Posts

Please Stop Using the Word Done

 In my years working as a data warehouse/analytics/BI professional, one of the words I've developed disdain for is the word done.  You hear it all the time from business users and EDW management teams about when will something be done.  I get that perspective, but I would argue that if the data warehouse is evolving and delivering business value, you're never truly done.  In many instances, I've asked people to stop using that word. Here's my perspective... Hopefully, your a data warehouse project has a somewhat specific set of goals beyond "we need reports" or "we just need access to the data".  When I hear those comments, my first response is "for what purpose?", but we'll save that for another blog entry.  You may also run into projects that have a "grand vision" as far as "if we do x, y, z...we'll have data nirvana", which is also a topic for another blog entry.  Back to the original thought.  Let's say y

Data and Analytics - The Dark Secret Nobody Talks About

  There is a dark secret about the data warehousing industry that no one ever seems to acknowledge, and it has nothing to do with technology.   Sure, there are all sorts of technical reasons that can be blamed as far as why a data warehouse did not deliver the business value that was promised, but that’s not the whole picture.   Surprisingly, even data warehouse implementations that were consider a success from a technical standpoint can be deemed a failure by the business users and this is where the real problem lies. Why can that happen? You’re about to find out… Before we get there, let’s talk about computer systems. In my mind, there are two broad classifications of computer systems: the must haves and the nice to haves. The must haves represent systems that the business would crumble without. These are systems like financial systems where you enter vendor invoices so that they can be paid, or you enter customer invoices so that the customer can be billed and they can pay you.