Soundbytes: Closing the Loop with Analytics and Business Rules Engines

The world of decision support only provides business value when organizations find ways to close the loop by incorporating analytical insights into operational processes. This requires integration of technologies and data, as well as of people and processes. That, says Forrester Analyst Boris Evelson, poses some real challenges.

First, the technologies are disjointed: from the search engines used to find information, to the structured world of data warehouses and OLAP cubes, to the process management components of today’s enterprises. “It’s a very disconnected market, so when we talk about the maturity level, we’re getting there, but we’re still very, very far away,” said Evelson.

There is hope, however, provided companies stick first to principles of business optimization. Said Evelson: “There are two basic components to business optimization: Business needs to be efficient and effective. In order for us to be efficient, we need to automate. Automation is about processes, workflows and making rules. Effectiveness, on the other hand, is about making better decisions, perhaps using the same data and information that my competitors may have. But if I can cleanse the data better, if I can segment my customers better; even if I can make the same decision but I can make it faster than my competitor, then I’m much more effective.”

To find out what’s on DM Radio, log on, tune in info-mgmt.com/dmradio.

Upcoming Shows

Thursdays @ 3 p.m. ET

December 3
Alternate Strategies for Pervasive BI

Spreading the wealth of analytics throughout the enterprise requires a skillful deployment of technologies and other resources, but where there’s a will ...

December 10
The Business Case for a Center of Excellence

Alignment of business and IT is just one reason for a center of excellence, but it’s the big one. Tune into this episode to learn more.

December 17
Say What? Corporate Taxonomies and Semantic Technologies

Metadata, master data, and every kind of data that exists can be better understood within context, and that’s why corporate taxonomies are starting to take off.

Eric Kavanagh is Web content developer for Information Management and host of the weekly radio show DM Radio. You can email him at dmradio@sourcemedia.com.

Filed under:

Analytics