Business Intelligence

Financial Services: From BI to Big Data

While Bi and Analytics are relatively new concepts for financial services organizations, based on rapidly changing business models, shifting regulatory reforms, the expansion into new markets, and continaully morphing risk management needs, would using just “traditional” BI cut it? Is Big Data a good answer? Is there a compelling business case to escalate from traditional BI to Big Data? What have financial organizations tried with respect to BI transformation and Big Data adoption, in order to meet the new needs of clients?

Improving the Quality of Information

For some, IT is the plumbing which allows an uninterrupted and efficient flow of information. But, what about the quality of the information that is flowing through the "plumbing"? We wouldn't drink bad water no matter how elegant the plumbing, what about bad or poor information?

Delivering smarter, more competitive BI

What is "Business intelligence" for, if not to give a company a competitive edge? What's the state of competitive BI today? Have enterprises been able to fully exploit BI for all its promised potential or has it turned out to be more difficult in execution then expected? Have there been any breakthrough innovations to better identify and develop opportunities for a competitive edge? Besides the tools, what else is needed for BI to become “competitive” BI?

Gut feel vs. BI

If business people still base 40% of their major decisions on gut feeling, isn't that a bit like gambling? With big money riding on a decision, why is it so hard for business and IT leaders to make decisions based on BI and the numbers? Is it because some data may be missing, or that we don't have one version of the truth? Why exactly does the gut win out over the head and BI?

BI plus Search: The ultimate Crystal Ball!

What if external data, in whatever structured or unstructured form it exists, could be pulled into organizational databases, combined with the internal data already sitting there, and the "Unified Information" analyzed and reported on as one big picture created out of two complimentary pieces of BI? Wouldn't that give business people better predictive capabilities? Research says BI and search technologies are converging into one tool, but what are the challenges to creating such a tool? ...And, what special advantages would make the creation of such a tool well worth the effort?