Analytics have become an
increasingly prevalent part of effective business management in the last ten
years. In my experience, most statistical software solutions have gone
unnoticed for years in big businesses, but as we make the transition deeper
into the digital information age, it becomes evidently clear that improving the
ongoing efficiency of business operations requires the commitment of both new skills and new
technologies.
Last week in Sydney Australia,
the Gartner Business Intelligence, Analytics & Information Management
Summit took place, exploring the future of business information technologies over a two day event with speakers, exhibitions, and
workshops, as well as bringing together industry professionals to explore and
share their unique perspectives. Currently, the Gartner summit is the largest
of its kind in the world, and marks an important date in the calendar for those
who, like me, are interested in furthering the cause of effective business analytics.
This year’s theme for the event,
reflected within its programme and speakers, was ‘Crossing the Analytical
Divide – New Technologies, New Skills’, which highlighted ways in which well
established businesses can implement effective analytics strategies, as well as
provide for new skills they previously had not.
Out in force over the two day
event were software developers, many of which provided amazing demonstrations
from their latest analytics software within their speeches and panel sessions,
providing real-time statistical information generated live from a range of
non-static elements, including live consumer queries, web search terms, capital
expenditure data, and a very impressive segment featuring a live demo of a
responsive software used to power a real-time audience response system, which we all got to use by taking part in a vote on
the next topic of panel discussion.
You could also get hands-on
experience of new analytics software in the various workshops on offer, ranging
from introductory level classes for beginners interested in the basic
fundamentals of information management, to advanced analytics implementation
sessions. I was also pleased to see classes beyond business intelligence and
more focused on management; this is an important aspect of effectively
gathering business information that is often overlooked, as collating and
processing important data can often be a difficult task requiring multiple
means of organisation.
The summit also boasted an
amazing range of experts and analytics professionals, including an incredibly
insightful keynote speech from noted futurist and digital
technology expert Chris Riddel,
known globally for espousing the benefits of an analytics based business
environment. Having delivered successful business intelligence programmes in
Europe, China, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East, Riddel noted that
he is familiar with the difficulties of dealing with broad and varied business
intelligence data on a global scale, but argued that it is these differences
that make analytics information so rich.
Whilst working for one of the
world’s leading advertising agencies, Riddel said that, with his progressive school
of thought, he managed to encourage company directors to implement an analytics
programme that completely disrupted the organisations existing operational
objectives. In the face of doubt, the programme was a success and the company
was able to lead the way for its partners to further improve its operations.
The exhibition hall was home to
some of the biggest and most recognisable business technology and service
providers in the world, including IBM, Oracle, Dell, and Microsoft, all of whom
brought their hardware for the more curious amongst the crowd to have a go at.
Microsoft probably provided some of the most innovative solutions on the floor,
although no way near as grand as IBM. Over the course of two days, the company
demonstrated how its excel software, SQL capabilities, and cloud computing solutions
have become increasingly part of a singular analytics experience in Windows 10,
utilising the processes and information from each to provide a solid foundation
for a future business intelligence software.
Ultimately, the convention
highlighted for me the growing importance of business intelligence not only for
big businesses and industry leaders, but small and medium sized businesses too,
especially eCommerce platforms. A message that was apparent through-out the
summit was the need to provide and sustain long-term analytics for smaller
enterprise, and I agree that without solutions for all sized businesses, the open
market risks becoming uneven.
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