From Information to Action
by: Michael L. Gonzales
An article from Quarter 4, 2006 issue of DB2 Magazine
Powerful transaction-oriented information systems are commonplace in every major industry, effectively leveling the playing field. Getting ahead of the competition now requires analysis-oriented systems that can revolutionize an organization’s ability to use information it already owns. These analytic systems derive insight from available data and deliver information that’s conclusive, fact-based, and actionable.
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Enabling Real-Time Analytics
by: Michael L. Gonzales
An article from Quarter 3, 2006 issue of DB2 Magazine
In a competitive environment, businesses require a thorough understanding of their own as well as their partners' processes. Process knowledge is crucial to reaching across the extended enterprise. However, most companies struggle with performance challenges and inefficient processes.
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Closing the Insight Loop
by: Michael L. Gonzales
An article from Quarter 2, 2006 issue of DB2 Magazine
For years, organizations have invested in data warehouse and business intelligence (BI) environments in search of actionable insight — the promise of any BI system. But for many, this promise remains an illusion. That's because BI, in and of itself, is never enough.
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Building the Infrastructure
by: Michael L. Gonzales
An article from Quarter 1, 2006 issue of DB2 Magazine
Most business intelligence (BI) and data warehousing initiatives are planned from the top down. BI architects spend many hours on business requirements. Unfortunately, this careful planning is frequently undermined by a lack of attention to the foundation of any successful BI project: CPU, memory, operating system, network, and persistent storage (basically, the nuts and bolts necessary to implement your vision).
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The 360 Degree View
by: Michael L. Gonzales
An article from Quarter 4, 2005 issue of DB2 Magazine
Most vendors in the data warehouse and business intelligence (BI) space focus only on conventional structured data. In fact, with regard to data integration discussions, individuals involved in data warehousing and BI almost never contemplate data beyond the obvious, the conventional, and the structured.
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Why Where Matters
by: Michael L. Gonzales
An article from Quarter 3, 2005 issue of DB2 Magazine
When it comes to your customers, the dimensions who and where are inextricably bound. Much of determining who customers are can be discerned by where they live, shop, eat, and work. Yet this critical point is often missing in information provided in typical business intelligence (BI) environments.
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What's Your BI Environment IQ?
by: Michael L. Gonzales
August 2005 - DM Review
We spend an inordinate amount of time and resources simply reporting the obvious data within our organizations. Is it accurate to associate reporting the obvious with the notion of business intelligence (BI)?. The short answer is no.
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Insight Beyond The Obvious
by: Michael L. Gonzales
An article from Quarter 2, 2005 issue of DB2 Magazine
Data provides no judgment or interpretation and, therefore, no basis for action. Context turns data into information. When the context is well understood, business intelligence (BI) enables the transformation from data to decision to become a routine process in a business.
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Components of a BI Dashboard: Spatial Data & Visualization
by: Michael L. Gonzales
March 2005 - DM Review
People think visually. We need to see our logic.1 Map makers have always known that a map is not just a tool for showing how to get from here to there. It is a method - a technique for organizing and embedding knowledge in a manner readily understood by all.
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How To Make BI Less of a Gamble
by: Michael L. Gonzales
February 1, 2005 - Intelligent Enterprise
To avoid expensive BI debacles, use rules-based audits and proofs of concept to understand potential project pitfalls.
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Get Active
by: Michael L. Gonzales
An article from Quarter 1, 2005 issue of DB2 Magazine
Active data warehouses are just one approach for combining strategic and technical data.
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More Than Pie Charts
by: Michael L. Gonzales
November 13, 2004 - Intelligent Enterprise
Business intelligence is too important to be limited by outdated presentation and visualization.
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Creating a BI Strategy Document
by: Michael L. Gonzales
November 2004 - DM Review
The core reason for establishing your BI vision in the form of a strategy document is to ensure that implementation of specific technology or data structure is not done in a haphazard manner.
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The No-Sacrifice, Affordable Data Warehouse App
by: Michael L. Gonzales
October 30, 2004 - Intelligent Enterprise
Smart planning and open source technologies can cut away huge costs normally associated with enterprise data warehouse applications. Budget-constrained large enterprises have put these tips to the test, and smaller enterprises can benefit from them, too.
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The SQL of OLAP
by: Michael L. Gonzales
September 18, 2004 - Intelligent Enterprise
Don't overlook the core strength of your OLAP technology solution: SQL.
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The Data Quality Audit
by: Michael L. Gonzales
July 10, 2004 - Intelligent Enterprise
Data quality problems are often widespread and originate in your source systems, their applications, and operational processes. A business rules-based audit can be critical to helping data warehouse architects understand their source data.
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The Architecture of Enterprise Data Quality
by: Michael L. Gonzales
June 1, 2004 - Intelligent Enterprise
The intent of business intelligence (BI) is to help decision makers make well-informed choices. Modern BI tools consume a vast amount of data from a variety of disparate sources operating at different refresh rates. Enterprise data quality must be able to scale and handle this data as a whole.
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BI on a Budget
by: Michael L. Gonzales
April 17, 2004 - Intelligent Enterprise
Purchasing the right amount of technology is core to successfully implementing BI on a budget. By using nontraditional product combinations one can successfully implement BI on a limited budget.
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Enterprise Data Quality For Business Intelligence
by: Michael L. Gonzales
October, 2003 - Teradata
The modern business intelligence (BI) environment must address a daunting array of data quality challenges. BI architects can look to data mining technology to address these enterprise-wide data quality issues.
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Breaking out of the Warehouse
by: Michael L. Gonzales
September 17, 2003 - Intelligent Enterprise
To many, BI is equivalent to data warehousing. Although data warehouses are important, they're not the total solution. To deliver all the BI capabilities business users want, we need to create a BI grid.
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The Business Intelligence Gap: Developing a Cohesive Business Strategy to Justify IT Planning
by: Michael L. Gonzales
A whitepaper from Platform Intelligence
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Data Mining: A Call to Action
by: Michael L. Gonzales
April 5, 2003 - Intelligent Enterprise
Business can no longer afford to let data warehouse teams serve as passive onlookers in the data mining process.
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OLAP-Aware Database
by: Michael L. Gonzales and Gary Robinson
An article from Quarter 2, 2003 issue of DB2 Magazine
New features coming to DB2 promise to cure the blind spot RDBMs have had for online analytic processing relationships.
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The New GIS Landscape
by: Michael L. Gonzales
February 1, 2003 - Intelligent Enterprise
With GIS Web services, now even small companies can benefit from analytically rich geospatial information
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Data Mining: Can You Dig It?
by: Michael L. Gonzales
Vol. 3, No. 2 - Teradata Magazine
Data mining is useful to more than decision-makers. It is also a data architect's secret weapon.
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Bird's Eye BI
by: Michael Gonzales
An article from Quarter 1, 2002 issue of DB2 Magazine.
Trying to navigate your business intelligence options? Here's a field guide that can help you see the forest in addition to the trees.
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Picture This! A Spatially Aware Data Warehouse
by: Rafael Coss, Michael Gonzales, and Kathryn Zeidenstein
An article from the Summer 2001, Volume 6, Number 3 issue of the Journal of Data Warehousing.
(Note: you must register with the Journal to access this article.)
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Fear and Loathing in Project Management
by: Michael L. Gonzales
An feature article from the June 13, 2001 issue of Intelligent Enterprise. Discusses how to insulate your data warehouse project team from potentially devastating business decisions.
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A Data Strategy for the Enterprise, Part II
by: Michael L. Gonzales, Tom Krpata, & Eileen Lin
An article from the summer 2001 issue of DB2 Magazine. In every organization, the IT department must balance the need to guarantee enterprise data with the need to allow users the flexibility to implement necessary applications. But how? Here's a look at what it takes.
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Product Unfocus
by: Michael L. Gonzales, Nelson King, Stewart McKie, & Mark Smith
A feature article from Intelligent Enterprise of the January 1, 2001 issue. This article discusses the transition of the IT industry has began making from a product-based to a service-based economy.
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A Data Strategy for the Enterprise
by: Michael L. Gonzales
An article from the winter 2000 issue of DB2 Magazine. As the number of disparate applications in an enterprise grows, the problems of integrating data can get out of hand. To avoid the dreaded spaghetti code that can overwhelm integration efforts, the time to create an enterprise data strategy is now - even if you're only working with a few applications. Here's a look at what it takes.
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Last One Standing
by: Michael L. Gonzales
September 29, 2000 - Intelligent Enterprise
IBM and Oracle are battling for the right to redefine business intelligence. To which company should you entrust your enterprise BI platform?
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On the Road With DB2 OLAP Server For OS/390
by: Michael L. Gonzales & Gary Robinson
An article from the summer 2000 issue of DB2 Magazine. Customers look to JB Hunt to provide information services in addition to transportation services. To meet these growing demands, the company put DB2 OLAP Server for OS/390 to the test.
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Alleviating Spatial Constraints
by: Michael L. Gonzales
August 18, 2000 - Intelligent Enterprise
ESRI collects more cash with Spatial Analyst and its integrated ModelBuilder, which make ESRI ArcView GIS capabilities accessible to more users
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Seeking Spatial Intelligence
by: Michael L. Gonzales
This is a feature article from the January 2000 issue of Intelligent Enterprise. The article discusses the analytical value of spatial data for purposes other than those which are purely geographical. It also presents how spatial data has influence across an organization.
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