My most recent articles dealt with simple business rules to be used for data validation generated a flurry of emails from people within the business rule and semantics community. One of the emails referred me to another blog site (as a matter of conscience, I will disclose that the blog is hosted at the Fair Isaac corporate web site) on "Enterprise Decision Management" that actually looked kind of interesting.

I am seeing a bunch of new three-letter acronyms, such as EDM (Enterprise Decision Management), EIM (Enterprise Information Management). Anyone else seeing news TLAs?

Just got back from TDWI Las Vegas. Interesting things to note:

- There seems to be a growing interest in data quality and data governance as an integral part of business applications, as indicated by the number of courses that refer or focus on data quality tools and technology.

- Some of the hot topics included real-time/"right-time" BI, Service-Oriented approaches to data warehousing and BI, and there were even some side conversations discussing Software as a Service (SaaS).

Check out the podcasts that Claudia and I moderated.

Just got back from TDWI Las Vegas. Interesting things to note:

- There seems to be a growing interest in data quality and data governance as an integral part of business applications, as indicated by the number of courses that refer or focus on data quality tools and technology.

- Some of the hot topics included real-time/"right-time" BI, Service-Oriented approaches to data warehousing and BI, and there were even some side conversations discussing Software as a Service (SaaS).

Check out the podcasts that Claudia and I moderated.

As I noted just days ago, in the shadow of Informatica's acquisition of Similarity Systems, it is reported that Firstlogic, one of the few remaining independent data quality tools vendors has been is planned to be acquired by Business Objects. The $69 million cash transaction certainly seems to be much more appealing than the suitor in their previous engagement.

The other day I read in the paper that Western Union was shutting down its telegram service, as is reported here. The value proposition of the telegram product was its ability to transmit short messages across long distances realtively quickly. Yet with the growth of email, instant messaging, mobile text messaging, etc. the value of sending a telegram transformed from content delivery to anachronistic curiosity ("Let's send Uncle Joe a telegram to celebrate his 96th birthday."). Reflecting (or, perhaps perturbing) Marshall McLuhan's comment that the "medium is the message," the acts of sending and receiving telegrams outweighed the actual messages contained within them.

It is interesting to consider that transmitting telegrams was a large part of Wester Union's business, but as part of a natural approach to business survival, what was once bread and butter is now being completely eliminated from the operational diet. Something most businesses should keep in mind: if you see that external events are significantly reducing the value proposition of your products, reinvent your business to remain competitive.