SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.1 Release to Customers
Just before the SAPPHIRE NOW conference, SAP announced the Release to Customer (RTC) of SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.1, Edge BI 4.1 and Crystal Server 2013. What’s New in BI 4.1 BI 4.1 is one suite for all insight, one place for all information and on standard for enterprise BI. Here are the highlights of the new release – or you can skip to the end of the post to get a detailed technical presentation of the new features. The features in this latest... [Read More...]
What is The ROI of Ignorance?
It’s easy to say “you shouldn’t do a business intelligence project without an ROI case.” It is possible to build BI ROI cases (typically involving estimates of percentage improvements in part of a business process thanks to better information). But (beyond simple efficiency savings) they will always involve a certain leap of faith – because you don’t know what you don’t yet know. But choosing not to know... [Read More...]
The BI ROI Conundrum
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Building an ROI Case for BI? Step 1: Get the Data (Oops)
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Why You Need An In-Memory Action Plan
This is a third post of a series based on a SAP-sponsored breakfast meeting organized in Sydney earlier this year with speaker Donald Feinberg, Gartner VP and Distinguished Analyst explaining the “Nexus of Forces”: social, mobile, cloud and information. In the first two posts, Donald covered why in-memory is disrupting everything, and why every organization will be running in-memory in 15 to 20 years time, and the business impacts of the new in-memory... [Read More...]
L’Oréal: Turning Data Into A Customer Experience
George-Edouard Dias, head of Digital Business for L’Oréal gave a great example of digital business transformation during his interview at SAPPHIRENOW Madrid at the end of last year. By combining analytics, social, mobile, and the cloud, the company aims to create new customer experiences. Summary L’Oréal’s big transformation is to have moved from marketing planned in advance to real-time marketing. The company wants to simplify the life... [Read More...]
Why In-Memory Computing Is Cheaper And Changes Everything
I attended a SAP-sponsored breakfast meeting organized in Sydney earlier this year, as part of a ANZ/APJ innovation analytics tour. The meeting was hosted by Ryan Blackwood, Director of Strategy & Innovation for SAP Australia, and featured a talk by Donald Feinberg, Gartner VP and Distinguished Analyst on the “Nexus of Forces”: social, mobile, cloud and information. Here the first part of the notes I took from Donald’s presentation,... [Read More...]
Data Visualization? Bling It On!
[I shouldn't have to say this, but... warning, SATIRE ahead:] This timely post looks at how big data is leading to a big surge in flashy data visualization, as the staid world of business bar charts finally embraces its inner “bling.” Visualization Best Practice: Apple Shows The Way “Some people say skeuomorphic design elements like 3D shadows, imaginary glass highlights, and superfluous animation have no place in modern data visualizations”... [Read More...]
Ski Analytics With SAP Visual Intelligence
There are lots of mobile applications available that allow skiers and snowboarders to keep track of their exploits on the slopes, including RealSki, SkiTracks, and GPS Kit. But I wanted to have full control over analyzing the data, so I instead opted for a general-purpose application called Sensor Data from Wavefront Labs. As the name implies, the app can record ALL of the information available from the iPhone’s five different sensors — and... [Read More...]
Operations in Real-Time
Being able to do operations and analysis in real-time with platforms like SAP Business Suite on HANA is a big deal. But it’s far from being the first time business people have clamored for real-time systems, nor the first time the computer industry has touted the benefits. Would this text look out of place in a big-data predictive in-memory platform ad? “…there’s only one commercially available platform capable of real time performance. It’s... [Read More...]
I was the eighth employee of 
