• 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

The first and probably most important non-technical differentiated aspect of iStream is the concept of Alignment.  Many consulting organizations and internal IT organizations have some type of design or planning step often called “Envisioning” as an initial step in their development process.  This is for good reason:  understanding the customer’s end goal or picture of success is critical to the success of the project.  At the same time, this does not procedurally support the fact that many individuals are involved in determining the success of a project, and further, in most cases these individuals are not in detailed agreement in regards to what that success looks like, or how it is defined.  Alignment takes this into account, and is a prescribed process to ensure a common understanding of the success criteria by the key stakeholders involved in any enterprise project, including department heads and/or the Information Technology department.  This includes a focus on ensuring that a miscommunication cannot occur where language is not specific enough, for example in clarifying the accepted definition of the term “Sales” in a company.  To explore this a bit, is “Sales” the number of transactions? The dollar volume closed?  Over what timeframe? By what channel? (sales people, resellers, distributors, telesales, etc.) As simple as this concept may sound – misunderstandings or assumptions in areas as simple as this are generally a key reason for project failure.  In this area, LÛCRUM is unique and differentiated in its development approach.

Another key differentiation of LÛCRUM’s approach, particularly as it relates to Business Intelligence, is in the concept of the iteration of a project.  The iStream methodology allows for iteration in the development of the end result, particularly through the recognition that many pieces may make up the whole.  For example, related to Business Intelligence; we may begin by working with an individual decision maker, say the VP of Marketing.  In working with this person we may offer to them the YourView Instant Analytics solution, allowing them to rapidly see their information in a new way through the combination of several different reports or sources into a single view.  Per the YourView solution, this can take place in a matter of days; however by definition it follows the iStream process – however abbreviated – as it is focused on only a single user.  When that VP is prepared to create a complete solution for the Marketing department, the initial work now functions as a pilot/proof of concept rolling into the Alignment, Discover and Architect components of iStream for the larger YourView 360 (Data Mart) project.  In this fashion, we are “iterating” our development of the data mart through one or more “Instant Analytics” projects.  Both projects follow iStream; however the smaller engagements feed into the larger.  When that organization is prepared to roll out an Enterprise Data Warehouse – the same holds true, the work that had been completed at the Data Mart level for the Marketing department will now be employed in the Alignment, Discover and Architect phases of the Enterprise Data Warehouse project.  In this fashion the work that we accomplish at any level of the Business Intelligence Solution chain is applicable for the next, and all would be accomplished using iStream.

While the items above are not descriptive of the entirety of iStream, nor of the entire list of benefits of the LÛCRUM approach, they are absolutely two of the components of iStream which differentiate it from the plethora of SDLC approaches available in the market, and another aspect of what makes LÛCRUM a unique Business Intelligence Consultancy.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Yes, but it’s too difficult to get access to each system and pull the data together.” Or “Oh, I have to get our corporate IT department involved and I don’t have time to wrestle with the “process.”

You need to make critical business decisions fast and need an easier way?

YourView – The Vision
LUCRUM has a deep history working with data.  We had a vision to create a product that helps bring data together through an easy and intuitive application. As we started looking at the problem from a different angle, we found that the solution is less about data and more about combining data to help answer “top-of-mind” business questions. Imagine viewing on one report your forecasted sales data and customer purchase history. You can start answering question like: 

• What is my expected versus realized revenue gap?
• Are my sales reps properly aligned?
• In what industries are my biggest customers?
• What else could I be selling them?
• What are my realized margins per sales person?

 The answers to your questions maybe sitting right on your own computer. It could be in a report or in the various Excel spreadsheets you use everyday. If you can access the data, then YourView can help you gain a better understanding.

Solution
YourView allows data to be combined from multiple data sources using a very simple application like Microsoft Excel. Most line of business applications allow data to be sourced to Excel through a reporting or export feature. In addition, YourView allows you to source data directly from cloud services (salesforce.com). Once the data is inside YourView, each different source can be combined together into a single view utilizing a common business entity such as customer name. Combining the data is performed through YourView’s simple Business Entity Mapper feature. The data is then loaded into a relational data mart, which can be used to seek answer to the “top-of-mind” questions about your business.

 Specifications
YourView is a Microsoft Windows desktop application, which allows multiple data sources to be loaded, categorized and mapped, and then loaded into a Microsoft SQL Server database. Data is modeled using the Business Entity Mapper, which defines the business categories and measures. YourView will create a physical database and will load the data into the database. YourView utilizes LUCRUM’s dynamic data loader toolkit (DDLT) as the ELT (Extraction, Loading, and Transformation) engine.

 Features:

• Load data from Microsoft Excel 2003
• Connect directly to salesforce.com and pull data into YourView (requires an authorized SFDC account with API access)
• Edit the imported data directly inside YourView
• Classify data as business dimensions (categories) and facts (measures)
• Converts data into SQL Server Types: varchar, nvarchar, decimal, integer, and bit
• Performs data validation to help find and determine data integrity problems
• Creates a physical database and loads the data based on the model generated from the Business Entity Mapper

 Requirements:

• Microsoft Windows XP SP3/Vista/Windows 7
• Microsoft.NET 3.5 SP1
• Microsoft SQL Server 2005/2008 Standard Edition or Express Edition
• 1 GHz Processor or Higher
• 400 MB RAM
• 10MB of Hard Disk Space for product installation – additional disk space is required for the YourView deployed data mart

To get at the data that most executives feel they need to make accurate decisions, many turn to the manual modification of existing reports, or the creation of their own “Pet” spreadsheet they use almost daily, or certainly many times a week. 

 In an update to a report cited last spring on this site, a September, 2009 Dartmouth University study suggests that the error rates in formulas on spreadsheets in their study were only .087% of all formulas they audited.  HOWEVER, these were in cases where the formula produced the WRONG RESULT, and actually resulted in 87% OF THE SPREADSHEETS REVIEWED having errors in which the spreadsheet then produced the wrong result. 

How good is good enough?  What if you could reproduce the “Pet” spreadsheet in a true Business Intelligence solution which would ensure that the data and results in the sheet were as solid as the data in your transactional systems in the first place?  How much does the wrong data or the wrong decision cost you, or your company?  I would argue that “good enough” might just be good enough, if you could ensure that the data was accurate, and mitigated the possibility of error, while increasing the timeliness of the information to the decision maker.  We have deployed such systems in a couple weeks’ time leveraging tools like SharePoint, Excel, and other software products that our customers already owned, and quickly delivered a system to our customer where we dramatically increased the accuracy of their information.  These solutions form the basis of our iterative approach to Business Intelligence.

• Which products will sell best in a down economy?
• Who is likely to be a loyal customer, and who is not?
• Which treatment would be the most effective for this patient?

Answers/predictive models based not upon gut instinct – but upon the facts derived from the very real treasure trove of data locked up in transactional IT systems. Very cool concept. It may not be an iPad – but I think Microsoft’s predictive capabilities will have a big impact on their intended market nonetheless, and I’m very excited to be a part of it!

Now, Phase 2 is much different, and in my opinion much more effective.  These ads take the “I’m A PC” theme that Apple has so brilliantly created, and turn it upside down.  They feature real people – some of them famous and some just regular folks – stating “I am a PC, and I _____”  (fill in the blank with some trait or task associated with the speaker.)

I found the ads to be pretty engaging.  I am a big believer in story telling as a vehicle for Marketing, and each speaker conveys a concise and unique story about themselves and their relationship to Microsoft.  As a viewer, I was intrigued to see who was next and what they did?  I was interested.  The ad did a great job of making the point that Microsoft has relevance to real people doing real things.  It was sort of the antithesis of the Seinfeld ads.

Another positive feature of the ads was the focus on the user.  The ads don’t speak to features and functions, but rather to the real world applications and desired outcomes and  of using technology.  It is a shift in tone, and one that Microsoft should embrace wholeheartedly .  This should go way beyond ads, and should be at the heart of every action the company takes.  “How does this help make people’s lives better?”  This should be the mantra that the firm embraces in all its decisions and actions.

It will be interesting to see if the story told in the ads matches the real world story that people experience with Microsoft.  With competition coming from every angle, ads alone will not suffice.  Still, the campaign is a step in the right direction.

For the record… I’m a Mac / PC / Ubuntu Linux Mutt who views the OS as increasingly irrelevant in a web based world -  all good and well until a hurricane blows through Ohio, knocks out power, renders the web inaccessible, and makes television ads unavailable, at which time I am a human being.

What do you think of the new ads?

While I think Seinfeld is hilarious, I question the wisdom of this decision.  Certainly there are plenty of exceptionally bright people at Microsoft.  I am quite sure they have good reason to believe that Jerry can help to change people’s perceptions of the company.   I do believe that whatever he does will probably be entertaining.  For $10 million it should be.  The problem is that people don’t need Microsoft to entertain them, they need Microsoft to care about them – or at least appear to care.

Microsoft should have invested that 300 million in making their products more reliable and useful, and in offering unparalleled service to its customers.  With the resources at its disposal, surely the company could offer support services so remarkable that no one in the world could compete with them.  “Vista not working right? – We’re on it.”  “Spreadsheet locked up? – No worries because you are with Microsoft.”  “Need help with that flyer? – we’ll create a portal for you and walk you through it.”  “We are Microsoft.”  “We are here to help you do more.”  “We know that you have choices when it comes to software, and we want you to choose us.”  “That is why we work to earn your trust and keep your business.”  Can you imagine the buzz this would generate?  It would be huge.

Microsoft could create a community of users supporting one another and leveraging technology to do it.  They could tap into the collective wisdom of the crowd to make improvements and to drive innovation.  They could build loyalty and trust.  They could exploit the weakness of other providers which is the perception of risk by removing risk from their own products.  If Microsoft was the safe, secure, trusted choice in the mind of the consumer, then the consumer would be willing to pay a premium.

They could have stores, mobile help, seminars, online support, help lines, surveys, blogs, and more… instead they will have very funny commercials.

Apple has had success because of innovative products, beautiful design, and smart campaigns geared to exploit the perceived weaknesses of Microsoft.  It is not that Apple is without flaw.  They have a very closed system.  They don’t always play nice with consumers.  They are expensive.  Recently they have had some high profile mistakes with the iPhone and Me.com.  They are not perfect, but they are smart.

It is my opinion that the smart thing for Microsoft to do would be to invest in the consumer and not the endorsement of a celebrity – even if it is Seinfeld.  Maybe they will get Lloyd Braun to sell some software from Mr. Costanza’s garage.  SERENITY NOW!

What do you think?  Is hiring Seinfeld a brilliant idea or big waste of time?

No matter what you think about Bill, he made a lot of positive contributions to the computing industry that people tend to overlook. For one, Microsoft standardized the OS. Without that, the industry would be a lot smaller. Software, hardware, and services would be disparate and usefulness and acceptance poor. He had a knack for getting software into the limelight and his success did not go unnoticed.

Success like Bill achieved can provoke envy and jealousy. I say, let the man be, he deserves it. He conquered the computing world and now its time to conquer a world that doesn’t have code and compliers. It has hunger, homelessness, and disease; it’s our world.

I have no doubt that the world will be better for Bill stepping down at Microsoft and stepping up at his foundation. But in the meantime, at least he knew the meaning of having fun at work!

Enjoy!

Here’a a link to a ZDNet article saying Google takes on Microsoft SharePoint with Google Sites. And here’s another one asking: Is Google Sites going to be a SharePoint killer?

Both articles conclude that for all the hype surrounding Google Sites and Google Apps, apparently they still have a long way to go to catch up to SharePoint. Also, given that Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 is available for free with Windows Server 2003, users do not need to pay any licensing fees to use the basic collaboration platform available with SharePoint. And by the way, did you know that Office Live Small Business (which provides everything you need to take your small business online, including a free website, free email, free online business applications, etc.) and Office Live Workspaces (an online place to save, access, and share documents and files), are built on SharePoint products?

IBM recently announced how they’d like to “liberate” your apps from SharePoint. Also look at another article around the same topic. IBM acknowledges the “viral adoption of SharePoint” in the enterprise, almost like Lotus Notes back in the 90s. And it’s interesting to note that the man behind the success of Lotus Notes, Ray Ozzie, isn’t with IBM or Lotus, but is the Chief Software Architect at Microsoft! Hmmm… And I know of at least 2 major corporations with a huge presence in Cincinnati, OH, that have decided to move away from Lotus Notes to SharePoint! I guess we have to wait and see if Quickr is able to stem this flow…

Evans Data Corporation’s recently surveyed over 400 developers for its May 2008 report on “Web 2.0 Developer Programs – 2008 Rankings”. Some folks might be surprised to hear that Google came in at second place. So who came in first? Apparently, “the strength of Microsoft’s Windows Live offerings for Tools and SDKs and Web Services allow them to finish first overall”.

So it seems that SharePoint is not something an organization would want to ignore or take lightly – plus, serious web 2.0 developers need to more closely look at Microsoft’s offering in this area.