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In Big Data Endeavors, Don't Neglect Softer Business Skills
With technical skills such as Java, C++, Python and more in high demand for “Big Data” analytics, it seems like softer business skills such as speaking, writing, planning, leadership, negotiation etc. are falling by the wayside. But the ability to...
Preserving Big Data to Live Forever
If anyone knows how to preserve data and information for long term value, it’s the programmers at Internet Archive, based in San Francisco, CA. In fact, Internet Archive is attempting to capture every webpage, video, television show, MP3 file...
Don't Gloat Over Excel Model Failures
Two noted economists, Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhardt, recently had their findings on country debt to GDP ratios questioned, as it was discovered an Excel spreadsheet error led to some grave miscalculations. And while plenty of financial...
Analytics and Hedgehogs: Lessons from the Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays spend significantly less on payroll than some of the wealthier teams in Major League Baseball, but get results that are sometimes better than those that wildly overspend. The Tampa Bay Rays success boils down to two things –...
Driving Data: A Slippery Ethical Slope?
When thinking about telematics, it’s easy to conjure up images of fleet tracking via GPS, satellite navigation systems for driving directions, or even the ubiquitous onboard security and diagnostic systems. However, what’s less understood is that...
Big Data Success Stories: Take Them with a Grain of Salt
For every successful “Big Data” case study listed in Harvard Business Review, Fortune or the like, there are thousands of many failures. It’s a problem of cherry-picking “success stories,” or assuming that most companies are harvesting...
Moving to the Public Cloud? Do the Math First
A manufacturing executive claims that many companies “didn’t do the math” in terms of rushing to outsource key functions to outside suppliers. Are companies making the same mistake in terms of rushing to public cloud computing infrastructures?The...
The Cloud: More Than Just Cost Savings
In a very competitive macro-economic climate, companies seek to reduce costs and drive those savings towards either the bottom line or re-purpose savings towards innovative projects. Cloud computing is often seen as one such avenue towards cost...
The ABC of Data Capacity Management: Always Be (Thinking) Cloud
Sales personnel have a mantra, “ABC” or “Always Be Closing,” as a reminder to continually drive conversations to selling conclusions or move on. In a world where business conditions remain helter-skelter, traditional IT capacity management...
For Simplicity's Sake – Learn from Peyton Manning!
Future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning is tough to beat. What’s his secret? Is it accuracy, the ability to throw a “catchable ball” or capability to diagnose defenses quickly? The answer is probably all of the above, to some degree...
Of Black Swans and Taking Showers
Those pesky “Black Swans” – extremely low probability events with a large impact have been burned into the lexicon of just about every MBA. With “Black Swan awareness” in mind, executives are counseled to be on the prowl for unlikely events...
Technologies and Analyses in CBS’ Person of Interest
Person of Interest is a broadcast television show on CBS where a “machine” predicts a person most likely to die within 24-48 hours. Then, it’s up to a mercenary and a data scientist to find that person and help them escape their fate. A straight...
