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Blog: Dan PowerApril 27, 2008Business Intelligence Big 4The cover story for the April 14, 2008 InformationWeek focused on business intelligence. The article titled "Then There Were Four" is by Mary Hayes Weier (pps. 33-41). The overriding question of the article is: "Are the big 4 making BI better?" She never really answers the question. My answer is MAYBE. According to Weier, "IBM, SAP, Oracle and Microsoft account for about half of the $7billion business intelligence market. All four are pitching enterprise-wide BI platforms, each with its own twist. Here's what you need to know to choose." She then provides a comprehensive analysis of the the recent BI acquisition history, the challenges facing each company to integrate diverse product lines and what she sees as the strategies each of the big 4 is following and who might win. Overall, I found the article a useful, quick read. Nothing earth shattering, but reasonably helpful to an IT person trying to sort out the business intelligence market place. My take on what is happening is: 1) IBM wants to move beyond infrastructure and provide more comprehensive application integration services. Cognos is a good fit with the strategy. 2) SAP wants to focus on operational business intelligence. It has too many products developed in-house and acquired. The BI tools are in disarray. Business Objects is a good partner, but there are and will be major problems. 3) Oracle emphasizes its database product. Business Objects would have been a better acquisition for Oracle than Hyperion, but the deeds are done. Oracle may need to look seriously at acquiring Microstrategy to get a frontend application development tool. Integrating the Oracle stack to create enterprise-wide BI is still a problem. What kind of BI does Oracle want to provide? I don't know. Oracle needs to sort out its applications, operational performance monitoring, special studies, scorecards, financial analysis, budgeting, etc. Oracle needs a clearer vision of data-driven decision support. 4) Microsoft is getting much stronger. I always liked the ProClarity people and product. SQL Server 2008 is the key to greater penetration by Microsoft in the enterprise BI application domain. I still like Excel even though I am concerned about moving away from Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). If Microsoft figures out that competing with Google "head on" in search is no win, then perhaps Microsoft will make a real commitment to enterprise-wide data-driven decision support and get it right.
April 5, 2008HBR Breakthrough Ideas for 2008Harvard Business Review has an annual survey of ideas and trends that "will make an impact on business". The 2008 article identifies 20 transformations. I'll identify eight that are particularly relevant to decision support. Jerome Groopman, MD discusses errors of judgment and how physicians are beginning to acknowledge their fallibility "in an effort to teach others and to improve themselves." CEOs should have formal decision-making reviews for self-analysis. Do you think this will happen? Michael Sheehan suggests managers need to deal more effectively with opposition to strategic ideas. He notes "for a variety of reasons, businesses face better organized and more vocal opponents than ever before." The approaches for dealing with community-based opposition are not tied to tradional business intelligence, but good customer relationship decision support could help. John Medina suggests "imagine a brain-friendly workplace where board meetings are conducted on treadmills, desks are equipped with stationary bicycles, and people wear gym clothes, not suits." Supposedly we "learn 20% faster immediately after exercise than after sitting still." So exercise while you use your BI tools. Jane McGonigal writes "In the coming decade, many businesses will achieve their greatest breakthroughs by playing games - specifically, alternate reality games, or ARGs." "ARGs will provide a truly stimulating framework for doing everyday work." Supposedly alternate reality games help users develop 10 collective-intelligence competencies, like "influency", "emergensight" and "mobbability". Well the skill names seem strange, but I will investigate and blog about the competencies/skills in a future posting. Miklos Sarvary, Professor at INSEAD titles his contribution "The Metaverse: TV of the Future?". Sarvey asserts "Within five years, the dominant internet interface is likely to be the metaverse, a term used to describe interactive multiplayer games such as Second Life." Organizations need to prepare for the coming of the metaverse. INSEAD "opened a virtual campus on Second Life to find the answers." Jan Chipchase suggests "In an increasingly connected future, the data trails from all these sources will create a massive universe of metadata. ... In the brave new world of aggregated data, companies will need to monitor themselves as well." Lew McCreary suggests PDAs are and will become "excuse technology". "Anticipate, therefore, epidemic levels of BlackBerry and Treo-constrained recollection of important decisions made in your presence or of orders you've issued to your teams." Michael J. Mauboussin asserts "As computing power grows and networks unleash the wisdom of crowds, the unique value of experts in making predictions and solving problems is steadily narrowing." Well on to 2009 and more predictions next year. Thanks HBR for looking ahead once in awhile. Source: Harvard Business Review; February 2008, Vol. 86 Issue 2, pp. 17-45. March 2, 2008Hiring a Decision Support ConsultantOver the past 25 years, almost all of my consulting has been the result of referrals. But I have a full-time teaching job, so I do very little consulting. I have not really had to market my services or cultivate referral networks. In general, my teaching duties, my writing and my web sites have kept me very busy for the past 13 years. Prior to 1995, I was an administrator at the University and did not really do any consulting for those 6 years. The few projects I do a year are related to identifying/evaluating software, training or research. Currently, I am only looking for virtual world related decision support consulting. So this blog posting is not about me. Rather I want to offer some independent advice for those folks who might be in the market looking for professional help related to building, buying, designing or evaluating decision support systems. First, I think any company with sales over USD $50 million needs annual independent advice for the Information Technology folks and management on decision support. This should be a check up and visit with a general practitioner. It is better to talk to people like Claudia Imhoff, Colin White and Jill Dyché routinely rather than waiting until you have a problem. The very large companies seem to be the worst offenders, the IT folks seem convinced they can "doctor" themselves or just attend conferences like Teradata or TDWI. Second, hire the smartest generalist you can find and let that person get to know your company. A good consultant needs to become familiar with the "client" environment. Develop an ongoing relationship with the consultant that emphasizes candor. Third, when you have specific projects, get advice on staffing internally versus hiring contract or specialist consultants. Don't always assume the professionals at the vendor are the best or the worst people to work with. Sort out what is best for the project and the ongoing development and maintenance of the system. Fourth, when in doubt get a second opinion. A significant decision support investment should be worth some up front investment in advice. Please check with my colleagues on the Business Intelligence Network™ when you need, want, should want or might want expert decision support advice. Also, attend conferences and meet the people who talk about decision support, analytics and business intelligence. In general, get referrals and references. Hire the best person you can afford. February 11, 2008A Decision Support EvangelistMy biographical sketch at DSSResources.com concludes "In summary, Dr. Dan Power is first and foremost a Decision Support evangelist and generalist. From his vantage point as editor of DSSResources.COM and PlanningSkills.COM he tracks a broad range of contemporary DSS and planning topics. In recent years, his writings have positioned him as a Decision Support theorist. His overall focus is on innovative DSS design and he likes to think of himself as a DSS Designer and Strategist, an Information Systems Researcher and a Decision Scientist (see http://dssresources.com/vita/bio.html)." Evangelist is a term most often associatiated with someone with strong religious beliefs and I respect that use of the term. We have also often written of technology "evangelists" and my use and perspective follows on that legacy. I enthusiastically promote and support the use of computerised decision support systems to assist decision makers. My goal is to lead the charge of decision support "best practices". Based upon empirical evidence, I have concluded that appropriately designed, developed and deployed technology-based decision support can improve decision making outcomes and create process efficiencies. So I am a "true believer", but I know from experience that fit between decision maker wants and needs and the proposed technology solution is crucial to its ultimate use and success. I acknowledge my bias proudly. As far as vendors and solutions, I try to remain objective and I strive to analytically evaluate options and not bring a ready-made solution to every opportunity/problem. February 3, 2008Handbook on Decision Support SystemsYesterday I received my copy of the Handbook of Decision Support Systems, a 2 volume compendium, compiled and edited by Professors Frada Burstein, Monash Univ., and Clyde Holsapple, Univ. of Kentucky. The handbook published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg (springer.com) has 71 chapters and is 1610 pages of content plus indexes, table of contents, prefaces, author biographies. The handbook has been a multi-year project and I contributed a chapter and reviewed some of the chapters. In one day I can not read 1610 pages. But let me give blog readers a few quick highlights. Volume 1 is subtitled "Basic Themes" and Volume 2 is "Variations". The Preface begins "Decision Support Systems comprise a core subject area of the information systems (IS) discipline, being one of several major expansions that have occurred in the IS field." This handbook is a reference guide for the subject area. DSS is a wide frontier as the editors note and the 71 chapters take us on a journey of review and exploration. No one is likely to carefully read the handbook 2 volume set from beginning to end. Rather sample the material, read the abstracts, skim and read what seems interesting or new. Volume 1 starts with a section on Foundations and my Chapter 7 traces the history of DSS as a "stream of research and practice" beginning in the late 1960s. Volume 1 is USD$ 249.00 and Volume 2 is $239.00. So far I think the handbook is an important reference for every library and a valuable reference for anyone serious about computerized decision support. Reference Power, D., "Decision Support Systems: A Historical Overview," in F. Burstein and C. W. Holsapple (eds.), Handbook of Decision Support Systems 1: Basic Themes, Springer, 2008, pp. 121-140. ISBN: 978-3-540-48712-8 January 14, 2008Forecasting with Small SamplesSome readers may have noticed that my turnout forecasts for the Iowa Political caucuses were extremely inaccurate. "In 2004, 125,000 Iowa Democrats caucused. Turnout for 2008 should be similar, about 230,000 total." Well predicting demand using just a few data points generated 4 years apart is definitely a mistake. In reality, about 239,000 Democrats and 120,000 Republicans caucused. Why the enormous error and what is the impact of "bad" forecasts? Why? Many new attendees encouraged by the well organized campaigns, extensive media barrage, no incumbent candidate, good weather .... Turnout was also very high in New Hampshire. What is the impact of a "bad" forecast? Resources are misallocated, polling can be misleading, and perhaps worst of all, behavior may be impacted, voter, campaign staffers, media. Could we have avoided the horrible forecasts for turnout? Perhaps, combining historical data with voter intention data from phone surveys could have helped. Could we have made more accurate projections of votes for winners and losers? Maybe, but the electorate is undecided and some of us decide at the last moment. Also, in voter preference polls, people don't always tell the truth. The margin of error is very high right now for many reasons (certainly more than statistical sampling error). The best demand forecasting tools require that the future is an extrapolation of past behavior and that intentions capture future behavior. ... A very weak set of assumptions this year. Regarding Second Life: Group Notice From: Leinad Meriman aka Dan Power You are cordially invited to Decision Support Systems Workshop #3 with host check http://www.b-eye-network.com/view/4163 Also, please visit the new Decision Support World global headquarters in Second Life. It is still under construction, but you can get a sense of what is planned. January 3, 2008A Pragmatic Decision - 8 hours and countingRichard Hack and I just met in Second Life at the new Decision Support World facility and chatted about decision support using Second Life and tonight's political caucuses here in Iowa. Using the voice client we could chat and sit and explore the 3-D SL world. We are hoping Jill, Claudia, Colin and our other BI Network friends will come and explore the possibilities of the 3-D web Well this is Decision-day in Iowa. At 7pm CST, Iowa Democrats will break into preference groups and allocate delegates to groups with at least 15% of the attendees in the precinct. The Republicans will have a secret, winner-take-all ballot in their caucuses. I got up early this morning to head to Jameson's Pub in Waterloo to meet with Senator Joe Biden. Yesterday I attended a campaign event with Former President Clinton and then one with Senator Barack Obama. The media frenzy, phone calls, and door knocking is intense. Following his speech, I briefly shook hands with Barack Obama and looked him in the eyes. Obama looked back! He is clearly not some puppet on a string. Barack is a man of great passion and intellect with a smart talented wife. The crowd of 750 people were "pumped up" and so was Barack. Live music and shouting, it seemed like a rock concert. Bill Clinton was more subdued and his crowd was about 400 at the National Cattle Congress Pavillion. He believes Hillary will make a great President and he knows what the job demands. From watching the two of them together, Bill will be a trusted advisor, but Hillary will be the President, the Chief Executive Officer and Commander in Chief. Joe Biden is a strong, experienced leader. In my opinion, he can lead this country through the difficult times that are certainly ahead. Perhaps 100 of us gathered to hear his stump speech and enjoy being with Joe. So the time for decision draws near ... 8 hours and counting. I want to make a pragmatic decision, not solely an emotional one. What is a pragmatic decision? One where the decision maker has looked at the practical consequences of each proposed course of action. Pragmatism is an analytical philosophy that is the foundation for computerized decision support and especially systems to provide business intelligence to managers. Senator Biden suggested an exercise to help make the decision tonight. I will share it based on my interpretation: Close your eyes and imagine that each candidate is the President of the United States. Assume they were President today and had to deal with the crisis in Pakistan, the war in Iraq, the domestic issues of recession and a housing crisis. What would the person be doing? Is the person ready and able? Thought exercises are fun and potentially informative. Emotion is "indispensable in rational decision making", but a pragmatic decision should not be based solely on emotional response. According to the coherence theory of decision (Millgram, Thagard, Barnes), "people make decisions by assessing and ordering various competing actions and goals." Supposedly, "The rational decision maker chooses complex plans that are most coherent with currently held goals." My overriding goal is a strong American which is a great, safe place for my children to live and work, where I can enjoy my retirement years and with hope hug grandchildren one day. I want a positive, sustainable world for the next 100 years and beyond. Based upon what I have read, my impressions of the candidates I have met and my goals, I will stand up for Senator Joe Biden during the first caucus division tonight. If for some reason, Seantor Biden is not viable in my precinct I will caucus with the supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton. Senator Barack Obama has demonstrated that he is a viable contender and that very fact creates new hope for those who have been excluded and sometimes ignored in our society, but when I close my eyes and imagine Obama as President I hesitate. As for the other contenders, each has strengths and should continue to work to make America the leader of the "free world" once again. A door knocker for John Edwards is at my front door as I finish this blog post. Volunteers for Barack Obama were outdoors in 15 degree winds on the streets of Waterloo, IA at 7:30 am holding political signs as people drove to work. The volunteers for the campaigns are out in force. Iowa is all about the future of our country today. Pray for those of us who must decide tonight. References Barnes, A. and P. Thagard, "Emotional Decisions," URL http://cogsci.uwaterloo.ca/Articles/Pages/Emot.Decis.html . Pragmatism, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatism Thagard, P., & Millgram, E. (1995). Inference to the best plan: A coherence theory of decision. In A. Ram & D. B. Leake (Eds.), Goal-driven learning: (pp. 439-454). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. December 31, 2007Real World Decision Making -- 72 hours and countingTonight I listened to Senator Chris Dodd speak about why Iowans should support him in the Thursday night, January 3, 2008 Iowa Democratic caucuses. Basically Dood emphasized his foreign policy experience, his life long commitment to public service, and his concern about the future of the United States for his 2 young daughters. We met in a smoky bar, Steamboat Gardens in Waterloo, IA, with a crowd of about 75 people. Dodd is a smart guy and a nice guy. He has passion and enthusiasm. He shook my hand, looked me in the eyes and asked for my support. He is an honest man, given to some hyperbole, who wants the USA to continue as a great country with principled leadership. He has my respect. Can he get his message out to 125,000 Iowans who will be at the caucuses and sway their opinions? It will be hard, both Dodd and Biden need to explore new media, whether it is a live infomercial of a half hour campaign event, streaming video on a web site, YouTube coverage of the next 72 hours, or something even more informative and dramatic. Both Biden and Dodd need to break away from the 60 second commercial to have any chance with an informed, interested political audience. I speculated in my last post that Biden needed to strategically spend an additional $15 per caucus vote he sought in the final 127 hours before the caucuses to gain additional support. That was a serious underestimate. All the campaigns, Republican and Democrat, are pouring money into the closing days of this contest. Supposedly Barack Obama has the best computer support for identifying and maintaining relationships with supporters (the claim of the local TV news reporter). I can't confirm that, but I do know Senator Clinton's campaign has very targeted and sophisticated calling programs and mailings from what my household has experienced. Last night, December 30, I attended an event on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa with more than 600 cheering Hillary Clinton supporters. The event was clearly targeted to women, given the composition of the audience and the fact my wife got the invitation not me. I got an email about a different Clinton event scheduled for today in Waterloo that ended up being cancelled because of weather-related travel problems. The woman who called to alert me about the cancellation did mention Former President Bill Clinton would be in town Wednesday and I should come listen. So what about Senator Clinton? She is smart, serious and tough. She clearly brings compassion to some issues. She is long-winded but eloquent. Her mother and daughter and the former Governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack, joined her. She is good on the issues, more middle of the road than Edwards and Obama. She has been on the global stage and she has enormous self-confidence. I like her approach to withdrawal from Iraq. She proposes to start in phases 60 days after she takes office. Take time to plan and do it right, consider the details and leave in an organized manner. We have so many human and material resources in Iraq that we can't leave hurriedly or without careful planning. She knows we need to leave! So who am I supporting right now? Biden is still the strongest, the most able man in the race. I'm willing to trust Senator Clinton, but I'm unsure about Former President Bill Clinton's role in her administration and I am concerned that gender bias might cause her to lose in November. On Thursday night I will be watching the passion and commitment of the "hard core" Hillary Clinton supporters. If she is the nominee, we are in for a massively divisive election. Tomorrow is a day off for me. Wednesday I'll probably go to the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama events in Waterloo. This is an exciting time and I feel privileged to participate and meet these candidates. And the Republicans. Huckabee was an unknown 12 weeks ago and Romney is throwing everything he can to see what sticks. The TV ads are nasty. Huckabee is trying to stay above the fray, but his poll numbers are slipping. December 29, 2007Decision making -- 126 hours and countingIowans will meet in Presidential caucuses all around the state at 6:30 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2008. That is about 126 hours from now and counting. In 1988, approximately 230,000 Iowans participated in the caucuses in a heavily contested event. In 2000, only 147, 000 members of both parties (61,000 Democrats and 86,000 Republicans) participated. In 2004, 125,000 Iowa Democrats caucused. Turnout for 2008 should be similar, about 230,000 total. Democrats will caucus in 2,131 precints around the State. One can easily see how the Web has changed Iowa caucus politics, from finding precincts and caucus locations, to candidate information sites and finding places to meet candidates. Some tourists are even coming to Iowa just to travel around and meet candidates. A large number of out-of-state volunteers are also busy. The Voter Relationship Management (VRM) systems most likely vary tremendously. A few years ago, I saw the Iowa Democratic Party system, but I have not seen those of any candidates. I do receive duplicate targeted mailings from Democrats and Republicans. Campaigns get caucus attendee lists from the state political parties. As I recall, the parties sell the data in digital form to candidates and the counties sell or provide data on registered voters to legitimate users. Certainly the state parties have data on registered voters. Targeting is enhanced with extensive phone calling and possibly purchased data. Some candidates are doing targeting better than others. Well the races are heating up. Last night I spent an hour and a half at an event for Senator Joe Biden at the Waterloo Center for the Arts. With about 100 others, including 2 of my sons, I listened attentively to Senator Biden and even asked a question about his position on "evil corporations" and asked for a comment on John Edwards' inflamatory rhetoric. Biden said the right things, he is a centrist and a pragmatist and he has extensive foreign policy experience. Right now I'm switching from Senator Hillary Clinton to Senator Biden. The polls show Biden at about 3% (4.5% margin of error). Each percentage point is about 1,250 Democrats. Sunday night Senator Clinton returns to Cedar Falls. Monday night I plan to meet Senator Dodd and Wednesday night Senator Obama is on my schedule. Campaigning on the ground in Iowa is safer than in Pakistan, but I assume all of the campaigns will be careful as we move to caucus night. So what should a campaign do in the next 126 hours. First, to get a 5% bump in support, a candidate needs to meet and influence about 6,250 people, about 50 people per hour. Second, candidates need to solidify the base with upbeat media buys and speak candidly about the other candidates. Most of the Iowa political activists have met all the candidates. Third, candidates need to push for endorsements and run newspaper ads with lists of supporters. Fourth, candidates need to get on the local news in major Iowa media markets everyday. Fifth, campaigns need to have a good contingency plan for bad weather on Caucus night to get supporters to the polls. So is Senator Joe Biden a viable candidate in Iowa. Perhaps! Sadly he needs cash and the next 126 hours will test his stamina. He can finish a strong 4th and perhaps he can get above 15% statewide. That would be a tremendous victory! I think he would make an outstanding President; Biden has been a dedicated Senator and leader of the Democratic Party his entire adult life. He has strength and courage. So how much money does Biden need to have a strong showing in Iowa? I estimate in the next 126 hours he needs to strategically spend an additional USD$15 for every vote he wants in the caucuses. That means about $300,000. He needs cash. The Internet has also transformed political fundraising. If you want a smart, rational, experienced. pragmatic centrist as President of the United States, consider helping Joe Biden. His campaign website is http://www.joebiden.com/. Other sites Iowa Democratic Party, http://www.iowademocrats.org/ Republican Party of Iowa, http://www.iowagop.net/ Democratic Caucus Location finder, http://www.iowafirstcaucus.org/caucus_finder.php http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/28/attend.register/ http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2592 December 16, 2007Iowa Caucuses and Decision SupportI live in Cedar Falls, Iowa and politics is center stage with the upcoming January 3, 2008 Iowa caucuses. In my youth I was a political organizer and activist so I have been involved with the Iowa caucuses since 1972 ... Muskie, McGovern, the anti-war movement. Much has changed with the Web, information technology, email and political targeting. The automated phone calls are horrendous; the amount of money spent has increased tremendously. Today so much more information is available on candidate positions. With email, the candidates who have me targeted send me invitations to various campaign events. If I'm curious, I can check a candidate's schedule on the Web and drive across town or down the road and listen. We Iowans like the attention and the face-to-face politics. The blog sphere is exerting more influence every day and the politicos in other states want the same attention Iowans get. This year may be the last actively contested caucus, but I hope not. Despite my grumblings about too many ads and too many phone calls and mailings, like other Iowans I am flattered to be involved. The candidates I meet are sincere and most are working hard to hone their message and influence people to chose them for the future of our country. So what about decision support? Campaign decision support is getting better. Candidate organizations should have spatial DSS and CRM systems. The web-based document decision support is better at some candidate web sites than others. Decision support for voters is limited and that is probably as it should be. The Iowa caucuses showcase how many factors influence an individual's decision making. Decision making is not really aided much by a computerized, multi-attribute choice model. This caucus process continually reminds me of how many different priorities, value systems and needs are influencing all of us. None of us really want knowledge-driven DSS to help us make our choice and no model or simulation-driven DSS can help us anticipate the future with a new president. I find myself looking at body language, how comfortable is the person, is the person electable and various intangibles. My intuition and emotional intelligence is stretched to get a "feel" for who the person really is ... I read the issue position materials and listen to the ads and debates when I can stand to do so. Rational decision making is so hard when choosing a leader for our great country. Yesterday, I went with my wife and 2 sons to listen to John Edwards in a room at the University of Northern Iowa. Perhaps 350 people joined me. We listened to the local politicos and as usual everything was running late. Kevin Bacon sang for us and then introduced my congressman, Bruce Braley, an Edwards supporter. Then Edwards and his wife Elizabeth entered the room. Elizabeth is a straight shooter, but she feels a need to get in her 2 cents worth. She told us John's life story by way of introduction, then John spoke. Sadly, John Edwards tried to arouse people's emotions rather than deal with the complexity of our current national situation. I realized I'm too much of what Edwards calls a "corporate democrat" to support him. I'm a business professor and I know that we need global corporations to provide people goods and services in a populous world. Some managers make mistakes, but we stockowners are the global corporations. I'll keep watching the Democrats. Don't think I can support Pastor Mike, the "oven Mitt", or Rudy. I've always been a Clinton fan and I'd like to see a serious woman candidate, but Hilary's campaign is horribly managed and staffed. Too many political cronies perhaps. The state newspaper endorsed Hilary and John McCain. McCain is a non-factor and Hilary is fading. "And so it goes." In the next few weeks, I'll watch Obama and Biden. Political choices are hard and it may be the best we can find in 2008 is a caretaker President. December 10, 2007Internet Addiction and Decision SupportI spend a very significant amount of time using the Internet, checking email, reading articles, working on my Web sites, participating in Video conferences and using Second Life. A major part of my life involves using the Internet. Do I have "internet dependency" or "cyber addiction"? I'm not Anthony Chan, the Hong Kong Internet junkie. Supposedly "Anthony Chan betrays the tell-tale signs of his addiction: his skin is pallid and covered in spots, he sits nervously hunched, peering to correct his blighted vision and he has trouble communicating with friends and family. At just 16 he is emotionally fragile, physically ill and his future has been compromised by the addiction which has him in its grip. But when the lights are switched off he gets online, he could not care less about the problems it brings. His drug is the Internet and, when connected, it makes the lonely Hong Kong schoolboy feel on top of the world. (cf., http://www.caslon.com.au/addictionnote.htm)" Kim Komando, USAToday columnist, cites the Center For Online Addiction's five distinct forms of cyber addiction: 1) "Cyber sexual", viewing, downloading and trading online pornography or involved in adult fantasy role-play chat rooms. 2) "Cyber-relational", becoming overly involved in online relationships or engaging in virtual adultery. 3) "Net gaming", obsessed with online gambling, game playing, shopping, auctions or stock trading. 4) "Information overload", reduced productivity when a person spends too much time searching, collecting and organizing information. 5) "Computer addiction", endlessly playing computer games or habitual tweaking of settings, file management and other administrative computer functions. Managers using Web-based decision support can become addicted, e.g., excessively checking email, continually checking dashboards, searching for more documents or information about competitors, adding more hardware like a Blackberry to stay in-touch with email, and/or buying new gadgets just to have them. Some symptoms include 1) an unwillingness to take a real vacation away from the Internet, 2) missing meetings or making excuses for being on the "net", 3) feeling agitated when not "connected". I am a heavy user; I am trying to keep a balance. Professor John Suler, Rider University, suggests "using the Internet extensively is a problem when your face-to-face life becomes dissociated from your cyberlife. It's healthy when your face-to-face life is integrated with your cyberlife". I don't know what his observation means for managers who increasingly must rely on the Internet for their work and sometimes their recreation. We have much to think about as we continue to use Information Technology to support real world decision making. If you see me on Second Life late at night, encourage me to go to bed. I'm probably dancing at Blue Fusion Jazz Club. References Suler, J. (2004). Computer and cyberspace addiction. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 1, 359-362, URL http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/cybaddict.html
October 28, 2007IHOP, Linux and the role of IT executivesA quiet Sunday morning in Cedar Falls, so a good time to catch up on my IT/DSS reading. Although most of my reading is web documents, I still receive a few print IT trade publications. The information world comes to me here in Cedar Falls. What do I read? How do I keep up with the fast pace of change? I only read 2 weekly trade pubs, InformationWeek and eWeek. I also regularly check the websites of these 2 publications. I also receive in the mail Teradata Magazine and Oracle Magazine. No more Intelligent Enterprise, stopped reading DM Review. Despite being more selective, I am inundated with content about DSS/IT. So I scan, skim and read selectively; I attend a few conferences, email people and read press releases and check web sites of major vendors. My friends at BI Network add advice, opinions and perspective to my thinking about decision support. I just finished reading an interview in eWeek with Patrick Piccininno, IHOP's VP of IT. Piccininno argues the role of the IT executive has changed and that CIOs need to "put their technology hat aside and focus on what it is the business needs to be successful ...". Piccininno explains how IHOP is using Linux as part of a transformational initiative and hints it will help integrate Applebee's successfully into the IHOP organization. Applebee's uses Teradata and MicroStrategy for data-driven decision support especially for company owned restaurants. The IT staff at Applebee's have frequently presented at Teradata Partners. The problem is IHOP is focused on efficient transaction processing and is a Linux/Oracle shop. Sadly business intelligence didn't make Applebee's the victor in the sit down dining world. My concern from a decision support standpoint is that this marriage, IHOP and Applebee's, will be one made in IT hell. Computerized decision support is a strategic transformational initiative. Applebee's spent a lot and focused on menu planning. The decision support at Applebee's was often delayed and never seemed focused on either tactical or strategic decision making. The data warehouse helped the financial/marketing analysts prepare reports. Piccininno barely mentions business intelligence and decision support at IHOP. The reality is that if CIOs really want to contribute at the strategic decision making table, they need to update their knowledge about transformational decision support. The world of decision support is complex, fast moving and certainly not as simple to understand as Linux vs. Unix vs. Windows. Decision support is not about TCO, total cost of ownership. Transformational decision support is about TPL, total profit in the long-run and surviving to compete. What about Linux? eWeek also reports "Linux Losing Market Share to Windows Server". The introduction to the story notes, "Experts say that migrations from Unix to Linux have slowed down because all the low-hanging fruit has now been picked." I agree. Linux has many advantages over proprietary Unix. Oracle has made a significant commitment to Linux and that plus the IBM support makes Linux viable in the enterprise. But Microsoft wants a larger slice of the pie. I'll explore Oracle on Linux at Oracle OpenWorld. Also, I hope the Hyperion acquisition by Oracle has been a success and that product enhancements have occurred. September 12, 2007Starting a BlogThis is the first post in my blog associated with my Decision Support expert channel on the Business Intelligence Network. A few hours ago, Jean Schauer, Editor in Chief of the network, reminded me in an email about the launch of my expert channel and the publication of my first article "A Framework for Understanding Computerized Decision Support". So the blog begins. We are all being bombarded by too much information and too many diverse opinions. I will try to share my reflections to help make some sense in the midst of rapid change in supporting decision makers using technology. I hope you'll still read my Ask Dan! columns in DSS News, but this blog will have my quick reactions to what I read in emails, print publications and other blogs. I receive hundreds of emails a year with questions about computerized decision support and some of them will find their way to this blog. I read five blogs regularly including those of Claudia Imhoff, Jill Dyché, and Shawn Rogers from the BeyeNETWORK. If appropriate, I'll comment on their remarks and posting in other blogs. I receive and scan Information Week and eWeek and when an article seems useful, I'll recommend it. I read and post news releases at DSSResources.com every day and certainly the vendor announcements often deserve some comment. I also attend vendor and academic conferences and I'll blog about what I learn, who I meet and what seems important. So why should you read my blog? I am a generalist and I read widely about computerized decision support; I have been studying and writing about these issues for 30 years; I try to stay objective and focused on understanding what is needed rather than on trying to sell you something; I live in Iowa and teach at a great public University, the University of Northern Iowa. All in all, if you want my views, read my blog. I'll share my analysis the best I can and try to make my comments useful, fun and relevant. So what's funny about computerized decision support? Nothing. Computers don't laugh or think! What's new? Shawn Rogers aka Otis Forti accepted my friendship offer in Second Life. My Second Life name is Leinad Meriman, friend me or IM me and join the Decision Support group in Second Life. I'm celebrating the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, that starts about now here in Iowa so L'Shana Tova, Happy New Year. See http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday2.htm . Link to me www.linkedin.com/in/danpower . |
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