Since 2010, businesses in the UK have had access to data published under the Open Government License. This license allows public entities to publish any of their Crown Copyright (the UK copyright that applies to work created under government supervision) materials publicly for use by any business in any way as long as the source is acknowledged. Since its release, hundreds of … [Read more...]

Doing analytics, data science and business intelligence in either type of company can be extremely rewarding, but there are critical differences to understand. At its most basic, think of it as the difference between racing in the Formula 1 and racing in the Mongol Rally. You can go mind-blowingly fast when you're on a paved track, with a specially made car. But that car can't … [Read more...]

It's well understood that the people, regardless of intelligence, generally fail to invest sufficiently in the future. But it's important to understand the implications for business intelligence (BI) projects.  Deferred Rewards are Systematically Undervalued It always feels like managers want things now that are uniquely important, and they are willing to commit only … [Read more...]

As you have probably experienced, organizations don't just adopt new ideas when they are suggested. There is actually a good reason for this, frustrating as it may be. There are always going to be more ideas than any one company (or nonprofit, governmental agency, or whatever) can act on, even filtering out the ones that are obviously ridiculous. If you think your idea deserves … [Read more...]

Why should you care what was your team members use? The first, of course is that your team. If you think you can help one of your teammates do better, it certainly seems like good sportsmanship (or whatever the equivalent is in the business world) to at least make the suggestion. Even more directly, the fact that your team means that you will probably have to deal with some of … [Read more...]