What’s the most common BI tool? Microsoft EXCEL! If you are considering a DW initiative, you are likely encountering resistance from your hard-core, Excel based, analysts. Taking away Excel from them means that they will have less flexibility and spend more time waiting on changes. I’m guessing that they may not be on board with your vision.

1010Data is a zero-footprint, browser based data warehousing product. It has an Excel like feel, but it can handle billions of rows of data (not thousands like Excel). It’s fast, flexible and requires no infrastructure support from IT (if you are in IT, my guess is that you may have already stopped reading this article). The system is not an OLAP system, it requires no design, and not even indexing strategies – but it’s so fast!!

This is a new paradigm shift: from ETL to ELTAR – extract, load and transform as required. Hmmm….cleansing and summarization at query run time; views are used for data governance.

Don’t think it’s true? Dollar General is using the platform and was up and running in 5 weeks to 115 users with a 100% ROI.

What could you do for your customers if you could have their DW up in just a few weeks instead of a few months??

- Jodie

What do you really understand about data mining? Dr. Candace Gunnarsson was formerly a professor of statistics at Xavier University. Her view of data mining is all about getting information out of the systems you have today and predicting future results. Her view is also about needing a DW modeled in a way that makes the mining experience easier and more meaningful.

Her view is that there is prescriptive (automated) data mining and descriptive data mining. I think most people think of data mining to be an automated process. Truly, the manual exploration must happen first. What do I think the drivers should be? If it’s predicting a purchase, I need to understand you as a customer. What magazines do you read? How old are you? Male/female? How often do you come to my store? All of these become data points in an algorithm that will lead to prescriptive data mining. If I can predict that you will make a purchase, I then need to be able to test my theory and provide results back to my model. Data Mining is Avery iterative process.

To have truly effective data mining, you need to have a multi-disciplinary team. Be sure to bring in your IT, Marketing, Finance, and operations-focused team members. They will all have different views of your customers and will understand their transactional data better than anyone else. Use all of these views to create a better view.

BIG Question – can you start data mining before you have your data organized in a DW?

I’d be interested in hearing your data mining stories.

- Jodie

Our first speaker was Mr. Stuart Woodward, President OD OcuCue. (http://ocucue.com/) OcuCue is an interesting start-up that’s all focused on data visualization. I always love listening to visual experts. There is such a science to visual design. It’s about understanding the psychology of how users think and perceive what they see. If you are creating a dashboard, you have to design it in the way people think – we read from left to right, heavy color should be at the lower left hand side, etc.

“Good design has two key elements. Graphical elegance is often found in the simplicity of design and complexity of data.” – Edward Tufte

Mr. Woodward’s company creates meaningful dashboards that are icon based. They go beyond speedometers and graphs and actually create a customized dashboards with icons that are meaningful to the company using them. One example that he showed was for a hospital. There are some rooms that can only take female patients or only male patients. To show bed availability, their dashboard has a pink pillow or a blue pillow to represent which rooms are available. Hmmm…never thought of that!

How are you presenting data to your users? Are you simplifying the message? Setting up the information from left to right? Are your colors meaningful? (ie Red should mean bad, green is good)

OK…gotta run and listen to the next speaker!

- Jodie

61% of respondents are less than satisfied with their current process of creating information applications and are only lukewarm about their current information application technology.  Here are their complaints:

• It takes too long to assemble and deploy applications.
• It is too difficult to assemble and view information into a simple view.
• There are not enough capabilities to integreate and normalize information from disparate applications.

WOW!  I ask all of you fellow BI folks out there…what are you doing to solve this problem???  Why is it with all of the tools available today, our users are finding it too difficult to use them!!  What are WE doing wrong?

As I mentioned, I am working with a customer on Financial Models this summer.  I am fortunate to work with some SUPER SMART people in this group.  They have come up with the most ingenious ways of getting their data out of old clunky systems.  They can create some of the most INSANE Excel formulas to manipulate data!  Their Excel sheets are visually appealing and get data to their management in a timely manner.  I’ve had some spreadsheets that have taken me days to figure out the Excel formulas (and I’m a guru!).  They are awaiting IT to “build them a DW” to make their lives easier.  Here’s to hoping that it can deliver on their expectations!  Here’s what I would do to ensure that it does:

1.  Use an iterative methodology to build the DW.  Recreate existing Excel reports from the DW as you go.

2.  Implement a user-friendly reporting tool that allows them to create their own reporting.  Give ‘em lots of drag and drop functionality and make sure it can Export to Excel.

3.  Create a request process that allows the DW to change with the Business.  Creating a process that queues up the work for months and months does not help the business user to create the financial package that’s needed at the end of the month.

4.  Keep the model flexible.  Doing this will ensure that you can always add a new organziation, hierarchy or measurement.

5.  Build cubes!  These users are smart cookies and they aren’t afraid of a Pivot Table.  Give them the flexibility and performance of a cube and let them start to uncover their data.

Hmmm…what’s missing from my list?  What would you add?

Happy building!

 - Jodie

Database Lead
SQL Reporting, SSIS, SSRS, Data Warehouse, Requirements gathering, Customer Facing, MS SQL Server or Oracle or Business Objects or Hyperion, some Arch exp, set a vision, Project Management Skills

Database Developer
SQL Reporting, SSIS, SSRS, Data Warehouse, Requirements gathering, Customer Facing, MS SQL Server or Oracle or Business Objects or Hyperion

Application Developer
ASP.NET, AJAX, Jquery & SQL (SSRS & SSIS)

Test Lead
Client Driven Development testing background, Automated Testing Tools
Tester
Client Driven Development testing background, Manual Testing

DB2 DBA
Lead/Specialist is viewed as an expert in the administration and support of database technology. Undertakes complex projects requiring additional technical knowledge and makes decisions on ambiguous administrative and support issues. Communicates common goals and direction for the team. May interface with management to provide project updates.
The position is on the Technical/Professional ladder at level 4 in the Database Administration discipline.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Identifies, tests and deploys all database technologies and support tools (detailed knowledge of SMP/E, JCL, TSO,/ISPF, SQL).
2. Ensures system improvements are successfully implemented.
3. Responsible for verifying all data to be entered into database meets set standards and requirements.
4. Designs, enters, audits and maintains large, complex databases.
5. Leads others to identify, test and resolve complex database performance issues (e.g., monitoring and tuning).
6. Performs database system management functions (e.g., software installs, version upgrades and configuration management).
7. Defines and develops database standards, procedures and architecture.
8. Designs data models and DW database designs.
9. Facilitates project planning by establishing work plans, estimates, milestones and schedules.
10. Provides team with technical training and/or mentoring.
11. Other duties as required.

Application Architect
Overview:
Experience in application performance, troubleshooting, and analysis of java applications.
Experience in agile software development practices, continuous integration, and test driven development.
Experience in working with application profiling and performance monitoring toolsets.
Experience in working in a Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) environment and web services.
7-9 years object-oriented design and development of n-tier applications experience in multiple languages and related technologies (JAVA/J2EE, C++, .NET, Web Services).
Firm understanding of Web Service concepts and Internet technologies, WSDL, XSD, XML.
Must have excellent problem solving skills including troubleshooting and root cause analysis for large-scale, enterprise Java applications in an SOA environment.

Target Technical Skills:
Senior-level Java development skills: (required).
Open Source Frameworks: Spring, Hibernate, MyFaces/Java Server Faces: (highly desirable)
Application Server Configuration and Tuning: Apache, Tomcat, JVM tuning. (required)
Performance Analysis and Troubleshooting: CA Wily Introscope, YourKit code profiling: (experience with similar tools required. specific tools desirable)
Continuous Integration and Build Mgmt: Hudson, Maven, Ant, Junit: (experience with similar tools desirable)
Database: Oracle: (relational DB skills required. Oracle desired)
Servers: Linux (Redhat) and Windows-based. (Proficiency with command line tools/troubleshooting required)

Responsibilities:
Deep-dive Performance Analysis and Tuning
Troubleshooting for application exceptions at run-time and post-deployment validation.
Performs root-cause analysis and recommends solutions for application, environment, and performance-related issues
Build and Deployment Automation
Other development and application architecture tasks as assigned.

Release Manager
Overview:
This position will be responsible for managing the code that is moved from one environment to the next. They work closely with development and DBAs in order to thoroughly document and manage code as it moves toward Production. This position will be a point person for all code moving toward and into the Production environment. This individual will need to be a self motivated and collaborative IT Professional with a strong background in SDLC, software development and a working understanding of change and release management processes.

Responsibilities:
Responsibilities:
• Responsible for providing leadership and guidance to IT groups across the organization on Configuration and Change Management processes and procedures.
• Responsible for implementing and maintaining processes and standards to ensure organizational compliance with defined controls in the area of Application Change Management.
• Evaluates, selects and administers organization-wide automated tools pertaining to Configuration and Change Control and Build and Release Management.
• Implements Configuration and Change Management practices, standards and tools for use in development and maintenance projects.
Additional Duties:
• Develop and document instructions and guidelines to perform the functions assigned.
• Manage, maintain and deploy to test environments.
• Establish standard configuration management processes and procedures for version control, build and release management, CM audit reports, configuration identification and control, software product baselines and change management.
• Develop and manage systems of recovery for the code sources of the current and previous versions of the software.
• Conduct functional and physical configuration audits as needed.
• Participate in the change control process.
• Provide training and support on software configuration management process as needed on the use of version control.
• Assist in the development, analysis and maintenance of tools that support and automate processes for our software product releases.
• Assist engineers in the setup and configuration of their local development environments.
• Maintain control and account of all project assets.
• Design, document and establish configuration documentation.
• Perform routine software builds and resolve build conflicts and issues in a timely manner.
• Participate in software process improvement efforts.
• Verify the completeness and accuracy of release libraries and documentation before implementation.
• Develop and administer project baselines.
• Develop and maintain code versioning, branching and merging.
• Maintain multiple active branches and database versions at the same time while keeping source code and database schema synchronized.
• Responsible for the software tracking and releases.
• Manage the application and OS configuration files and settings for test environments.
• Provide deployable solutions and release instructions to operations staff for deployment and management.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:
Qualifications:
• Associates or B.S Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology or equivalent experience required.
• 5-7 years of experience in Microsoft and Cisco environments including some experience with virtualization technologies.
• 3+ years in a Software Configuration Manager or Release Manager role required.
• 3+ years experience with Team Foundation Server or equivalent experience working with other version control/configuration management tools.
• Strong experience in Microsoft VisualStudio.NET development (Windows and Web applications).
• Experience or knowledge of continuous integration, application lifecycle management and automation and job scheduling systems.
• Experience with process automation using scripting languages.
• Thorough understanding of a project’s life cycle and development methods.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills to interact with developers, QA teams, and functional managers

Another way to frame the discussion is, “Has someone already solved that problem?”  When the answer is yes, the existing solutions deserve a good look.  In my experience, a combination of both buy and build often turns out to be the right answer.

Let’s take the issue of getting more out of all that data that has been loaded into your company’s Microsoft SharePoint-based collaboration site.  Someone (probably many someones) has spent lots of time getting thousands of documents, contact lists, project plans, and other kinds of essential data into this amazingly versatile tool.  And if your portal has been well-designed, you probably find it an invaluable resource while you’re using your laptop or desktop at the office.

As soon as you try to get this information out using your mobile device, let’s say using your iPhone, it becomes a different story.  Even if you manage to navigate to the right place, the functional richness of the interface is not ideal when you move into the realm of finger touches and gestures .

So what to do?  Build a new, mobile version of your SharePoint site (probably a tough sell given the current economy)?  Or has someone already solved this problem?

As it turns out, the creators of SharePoint provided a shortcut to get to stored data directly.  This method uses web services – in human terms we might call it the “just give me the data, please ” service – to make the data available without the need to navigate through a web page.  It’s up to the application you’re using to determine how the data should look and be presented.

But until recently, not many people had solved the other part of the problem – taking the SharePoint web services and building an iPhone app to make it useable on a mobile device.

When he put two technologies together (buy + build), it increased the value of the data we already had, by making it more portable and our staff more productive.  Kudos to him for seeing the opportunity and going for it!

A growing number of developers have followed this lead to build iPhone apps that put all of your SharePoint data at your fingertips.  There are several choices now available in the Apple App Store, including (in alphabetical order):

• Attache: SharePoint Client (LUCRUM)
• iShare (Spyk Software)
• iSharePhone (Webstate)
• iSP-Browser (iSP Apps)
• Moshare (Moprise)
• SharePlus Office Mobile Client (SouthLabs)
• Sharetica (Celltica)

I’ll expand further on some of the topics touched on here in later posts, including more thoughts on the “build vs. buy” decision, the changing dynamics in data visualization, and how business intelligence solutions on mobile devices are impacting the way we work.

-Eric

• What are my customer’s buying is a basic question, but moreover, what products do they buy together?
• Which products do they buy when times are tough?
• What did they buy during the last recovery?
• What aren’t they buying, and what should I recommend they buy?

All great questions, and clearly a value add of a strong BI platform.

eWeek – Using-Business-Intelligence-to-Find-Your-Economic-Recovery

TITLE: Senior Open Systems Backup Engineer
LOCATION: Cincinnati, OH
DURATION:Direct Hire

GENERAL FUNCTION: Responsible for the analysis, installation, performance monitoring, capacity planning, modification and support of Large Scale Enterprise Backup Systems for CLIENT. Assist in the research, design and implementation of new technologies and their potential match to business solutions. Follows corporate standards to implement backup solutions supporting UNIX and Windows platform systems.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Function as a technical expert in problem resolution for backup infrastructure hardware and software issues.
• Manage the physical and logical configuration of all systems backup media.
• Plays a key role as an individual contributor on projects of a moderate to high level of complexity.
• Monitor backup systems to insure adequate capacity, performance, and availability.
• Assist with the development and analysis of performance metrics data to optimize the usage of the infrastructure resources.
• Assist in with development, planning, preparation and ongoing disaster recovery readiness.
• Maintain appropriate controls and documentation to ensure compliance of audit requirements and qualifications.
• Responsible for systems performance and resolution of production incidents, which may require 27 hr/day and/or 7-day/week on-call coverage.
• Assumes additional responsibilities as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: None

KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS REQUIRED:
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Information Systems or comparable experience.
• At least five years of experience with Storage Area Network and Enterprise Backup Systems administration.
• Experience with Windows and UNIX operating systems. Have an understanding of VMware and virtual technologies.
• Experience with managing NAS data replication and snapshot technology.
• Experience with enterprise storage arrays, such as EMC and IBM.
• Experience with enterprise disk and tape backup subsystems, such as TSM, Avamar, Networker, Data Domain, etc.
• Experience with storage and backup management software, such as ECC, Bocada, DPA, etc.
• Experience with disaster recovery methodologies and data replication technologies, such as SRDF, RecoverPoint.
• Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills.

WORKING CONDITIONS:
• Normal office environment with little exposure to dust, noise, temperature and the like on a frequent basis.
• Occasional exposure to dust in a non office setting where lifting/carrying 1-50 lbs., kneeling, and stooping may be required in conjunction with activities such as pulling cables and setting up equipment.

TITLE: Lead DB2 DBA (Mainframe)
LOCATION: Cincinnati, OH
DURATION:Direct Hire

GENERAL FUNCTION:
Lead/Specialist is viewed as an expert in the administration and support of database technology. Undertakes complex projects requiring additional technical knowledge and makes decisions on ambiguous administrative and support issues. Communicates common goals and direction for the team. May interface with management to provide project updates.
The position is on the Technical/Professional ladder at level 4 in the Database Administration discipline.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Identifies, tests and deploys all database technologies and support tools (detailed knowledge of SMP/E, JCL, TSO,/ISPF, SQL).
2. Ensures system improvements are successfully implemented.
3. Responsible for verifying all data to be entered into database meets set standards and requirements.
4. Designs, enters, audits and maintains large, complex databases.
5. Leads others to identify, test and resolve complex database performance issues (e.g., monitoring and tuning).
6. Performs database system management functions (e.g., software installs, version upgrades and configuration management).
7. Defines and develops database standards, procedures and architecture.
8. Designs data models and DW database designs.
9. Facilitates project planning by establishing work plans, estimates, milestones and schedules.
10. Provides team with technical training and/or mentoring.
11. Other duties as required.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:
None
Position Requirements

MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES REQUIRED:
Undergraduate degree or equivalent, with at least 6 years of computer related experience.

WORKING CONDITIONS:
1. Normal office environment with little exposure to dust, noise, temperature and the like.
2. Extended viewing of CRT screen.

TITLE: Application Architect
LOCATION: Cincinnati, OH
DURATION 6 month contract with possible direct hire

Experience in application performance, troubleshooting, and analysis of java applications.
Experience in agile software development practices, continuous integration, and test driven development.
Experience in working with application profiling and performance monitoring toolsets.
Experience in working in a Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) environment and web services.
7-9 years object-oriented design and development of n-tier applications experience in multiple languages and related technologies (JAVA/J2EE, C++, .NET, Web Services).
Firm understanding of Web Service concepts and Internet technologies, WSDL, XSD, XML.
Must have excellent problem solving skills including troubleshooting and root cause analysis for large-scale, enterprise Java applications in an SOA environment.

Target Technical Skills:
Senior-level Java development skills: (required).
Open Source Frameworks: Spring, Hibernate, MyFaces/Java Server Faces: (highly desirable)
Application Server Configuration and Tuning: Apache, Tomcat, JVM tuning. (required)
Performance Analysis and Troubleshooting: CA Wily Introscope, YourKit code profiling: (experience with similar tools required. specific tools desirable)
Continuous Integration and Build Mgmt: Hudson, Maven, Ant, Junit: (experience with similar tools desirable)
Database: Oracle: (relational DB skills required. Oracle desired)
Servers: Linux (Redhat) and Windows-based. (Proficiency with command line tools/troubleshooting required)

Responsibilities
Deep-dive Performance Analysis and Tuning
Troubleshooting for application exceptions at run-time and post-deployment validation.
Performs root-cause analysis and recommends solutions for application, environment, and performance-related issues
Build and Deployment Automation
Other development and application architecture tasks as assigned.

This snapshot shows the new home page for the Cleveland Museum of Art, featuring personalized content, exhibitions information, and highlighted objects from the collection.

It’s a treat when we have the opportunity to publicly showcase work from our portfolio.  This week, we invite you to view the results of our most recent assignment with the Cleveland Museum of Art and their new website.  

 This event marks the successful completion of a two year effort to set a new standard for how museums engage with their visitors.  The engagement has followed the LUCRUM iStream methodology – starting with our high-value Stakeholder Alignment Session, though a process of analysis, collaboration, transformation, and now launch – to result in this groundbreaking experience.  The website was developed in partnership with the museum staff and award-winning Pentagram Design, based in New York.  

One of the most compelling features of the new website is enhanced access to the museum’s encyclopedic collection of over 40,000 objects - many of these iconic works of art are now accessible online, as well as woven into the pages of the site.  The objects become part of the fabric of the experience.  Large images and a wide range of search options make it easy to wander for hours in the online collection – I encourage you to give it a try!  

The redesigned collections browser offers visual access to over 40,000 objects in the Museum's collection.

You’ll not find a single security guard with arms crossed, daring you to approach for a close-up look.  Interaction is encouraged, and you are invited to add comments to their favorite objects or tag them with key words so that they are easier for others to find.  

The new site also paves the way for more in the way of multimedia features, to provide diverse perspectives on individual works of art and offer behind-the-scenes views of areas within the museum that are not accessible to the general public.    

In planning the experience, the design and development teams examined the best online practices of retail and consumer product brands.  Social media is heavily integrated into each page of the new site as well, with an option to share content with various online services or add events to a personal calendar. Links are also supplied to the museum’s own Facebook, Twitter and blog accounts.  

The simplicity of the navigation was also a key to improving the overall experience for site users. Everything on the site is as close to the homepage as possible, which eliminates the kind of multiple clicks and top-down hierarchical navigation found on a lot of websites.   An expanded calendar provides day-by-day views of all activities at the museum, with direct links to more information about the events or to the online box office.

LUCRUM engineered the site using a number of advanced technologies and design innovations.  And while the end experience is highly visual and is delivered in an engaging, interactive way, the some of the real marvels are “under the hood.”  Think about it – the key to the site’s richness is in the data that it makes available, and the way in which you can engage with that data to find “hidden meaning” and value that was not immeditately obvious.

Sound familiar?  The same data strategies and fundamental approaches we use in our business intelligence assignments apply here too.  Over the next few weeks, we’ll be talking more about how we applied these principles and how they lead to successful technology projects.  In the meantime, take a moment to enjoy the website, and let us know what you think!   

-Eric

At our BI Symposium on May 6, 2010, Jeff Shaffer provided us with great insight on how the way we present our data can be just as important as what we present.  Jeff is not a big fan of pie charts.  In fact he has 4 rules:

1. Don’t use pie charts.
2. If you use pie charts, be careful in chosing the number of items you chart.
3. If you use pie charts, be sure they are “centered at noon”.
4. If you use pie charts, make sure that they sum to 100%

Jeff shared lots of bad charts, lots of REALLY BAD charts and summed it up with some great looking dashboards. I encourage you to check out his presentation!

- Jodie