Welcome Christy
March 31, 2008
Business Intelligence/Data Management Capabilities
March 31, 2008
The Beauty of the Wheel!
Or is it the ‘Magic’ of the wheel….
Communicating an idea efficiently is challenging, especially when that idea covers many IT functions that can each by themselves stand alone. In an effort to communicate our Business Intelligence and Data Management capabilities in a way that takes less than a 7 day training, we put together this graphic. Of course, the colors were selected by IT guys and not by our marketing department, but we feel that we have captured the essence of our complete capabilities within the BI/DM space - the stages and relationships of our capabilities as well as the breadth of our talent.
Internally, we call this model the FABI Wheel. Why FABI? It stands for the (Henry) Ford Approach to Business Intelligence, and was inspired by our smart guys (and gals) here at LUCRUM. This unique approach is important because it is an approach to thinking about business intelligence and data management in a way that is not driven by technology or bad habits. It is driven by the pursuit of delivering value quickly by unhiding data in a method that puts ownership in the hands of the business people. We know that BI is a journey, we have been there before and this is how we think. Let me explain…
First, the outer wheel has three sections; Strategic, Tactical and Operational. This communicates that LUCRUM has offerings in each of those areas. We have a mature strategy and can engage at these levels.
Strategic. This is the level that can set us apart from others. It is here that we help our customers set direction. If we engage here correctly, we will win a client for the long term. At this level, we are architects (helping to ‘plan the city’, where the city represents systems) - we build relationships and architect solutions here.
Tactical. This is where we are the builders. We deploy as warehouse architects and engage to carry out the plan. We are builders and implementers. Our unique collaborative and iterative approach sets apart from the rest. We focus all our energies on delivering value and doing it quickly!
Operational. This is where the results are seen. This is the 10% of the ice berg that is visible. We are deploying here, always listening and always understanding. We are working to bring the parts of the customer’s organization together - we are working as facilitators of change.
Second, the outer wheel is self-sustaining and self-connecting. It’s easy to see the transitions; but notice the transition from Operational to Strategic. Within the operational phase we are always listening and always understanding…so that we can complete the feedback loop and build ‘the next strategy’. As we deploy reports, cubes, dashboards, we are touching the area of the business that is strategic, they need the unhidden information to make the best decisions. Well, there is always that next round of unhidden information and it is here that we make relationships and bridge for the next opportunity - which naturally begins with strategy; we are either building out the strategy to the next level or developing game changing strategy with the customer. It’s how we provide extra value to our clients and mature our relationships.
Third, the inner wheel does have connections to each of the arrows both before and after. These connections are fuzzy, but real. As we operate within one arrow, we have direct opportunity to grow our business in both the next one and the previous one. For example, if we are building a warehouse, we will have visibility in to the next effort, reporting. But don’t forget the previous arrow’s opportunities ‘data integration’. If we get tasked with the data integration portion, don’t forget the previous opportunity ‘MDM and Metadata’. It’s not possible to integrate without a strategy for MDM and Metadata - how far we go with this depends upon our relationship with the customer. The magic of the inner wheel is to help us understand both where we are and where the opportunities come from (looking forwards and backwards at the same time) all to deliver value to the client so that they are successful.
Fourth, finally, putting it altogether, we are focused on getting the right information to the right people delivered the right way at the right time…so that our customers can engage their business and succeed. This is the heart of the wheel.
~Scott Felten
iPhone-Interesting article
March 31, 2008
The article is called, “Why IT Hates the iPhone,” and there are some interesting points in the piece. IT departments believe the iPhone is “less secure than business-oriented” phones such as the Blackberry or others. There is also speculation about the compatability with the companies’ current software. However, with the popularity of the device only rising, most believe pushing against the use of the iPhone is a losing cause.
The more important message about the article, and the reason I am putting it up on our blog, is some technology experts say the iPhone could cause major changes in the way businesses adopt new technologies. If more and more people continue to switch over to the iPhone, businesses such as IT consulting firms would be smart to adapt their software in order to increase compatibility. It is becoming a user driven market, and this must be addressed in order to not lose out on this business.
Here is the URL for the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120647580478363231.html?mod=yhoofront. Let me know what your thoughts are on the issue as a whole.
On Feedback
March 31, 2008
Recently I was confronted with a difficult decision regarding the comments section of this blog. A very negative comment was placed for approval to be placed on the site. It was written by “anonymous” and went on to express some very negative opinions of LUCRUM. At first, I approved the comment, and quickly posted my response - trying to be as diplomatic and objective as possible. Then I changed my mind, and took both down. Why? “Isn’t blogging supposed to be about freedom of expression, taking the good with the bad, and engaging in meaningful dialog.” Yes. It is about that. I believe that this site is absolutely about that. Negativity and criticism can actually serve to make us stronger by opening our eyes to areas where improvement is required. It is through these criticisms that we are able to learn and grow. Without a voice of dissent, there is a danger of, as the author put it, sitting around singing Kum Ba Ya. Criticism is welcome.
The reason for taking the post down had nothing to do with a criticism of LUCRUM, but rather the author’s use of specific client information and private information about former employees. I am not alright with that type of content on the site. Unless, that is, you can convince me otherwise. I welcome comments. I prefer when people own them by attaching their name, but anonymous is allowed. Constructive criticism is welcome. However, I ask that if you comment, please do so respectfully. Thoughts?
Opening Day in Cincinnati
March 31, 2008
Today is opening day for Major League Baseball. Here in Cincinnati, it is pretty close to a formal holiday. There are people everywhere, prepared for parades, celebrations and baseball. The city is buzzing this morning; as yet another baseball season begins.
This will mark the first opening day in decades without the presence of Joe Nuxhall, the fabled Reds pitcher and broadcaster who passed last year. It will be odd to not hear or see the Old Lefthander, but I would be willing to bet that he will be well remembered today. I hope Cooperstown pays attention to the outpouring of love for Joe that will be on display in Cincinnati today. He had a huge impact on this city and on baseball. He belongs in the Hall of Fame.
The Reds used to play the actual first game of the season, which is no longer true. The Marketing Machine within MLB decided a few years back that the season would start with overseas games and promotional events designed to spread the game abroad. Still, in my mind baseball does not really start until that first pitch has been thrown out in Cincinnati. Coinciding with the emergence of springtime, opening day is a welcoming of possibility and potential, a celebration of sport and history, and a time when for at least one day, we are tied for first. (At the very worst, the Reds will only be one game out of first by the end of the day.) There is energy and excitement. It is like this every year. This is my first year working in downtown Cincinnati on an opening day. Here at LUCRUM, several employees are dressed in Red, ready to root, root, root, for the home team. While I will be hard at work today, I am going to make an effort to take a lunchtime walk up the street to see the festivities. It’s all part of the fun of working downtown. Hopefully, 162 games from now, we will still be talking about the Reds, but in the context of post-season play. For now, there is opening day, the beginning of a new journey with a new manager, a new team, and new possibility for greatness.
Business does not have the luxury of an offseason. It would be great if it did. You could take time to retool, retrain, and relax. Time to reflect on the past, live in the present, and prepare for the future. Time to develop strategies for success. Time to put together just the right team, and to figure out just how to win with that team. Alas, there is no off-season. With no off-season, decisions must be made in real time. Not only do the teams change, often the rules of the game itself change overnight. Every day is potentially opening day. Much of the value that a consulting firm creates is through helping Clients to understand these changes and to successfully adapt to them in real time. If today were your opening day, would you be celebrating? Are passion, energy, and potential alive and well in your firm? Are you ready to take the field and prepared to win?
On behalf of everyone here at LUCRUM, I wish 2008 Reds good luck. May this opening day mark the first step towards a season of greatness for this team.
Giving Back - Part 3
March 28, 2008
After reading David Bowman’s blog about Giving Back and John Bostick’s, Giving Back continued, I felt the need to put in my two cents. LUCRUM is definitely committed to the community. I have seen this first hand in my three years here at LUCRUM. One fond memory of mine was in October 2006 when we combined our efforts and did a United Way Community Care Week project for the Boy Scouts. LUCRUM volunteers painted the Cub World structure at the Dan Beard Council Boy Scout Camp in Loveland, Ohio. We had LUCRUM employees and their family members volunteer to paint from 9:00am to 5:00pm. Everyone came to the camp with the assumption that the structure was just that a structure of some sort but we weren’t quite sure what it was. Imagine our surprise when we found out it was a very large cabin! Our job was to primer the cabin for the real painters to finish the job the following week. That didn’t discourage us. We were there to help and we certainly did. I have attached pictures for you to see the huge accomplishment. To this day, my daughter still talks about how she helped paint the largest cabin she has ever seen.
Ugh, Not Another PowerPoint?!
March 26, 2008
You can say it formally the way Edward Tufte did in The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint, or you can just say it in plain English: Do I have to sit through another meaningless presentation? The answer is a resounding, “NO!” Okay, this post is more entertainment than thoughtfulness, but you can learn a *whole bunch* of what NOT to do by meandering over to Life after Death by PowerPoint and reviewing the first video. And then take a gander at the second one just for fun. You’ll hear Don McMillan’s life lessons.
When you’re done with your homework, visit Presentation Zen, pickup the book, then practice so that we don’t have to sit through your boring presentation 
- Andy
Giving Back - Continued
March 26, 2008
I was checking out our new blog today, and saw a post by one of our newest employees, David Bowman. It is great to hear about people in our company giving back. It is an important part of our culture and frankly, it’s one of the most special parts of living on this earth.
I guess when I think about giving, I go back to my parents and the stories that they taught me about their growing up in the Great Depression. In today’s world and the complex financial crisis that the sub-prime mortgage market has along with the recent failings of some of Wall Street’s giants, I have to admit: I still think we as a society have no clue about the real impact of what our families and relatives went through in the Great Depression. My parents were fortunate. My mother is First Generation American. Her parents immigrated from Eastern Austria-Hungary and the Ukraine shortly after the beginning of this last century. Coal-miner, shoemaker, Goodyear Rubber & Tire factory work, her parents always put food on the table and had a modest life of comfort and stability. During the Depression, they constantly had people coming to their door asking for chores. Back then, pride was 100% of your character. One never took hand-outs. You would not take “free food” even though my grandparents were willing and able to share. My father grew up the 6th child of a Southern Alabama farm family. Again, lots of people were very unfortunate in the South during the Depression. He learned to give to his neighbors and support the community. This was a practice that he continued throughout his entire life.
Fast forward over my years growing up with them. My 2 brothers and I were in Boy Scouts in our formative years. Outside of camping in the Upstate New York Adirondacks once a month, community service was the core of our activities. Weekends were spent participating in newspaper drives, helping in the neighborhood parks, cleaning up the “teen center” and many other volunteer activities. We learned to support our community.
Fast forward to today: I still have it in my blood. LUCRUM is committed to participating in Community Service through providing 4 approaches: economic, leadership, professional, and material assistance to local and regional organizations. Economic simply means donated cash. Leadership is where people in our firm invest their time in guiding, assisting, participating in community organizations. Professional is where LUCRUM provides consulting, web development, and general software development services. LUCRUM’s community support initiatives have recently included: The United Way(www.uwgc.org) and the Tocqueville Society Campaign, the Central Clinic (www.centralclinic.org), the Boy Scouts(www.danbeard.org), the Evans’ Scholar Golf Outing, the Epilepsy Foundation, the Cincinnati Art Museum (www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org), the Fine Arts Fund (www.fineartsfund.org) and their new Technology Sector campaign, and the National Father-Son Tennis Tournaments to name a few. As you can imagine, it’s contagious with our employees and their commitment to the community amplifies ours.
So, “thank-you” David Bowman. “Thank-you” to all of our LUCRUM professionals in their commitment in supporting our community.
People, Technology, and Learning
March 25, 2008
As the new marketing manager for LUCRUM, there is so much that I do not understand about what we do. Here is the good news. I know that I can learn. I was reminded of this as I was reading one of Seth Godin’s latest posts about learning. There has never been a time in history where knowledge has been so readily available. The problem now becomes one of attention - picking what to learn out of the vast choices of information. I am lucky to be surrounded by technology experts, all willing to share information about the technical aspects we deliver to our clients. Here at LUCRUM, we regularly have employees present internally on emerging technologies through our Lunch and Learn and Brain Brew programs. Learn by teaching is deeply engrained in our culture. This only helps to make our consultants more effective with our clients, and our team better equipped to meet the evolving needs of business. I know I have a lot to learn. What is better is to know that I work somewhere where I am not only encouraged to learn, I am expected to. Combine the culture I work in with the endless knowledge provided on the web, and there is really no excuse not to learn something of value every day. Occasionally, I might test that knowledge here - soliciting your feedback to yield even greater understanding. What an amazing time to be alive, and what an amazing place to be living it!
Seth’s Blog: Things you don’t understand
Blog Training at LUCRUM
March 25, 2008
Today, I was given the distinct privilege of presenting to my fellow LUCRUM employees on blogging. More specifically, I was tasked with teaching them how to blog. I was given 90 minutes, which is a long time to talk about something that is really quite easy to do. I spent some time discussing why it is important to blog. I touched on the changing state of marketing from that of a dialog to an interactive monologue, and stressed that their voices matter. I then went on to talk about ways to construct posts, do’s and don’ts of blogging, and then showed them just how simple it is to use WordPress. We touched on tools like RSS, digital cameras, Google Blog Search, and plain old note cards as ways to develop content. We even got into some emerging tools like Alltop and Snipshot. Overall, I think that everyone was interested. It is tough to present to such a diverse group - especially when many are far more versed in technology than I. The true test of the presentation will be very easy to measure. If you see more posts from more people, it worked. If not, I will go back to the white board. I am convinced that the people here at LUCRUM are some of the best and brightest in the world. My challenge is convincing them to share that brilliance with the rest of the world. If I can, what an amazing experiment this will turn out to be. Hopefully today was the first step in making that happen. Thanks to everyone who attended. You were a great audience.
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