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Open for Business
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Business Intelligence Review. The project we've undertaken is to investigate and translate the business intelligence market for corporate management decision makers, in topics and terms they can relate to.We approached a broad variety of expert sources as we assembled ideas and content for this magazine. Almost to a person, they commented that there are many good and proven technology products in the marketplace, but fewer examples of end-to-end solutions in use by companies. There are also disruptive trends under way-such as more flexible and reusable integration strategies, and an ongoing intersection with operational processes-that will affect the use of business intelligence. These and other issues need to be considered in the context of our BI discussion.
Above all, business intelligence needs to be discussed frankly in terms of its business value. The increasing alignment of IT investment with the executive suite requires interplay between business and technology managers so that performance can be measured in terms of desired business outcomes. People and processes need to be engaged and streamlined to gain value from technology investment. C-level executives want credible information presented to them by a human being, and also have an interest in spreading the tools of business intelligence to the ends of the organization to directly address customers, suppliers and partners. Increasing revenues, containing costs, improving customer satisfaction and time to market are just some of the metrics by which BI needs to be applied and measured.
Our own research conducted with Gantry Group shows strong readership interest in the experience of industry peers, end users and independent experts. In this issue you'll find profiles of insurer Highmark, Norway banking leader DnB NOR, and an integration byline penned by business-savvy experts at T. Rowe Price. In this and future issues you will see commentary and advice on a variety of topics such as performance management, competitive intelligence, working with IT, risk management, regulation and compliance, and data visualization.
In the spirit of making BI Review a community project, I'm inviting you the reader to submit feedback and pitch in any way you like. Please send ideas and topics of special interest to me directly at james.ericson@thomsonmedia.com.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Jim Ericson is editorial director of DM Review, a SourceMedia publication. You can reach him at Jim.Ericson@sourcemedia.com.
