August 1, 2021 The Top 10 Benefits of an Operational Data Warehouse For 2021 The previous blogs in this series discussed the top 5 pitfalls of traditional operational data warehouses and defined the Operational Data Warehouse (ODW) as a potential solution. Below is a list of my Top 10 desirable benefits of an effective ODW: Current. Continuous data updates via “micro-batches” or streamed singleton updates throughout the day… Read More
February 22, 2021 Are Real-Time Analytics in Supply Chain Management Important? Processing data in real-time Every organization processes data in many ways. For example, batch data process still exists for heavy data-process workloads, such as payroll. Many of these data processing requirements are executed by batch scheduling software; however, there is a growing need for data processing to be more automated and processed in real-time.… Read More
February 10, 2021 Building a Cohesive Data Management Strategy for Supply Chain Visibility Business strategy A business strategy consists of setting goals, objectives, and priorities for the business vision and mission. The strategy owners use their portfolios of assets, services, and products to achieve the business's goals. A business will often have multiple strategies, such as having a digital strategy that supports their service or product strategy.… Read More
January 29, 2021 From Databases to Knowledge Management Systems for Data Power Databases Databases are everywhere. They store data and information organized by fields and tables. There are different types of databases that organize data into relational tables, hierarchical structures, networks, and objects. Databases can be personal, corporate, and shared resources. They can be used for recording business transactions to support decision making. The value of… Read More
January 29, 2021 The Best Cloud Data Strategy for Value Which cloud makes sense? Nothing is perfect, but we want to approach perfection with continuous improvement and the management of risk in our business environments. IT capabilities and resources underpin our business environments. On-premise capabilities and cloud capabilities have to deliver a return on investment (ROI) for our efforts and, at the same time,… Read More
January 28, 2021 From Data Management to Decision Making for Empowerment Everyone in an organization makes decisions every day. They go through the process of identifying that a decision needs to be made, then gather data and relevant information from various sources to identify the choices that they can make. By Analyzing the data and other considerations based on their experience, they can make a… Read More
January 22, 2021 Data Analytics is a Core Element Creating Business Value Valued assets Organizational assets are defined as capabilities and resources. To be valued strategic assets, they have to contribute to the success of the organization. There is no business value contributed to an asset that does not have an understood return on investment (ROI) for the organization. Capabilities can be defined as the ability,… Read More
January 12, 2021 Leveraging IoT and Industry Data for Managing Experiences and Decisions Leveraging data Data is everywhere. Data comes from social interactions, personal devices, cloud service interactions, the environment, and many other places and things. There is a wide variety of data and a significant volume of data being collected every second. The velocity and quality of data are increasing every minute. Big data can be… Read More
December 15, 2020 Innovation and the Power of Data What is innovation? Innovation is doing something new that does not currently exist or something new that improves efficiency, effectiveness, cost, and/or creates a competitive advantage. A new method, process, product, or service can be considered an innovation. This also includes the integration of different markets with the utilization of a new product that… Read More
December 11, 2020 System Thinking to Run, Grow, and Transform the Business Systems thinking and the organization There are many ways to describe system thinking. We can say system thinking is a way of viewing or thinking about a system in terms of structure, patterns, cycles, and data exchanges. System thinking can also be thought of as a way of integrating a person into organizational flows… Read More
December 1, 2020 Turning Data Measurements, Metrics, and Performance Indicators into Results Data is everywhere. There is data inside our organizations and outside. Some data is in the form of measurements. Measurements can be descriptive, predictive, or for diagnostic reasons. In either case, we measure to make decisions based on the quantity and quality of something. Measurements can give us actionable operational, tactical, and strategic metrics… Read More
October 9, 2020 What is a modern data platform? What is a modern data platform? When we ask this question, we get two different groups of answers. The first group is around the technology needed for data processing in today's business environment. In this group, the answers mention things like cloud services, containers, and on-prem. The second set of answers involves sources of… Read More
September 21, 2020 Five Benefits of the Hybrid Cloud Approach The ISO 17788 Cloud Computing Overview and Vocabulary standard defines a hybrid cloud as “a cloud deployment model using at least two different cloud deployment models.” When we talk about different deployment models, we are talking about private clouds, public clouds with multiple different cloud providers, and even legacy applications. When the different deployment… Read More
September 17, 2020 Predictive Analytics can Reduce Customer Churn and Optimize Marketing Efforts All customers are not equal – there are some your business just can’t afford to lose. Do you know who they are and what is required to retain them? With predictive analytics powered by Actian Avalanche, you can do just that. Companies have been using statistical modeling, data correlation and behavioral forecasting for many… Read More
August 26, 2020 What to do when your Data Warehouse Chokes on Big Data This may seem like an academic question, but it is increasingly becoming a reality for modern businesses. What do you do when you have millions of records with infinite width and depth, and your data warehouse chokes? Do you trim your data? Do you add more infrastructure capacity? Or do you need to look… Read More
August 24, 2020 Why you Should be Focusing on Data Integration in the Middle of the COVID-19 Pandemic A few months ago, companies went into crisis mode, globally – figuring out how to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. Since then, most organizations have overcome the initial shock and disruption and figured out how to adapt their workforce and business processes for a remote-work environment. When this started, the hope was that COVID-19… Read More
August 20, 2020 The Impact of Updates on Data Warehouse Performance When companies project data warehouse growth, they often look at a curve that mimic’s the growth of data in source systems. This approach works if all you are concerned with is storage growth. What is commonly overlooked is the compute growth curve for processing updates to your data. As IT systems become more interconnected,… Read More
July 20, 2020 Where you do Analytics Processing Matters The Vector for Hadoop offering from Actian delivers increased performance for analytic queries without the associated increase in cost. If you are looking for high-performance analytics processing to drive operational decision making, where you do your processing matters. By minimizing the movement of data and processing locally, you can drastically reduce latency. By using… Read More
July 15, 2020 Operationalizing your Hadoop Data Lake Have you ever tried to join your fact and dimension tables together to generate operational analytics? If you want to perform large scale data analysis on things like customer churn, you’re probably going to need to do this. The problem is, these tables are very large, and when you bring them together, the resulting… Read More
June 7, 2020 Actian Vector for Hadoop Enables Fuller SQL Functionality and More Current Data In this second of a three-part blog series (part 1), we'll explain how SQL execution in Actian Vector in Hadoop (VectorH) is much more functional and ready to run in an operational environment, and how the ability for VectorH to handle data updates efficiently can enable your production environment to stay current with the… Read More
June 6, 2020 Actian Shows Exponential Performance Advantages Over Other SQL on Hadoop Alternatives Imagine if reports that currently take many minutes to run in Hadoop could come back with results in seconds. Get answers to detailed questions about sales figures and customer trends in real time. Make revenue predictions based on up-to-date customer metrics across a spectrum of sources. Iterate more quickly simulating different business decisions to… Read More
June 5, 2020 Actian Vector for Hadoop File Format is Faster and More Efficient In this third and last part of the series on Actian Vector in Hadoop (VectorH), we will cover how the VectorH file format supports the performance and efficiency of our data analytics platform to accelerate business insights, as well as some of the other enterprise features that can help businesses move their Hadoop applications… Read More
April 13, 2020 Reducing Customer Churn in the Telecom Industry with Connected Data Customer loyalty is the key to profitability in the telecom industry. Because telecom providers manage large fixed infrastructures that must be offset by revenue, customer churn (attrition) is particularly problematic in this industry. Low switching costs for customers (supported by government regulations) mean that customer loyalty is the only real tool that telecom companies… Read More
April 8, 2020 Financial Services Companies Need all the Data Analytics They Can Get There are times when financial markets trend up. There are times that markets trend down. And then there are times that the markets go crazy and the only thing predictable is volatility. When markets encounter these volatile periods, financial services companies become highly reliant on data analytics to determine where the real market forces… Read More
April 6, 2020 Healthcare Analytics Improve Operational Efficiency Healthcare is a data-driven industry with data analytics needs that make “big data” seem tiny. For healthcare companies to operate efficiently, they need a high-power data engine to crunch the numbers, analyze the data, and get it into the hands of decision-makers quickly. The healthcare industry is the epitome of business agility, and data… Read More
April 6, 2020 Data Warehouse Appliances are Becoming History The era of data warehouse appliances is coming to an end, rapidly being replaced with a new generation of cloud services. The first data warehouse appliance was introduced onto the market in 2003. For nearly 15 years, this market grew with several large technology players, including IBM, Oracle, and Teradata developing or acquiring database… Read More
March 30, 2020 Real-Time Reporting Platform for Operational Systems Digital transformation has drastically expanded the use of operational systems, IoT, and other technologies within companies' business processes. This is a good thing. It means that end-users, whether they be employees, partners, or customers, are more productive. The introduction of modern operational technologies and integrating them into business processes is only the first step… Read More
March 17, 2020 Why you Should Offload Analytics from your Online Transaction Processing Systems into a Data Warehouse Modern businesses are fueled by data. The insights that your data bring are what power decision making, enables you to optimize business processes and respond to changing market conditions. The organizations that have data and manage it well – excel. Those that lack data or struggle to harvest actionable insights from their data have… Read More
February 24, 2020 Real-Time Streaming – Actionable Insights Drive Business Responsiveness If you want your business to be agile, you need to be leveraging real-time data. The environments that your businesses operate in are changing faster than ever – new competition in the marketplace, regulatory changes; operational issues; and new technology advancements are only the tip of the iceberg. If you want to survive and… Read More
February 3, 2020 Consolidation of the Database Market and What it Means for Your Data Warehouse A few months ago, Gartner published an update on the database market, which is highlighted in Adam Ronthal’s blog “There is only One DBMS Market” and made a rather profound declaration – the database markets have collapsed. No, the market isn't crashing, it is having the best year ever, what has happened is the… Read More
January 23, 2020 Visualizing Social Relationships Using Object Databases Social relationships hold a wealth of information about your customers, employees, and suppliers that (if you have the tools to harness them) can provide you valuable insights about the factors that influence behaviors that ultimately impact your bottom line. The challenge with analyzing and visualizing social relationships is that the underlying data doesn't match… Read More
January 15, 2020 Operational Optimization – Real-Time Dashboards Show Trouble Spots in Your Operations You've gone through digital transformation - now what? IT and business leaders are learning quickly that digital transformation is only one of many steps on the journey towards operational optimization. Once you have your people and processes in order, it's time to shift focus towards your data. Digital transformation brings with it a whole… Read More
October 24, 2019 Optimizing Cloud Compute and Data Storage for Data Analytics When architecting your data warehouse solution, separating compute and data storage is extremely important for both operational sustainability and economic efficiency. Different things drive the technical needs for each of these, the capacity demands of the organization are different, and the best solution requires optimizing compute and data storage separately. Storage capacity is a… Read More
September 12, 2019 As AI Algorithms Become More Sophisticated in Edge Devices, Persistent Data Requirements Must Advance at the Same Pace Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems seem to be everywhere and for a good reason. AI represents the next generation of computing capabilities. It is leveraging the speed and scale of cloud computing to deliver not only high-speed automation but also continuous learning and adaptation capabilities that can finally match the pace of change in the… Read More
August 7, 2019 Using a Cloud Data Warehouse to Support Localized Systems Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increasing trend of regional governments applying unique restrictions and controls on where data is stored and how it is managed for users and businesses in their jurisdiction. The EU and Japan have recently imposed some strict rules about data export. A cloud data warehouse can be… Read More
July 29, 2019 Exploiting Analytics in the Cloud Without Moving All Your Data There Your company has competing data needs. You need IT systems optimized for real-time transaction processing to serve as the engine for digitally transformed business processes. You also need your data aggregated and optimized for analytics to generate both real-time insights and perform deep data-mining activities. It can be difficult to balance these competing needs… Read More
July 9, 2019 The Importance of Data Stewardship Agreements Across Companies There has been much talk recently about the technical implications of leveraging SaaS solutions and the benefits of integrating data across supply-chain networks. Today, most companies aren’t vertically integrated and, therefore, rely on a network of suppliers and distribution partners to transform raw materials into the finished goods and services customers consume. It makes… Read More
June 17, 2019 Too Much Data, Too Few Actionable Insights…Too Late! Data is the lifeblood of a modern company. It provides operations staff with visibility of company operations, marketing and product development teams with insights about what’s occurring in the marketplace and company leaders with the input they need to make informed business decisions. Unfortunately, most companies are struggling to translate their data into true… Read More
June 4, 2019 A Cost/Benefit Guide to the Data Warehouse Implementing a data warehouse is a big investment for most companies and the decisions you make now will impact both your IT costs and the business value you are able to create for many years. This concise data warehouse cost/benefit guide will help you understand what to expect, so you can make informed decisions… Read More
May 28, 2019 What is Data Warehouse-as-a-Service? Data Warehouse-as-a-Service (DWaaS) is a modern solution to address the data management challenges of today’s companies. Data is critical to how modern companies operate, from providing actionable analytics and insights to fueling digitally transformed business processes. Companies generate tremendous amounts of data each day, but to translate this resource into value, a company needs… Read More
May 23, 2019 Breaking Down Data Silos Are your employees hoarding data (and do they even realize it)? If your answer is “no,” then you might want to look again. Data silos are one of the biggest issues preventing operational processes from achieving peak productivity and business leaders from making informed decisions. Almost every company faces this issue and those that… Read More
March 27, 2019 Understand Customer Buying Behavior To Improve Customer Targeting Imagine what you could do if you actually understood your customers’ buying behavior. You could predict future purchases, identify cross-sell and upsell opportunities and personalize messaging that would resonate and drive the behavior you desire. Instead of taking broad strokes to your marketing campaigns, you could focus on specific opportunities and pursue them more… Read More
January 7, 2019 Enabling Agility with Real-Time Data The speed of change in modern business is accelerating. New technologies, globalization, regulatory changes and competitors entering and leaving the market are just a few examples of the types of environmental forces that bombard companies every day. Developing a sustainable, competitive advantage requires company leaders to identify and respond to opportunities and threats quickly,… Read More
December 19, 2018 Insights at the Speed of Business Modern businesses move fast and the speed of business is accelerating every day with no sign of slowing. To survive, companies must find ways to remove friction in their systems and business processes – leveraging real-time operational data and translating it into actionable insights that drive activities across the company. From strategic decision-making to… Read More
December 9, 2018 When Fresh Data Matters How quickly does your business environment changes? Are your leaders using outdated information, and do they know it? Do you find your data is slowing your decision-making processes and preventing you from being truly agile? Imagine what you could do if you were to harness the power of real-time data. Modern businesses operate in… Read More
October 11, 2018 The Top 5 Pitfalls of Traditional Data Warehouses Over the past two decades, data warehouse solutions have evolved and diverged to address a myriad of use cases. Meanwhile, the pace of business continues to accelerate, making it harder to remain competitive. These new demands can stretch the abilities of traditional data warehouses. Below are 5 of the common pitfalls that can trip… Read More
December 22, 2017 Fast. Faster. Fastest. I was fortunate enough to attend the Actian Hybrid Data Conference at which Craig Strong, who is Chief Technology and Product Officer at Hubble, talked about how they provide real-time corporate performance management (CPM) though high-speed analytics dashboards. You can watch a video recording of this presentation on the conference sessions page linked here. For… Read More
December 19, 2017 How I analyzed 165 million flight records in seconds on my laptop It was surprisingly easy to analyze 165 million flight records my laptop. It took me just an afternoon following the Actian Evaluation guide that you can download from here. Scientists with Intel over the years to being down the cost of high performance computing. They key vector processing technology feature they needed was to… Read More
November 28, 2017 Insight to Insights A fellow recent hire at Actian, Walter Maguire, told me that many organizations get frustrated with having to wait into the late morning for decision support databases to be loaded and indexed or OLAP cubes to be populated with transactional data before sales analysis can be performed. This is not a new problem. I… Read More
November 1, 2017 The X-Vector As an employee new to Actian I decided to dig into what makes Actian Vector a star performer. Three specific qualities, covered below, caught my eye as I reviewed the technical overview. Vectorization: When I first heard this term, my memory went back to 30 years ago, when IBM offered my employer, Watson Calculating Services… Read More
November 26, 2010 Maximize Customer Lifetime Value Using Historical Data to Predict Future Buying Behavior Acquiring new customers is expensive and it is generally more cost-effective to sell to existing ones. The customer-lifetime-value concept is straightforward, but many companies struggle with determining how to put it into practice. Do you actually understand your customers’ buying behavior and motivations and what you can do to influence them? Is this information… Read More
July 28, 2021 Six Essential Data Preparation Steps for Analytics Abraham Lincoln might easily have been discussing data preparation steps for analytics when he said, “If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend 6 sharpening my axe.” Spending 75% of the allotted time on preparation may seem like a lot. But in fact, most industry observers report that data… Read More
January 12, 2021 Approaching Holistic Data Models for Organizational Efficiency Why model anything? There are many types of models with many types of usages, such as physical, scientific, mathematical, computer, concrete, communication, etc. The overall purpose is to define, support analysis and decisions, and to communicate or validate a system or perspective. Models can also be used to help speed things up or slow… Read More
August 19, 2020 What is Enterprise Data Integration, and Why Does it Matter? Enterprise Data Integration is the merging of data across two or more organizations. This scenario is most commonly found when companies are going through mergers or acquisitions, and data from the two companies need to be brought together. Other scenarios for Enterprise Data Integration are joint-partnerships (where two or more companies work together under… Read More
July 17, 2020 Market Basket Analysis Will Improve Product Positioning and Profitability “Would you like fries with that?” If you’ve ever ordered a sandwich at a fast food restaurant, then you’ve likely heard these words, but have you stopped to consider why fast food chains train their employees to ask this question? It’s because of what’s called “market basket analysis,” a technique based on the theory… Read More
June 24, 2020 Marketing Agility through Real-Time Analytics Today’s marketplace is complex and competitive, and changes quickly. New competitive products and services are entering the market every day. Customer preferences shift with social trends and pricing dynamics continuously evolve. To win in this type of environment, marketing agility is critical to identify opportunities and threats and to respond to them quickly –… Read More
April 1, 2020 The More you Refine Stored Data, the More Valuable it Becomes Having a lot of data available to you is a good thing, right? That depends. Data is a raw material, like a mineral mined from the ground. It contains a potential for creating value, but that potential is only realized through refinement. Your company produces a lot of data every day (every second really).… Read More
February 5, 2020 Must-Have Features of a Hybrid Cloud Data Warehouse Are you considering a hybrid cloud data warehouse for your company? Do you know what features to look for? If you want to maximize the value of this important infrastructure investment and give yourself the flexibility to adapt to changing business needs in the future, you need not just pick any solution; you need… Read More
October 29, 2019 Is now the right time to modernize your data warehouse? Technology is continually changing and determining the right time to upgrade and modernize can be tricky. If you adopt new technology too soon, this may result in churn within your organization and the implementation of immature solutions that may not meet your needs. If you wait too long, you miss out on market opportunities… Read More
July 17, 2019 Managing Data Across Distributed Data Warehouses Data integration, like the digital-transformation initiatives it supports, is a journey and not a destination. Every company is somewhere on a path from the past to a desired state of future integration they’d like to achieve. If your company has existed for a number of years, then you likely have multiple databases, data marts… Read More
June 24, 2019 Top 5 Issues in Data Warehousing for IT Leaders With more and more companies embarking on digital transformation journeys, the focus on enterprise data is greater than ever. Data warehousing is not a new concept, but recent developments in the industry are generating a new wave of executive interest and the need to modernize both the approach and solutions for how enterprise data… Read More
October 23, 2018 What is an Operational Data Warehouse and why is it the next big thing? Data warehouses have been around for decades, and have established themselves as reliable reporting systems with consistent value. They have also evolved into data marts, specialized appliances and EDW variants to meet emerging needs, but all of these solutions have their drawbacks when it comes to meeting today’s business demands. Some of the common… Read More
May 4, 2018 A moment of Zen for your resting IoT data on its journey to data nirvana Early in my career I studied Systems Engineering at night which is where I first came across the term IPO which is an acronym for Input-Processing-Output. My lecturer taught us every software function has three basic sequential steps, reading input data, processing that data and eventually outputting it. In a more complex system, such… Read More
