purchase its software on a pay-as-you-go basis. This action will not please major vendors such as Oracle and ...

an article by on Feb 27, 2012

Analytics Data Increasing in Size, Not Necessarily Usefulness

IT departments at midsized businesses find their plates continually filled by upper management, and one of the biggest meals those in charge want their IT pros to chow down on is analytics data. With cloud-based analytics software now easily within ...

an article by on Feb 22, 2012

Branding on Google+

Many media outlets have characterized Google+ as Google's answer to Facebook. While true on the level of social media functionality, Google is positioning the platform to run in ways that are quite different. The recent emphasis has been on real ...

an article by on Feb 21, 2012

The Self-Driving Car: Analytics and Enterprise Considerations

Nevada recently became the first state to approve self-driving cars by creating and approving regulations to both test and operate autonomous vehicles in the state. According to an article in USA Today, to test their vehicles, companies must carry a ...

an article by on Feb 21, 2012

European Union Limits Copyright Law

The European Court of Justice ruled on February 16, 2012, that music copyright holders could not force the operators of online social networking sites to prevent illegal file sharing by installing filters. The court ruled that such filters would violate ...

an article by on Feb 20, 2012

Target Uses Analytics to Study Shopping Habits, Exposes Pregnant Teen

A statistician for Target has figured out how to identify which customers are likely to be pregnant, allowing the chain to send specific advertising to the pregnant women in hopes of capturing their shopping loyalty for years. According to an ...

an article by on Feb 20, 2012

Google+ Helps Brand Loyalty Skyrocket On Site

Launched in June 2011, Google+ is the search giant's attempt to cash in on the now massive force of social media contacts. The company first invited rather than letting consumers join as they pleased, but quickly stopped after what they ...

an article by on Feb 17, 2012

Nvidia Looks to Undercut Mobile Phone Market

Graphics-card maker Nvidia has seen success in the tablet market with its line of Tegra 2 dual-core processors, quoting over $360 million in sales for Q4 of 2011. Now, the company hopes to make both the Tegra 2 and new ...

an article by on Feb 17, 2012

IBM to Announce Systems With Integrated Expertise

When it comes to advances in technology, the major jumps usually come from either innovative start-ups or the R&D divisions of the major players. In an event scheduled for April 11, 2012, IBM is banking on the latter when it ...

an article by on Feb 17, 2012

iPad Adoption May Allow Macs to Creep Into Business

Enterprise business iPad adoption has been steadily rising since last year. Managers seem to be big fans of these tablets, especially in the medical and pharmaceutical industry (though many businesses in general are also opting in at breakneck speed). However, ...

an article by on Feb 14, 2012

Blackberry Out of Halliburton; Should Other Businesses Follow Suit?

Halliburton will phase out Blackberry phones and transfer their employees to the iPhone company wide. This is yet another blow to Research in Motion (RIM), which is struggling as more people replace their Blackberry phones with iPhones or Android-based phones. ...

an article by on Feb 14, 2012

Why Midsize Businesses Shouldn't Leave Big Data to Big Businesses

What exactly is big data? By the most basic definition, it is a massive amount of data that has outgrown standard analysis tools. IBM defines it with three characteristics--that is, it's large; it requires real-time analysis to reach its full ...

an article by on Feb 14, 2012

Facebook Privacy: Is Big Data Out of Hand?

Facebook is moving fast to monetize its vast storehouse of user data, and it is not the only one. Along with Facebook, privacy issues are stirring growing worries about Google and other major data mining firms.The underlying concern is that ...

an article by on Feb 14, 2012

Get Ready for Watson, Coming Soon to the Cloud

IBM is rolling out a "Ready for Watson" program to help companies use subsets of Watson's analytics tools and other existing products. The company also has plans to make Watson available as a cloud-based service for such industries as healthcare, ...

an article by on Feb 14, 2012

Google, Apple Browsers Wage War on the "Open Web"

Both Google and Apple are doing well in the Web browser market--especially when it comes to mobile devices. Desktops are still dominated by Internet Explorer, despite its somewhat lacking interface and feature set. Chrome is fighting for second spot with ...

an article by on Feb 14, 2012

Figuring Out BYOD Management and How It Could Benefit Midsize Business

The "bring your own device" (BYOD) movement is in full swing. Though many IT professionals are resistant to the concept, it presents benefits as well as challenges. Ultimately, this is more of a revitalized idea than a new one, as ...

an article by on Feb 10, 2012

iPads in Business: Are They Worth It? Politicians Say Yes

The idea of iPads in business is not a new concept, but now politicians in the United Kingdom are claiming they are a better option than conventional computers or laptops. In fact, they are so adamant that iPads are a ...

an article by on Feb 10, 2012

Oracle Seeks Redo of Third-Party Support Trial

Intellectual property (IP) rights are a key part of growth for any business, regardless of size. While enterprise-level industry works tirelessly to ensure its IPs are not used without permission, midsize organizations must be just as diligent in making sure ...

an article by on Feb 9, 2012

Botnets Thought Responsible for VoIP Attacks

Last fall, system administrators started reporting huge spikes in malicious activity across VoIP protocols, and unfortunately that trend has continued into the new year. These attacks have occurring in increasing numbers recently and have targeted everything from user passwords to ...

an article by on Feb 8, 2012

Super Bowl: What Happened to the Tech Ads?

Super Bowl XLVI has come and gone. It featured a close game and a halftime show that may draw an FCC fine. What it didn't have were many ads from tech firms, a staple of the game in recent years. ...

an article by on Feb 7, 2012

IBM Gets More Mobile With Worklight Acquisition

As of January 31, 2012, tech giant IBM announced their purchase of Israeli start-up company Worklight, a mobile app development and infrastructure software provider. The start-up has raised over $18 million in funding and partnered with Big Blue in the ...

an article by on Feb 2, 2012

Tablet Computer and Smartphone Owners Prefer Apps to Web Surfing

When tablet computers and smartphones were first introduced, one of their most touted features was fast and simple web browsing. When the original iPhone launched more than five years ago, it was lauded for its "real web" display capabilities. However, ...

an article by on Feb 1, 2012

Big Data Explosion Evident in Analytics Workshops

Aryng, an analytics training company, is addressing the worsening dearth of qualified talent in the analytics field by holding a workshop designed to give business professionals a crash course in how to use the data they already have to further ...

an article by on Feb 1, 2012

T-Mobile Squares off With SMBs

Mobile devices aren't simply for talking, texting, and surfing the Web any longer. Companies like Square are adding the ability to take credit card payments anywhere an Internet connection exists with the use of a simple, plug-in payment reader. Now, ...

an article by on Feb 1, 2012

BI Software Floats to the Cloud in 2012

Business analytics is rapidly becoming a priority for companies of all sizes. While enterprise-level business intelligence (BI) software has seen a great deal of investment in recent years, small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are also well served by robust BI ...

an article by on Jan 31, 2012

Stanford Students Mix up a Tasty FounderSoup for Entrepreneurs

The scope of small and midsize business (SMB) ventures are diverse, but many get their start the same way: pitching ideas to venture capital (VC) companies and searching out cofounders with the right mix of technical knowledge, expertise, and enthusiasm. ...

an article by on Jan 30, 2012

Check Point Software Report Says iPads, iPhones Most Popular for BYOD

A recent report compiled by Check Point Software and Dimensional Research shows that iOS is the most popular mobile operating system in the enterprise. This report comes along with several others: one talking about the increase of IT spending on ...

an article by on Jan 27, 2012

Windows 8 Beta Coming Soon, Release in October

With Windows 8 beta on the way, scheduled for release in late February, there's been a lot of talk about when to expect the final release. Based on previous schedules and reactions from Microsoft, there's some evidence to suggest that ...

an article by on Jan 26, 2012

Sentiment Analysis and the GOP Campaign: Takeaways for SMBs

While not overtly using Twitter and Facebook messages to make predictions on the GOP campaign, a number of media outlets are investigating the use of sentiment analysis to gain insight on the public pulse. James Rainey's article in the Los ...

an article by on Jan 24, 2012

Gartner Report Says BI Initiatives Face Disconnect With Business Objectives

Business intelligence (BI) is back in the forefront for 2012, but a new Gartner report states, "By 2014, fewer than 30 percent of BI initiatives will align analytic metrics completely with enterprise business drivers," according to an article in 4-Traders. ...

an article by on Jan 24, 2012

IT Offshoring: Are IT Jobs Coming Back Home?

Just as President Obama calls for less offshoring of jobs, at least in IT, he may be getting his wish. Firms are starting to have second thoughts about IT offshoring. Costs are rising, and the effectiveness of offshore IT work ...

an article by on Jan 23, 2012

IBM Produces Atomic Data Storage, Changing the Storage Game

Nanotechnology researchers at IBM have made a breakthrough in data storage. It's similar to the work of P.h.D. candidate Brent Weber, who, with the help of other researchers, developed a silicon wire only four atoms wide and one atom tall. ...

an article by on Jan 20, 2012

Timing of Facebook Posts Crucial for SMBs

Small and midsize business (SMB) IT managers are not only facing challenges when it comes to analyzing data gathered about customer website use and purchasing habits, but are also on the hook to generate content-rich pages that draw in users ...

an article by on Jan 20, 2012

Business Analytics Market Is Poised to Explode

It's no secret that business analytics (BA) is morphing into one of the cornerstones of a successful business IT strategy, but a new software tracker from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows just how big this market has already grown. BA ...

an article by on Jan 19, 2012

Ultrabooks at CES: The Ultimate Cross Between Laptops and Tablets

The new trend in personal computing is everywhere at CES 2012, and with the line diminishing between the corporate and public consumer, small and midsize businesses (SMBs) can certainly benefit from some of the newest innovations.Companies from Acer to Toshiba ...

an article by on Jan 19, 2012

Forrester Report: IT Spending Increases for Macs and iPads

A recent Forrester report shows that IT spending is, in part, getting redirected to Apple, mainly for the purchase of Macs and iPads. The numbers are still low in comparison to what businesses spend on Windows PCs, but the increase ...

an article by on Jan 17, 2012

Cloud Analytics Surge in Popularity for SMBs

As virtualized and cloud technologies become a reality for even small and midsize businesses (SBMs) and electronic data recording quickly replaces pen-and-paper filing, IT managers are finding themselves on the hook for the administration of great business intelligence (BI) tools ...

an article by on Jan 16, 2012

Major Quantum Advancement, Big Data Implications

Several months ago, researchers were testing microwaves in quantum computers to make it a more practical option commercially. Now, one Ph.D. candidate named Brent Weber has developed a silicon wire with the help of his supervisor Professor Michelle Simmons and ...

an article by on Jan 13, 2012

Firefox ESR Release Date Finally Revealed

A few months ago, Mozilla announced an extended support release (ESR), Firefox ESR, because before that, they had decided to release major version upgrades every six weeks. To no surprise, IT at businesses weren't happy with this, mainly because it ...

an article by on Jan 11, 2012

History Suggests No Windows 8 Devices in 2012

At a recent Windows Store announcement, Microsoft stated that Windows 8 beta would be here in late February. However, if you look at previous time lines for software release, you can deduce that there will be no Windows 8 tablets ...

an article by on Jan 10, 2012

Gartner Predictions: IT Faces Nexus of Big Data, Cloud, Social, and Mobile

New Gartner predictions for 2012 paints a picture of a changing landscape for IT organizations in business due to a convergence of "four IT forces" that will bring changes to the way IT manages its infrastructure. The analysis from Gartner ...

an article by on Jan 10, 2012

Hard Drive Shortage Among Reasons for Lower IT Spending Forecast for 2012

As the realities of the 2012 world come into focus with the beginning of the year, some of the optimistic IT spending forecasts are starting to get reigned in. Research firm Gartner, for one, has further lowered expectations that were ...

an article by on Jan 9, 2012

iOS 5 Chosen As Best for Business in InfoWorld Tests

InfoWorld recently tested the latest mobile operating systems (OS) to find the best for business. They decided iOS 5 was the winner, though surprisingly Android 2.3 was a close second. However, the test reporter Galen Gruman admits that iOS is ...

an article by on Jan 9, 2012

SMBs Likely to Adopt iPads in 2012, NPD Group Study Says

The NPD Group recently found that many small and midsize businesses (SMBs), specifically those with less than 1,000 employees, plan to invest in tablets. Most have already made up their minds to buy iPads in 2012. This is interesting, considering ...

an article by on Jan 6, 2012