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The Human Side

The business of crunching data takes on a different meaning when it is applied to help doctors and health care researchers improve and prolong the lives of the sick. It is the collaborative nature of this ongoing work at Children's Hospital Boston that makes our cover story interesting. In this case, IT and physicians are working together to make sense of data not originally intended for research purposes. An important subtext within the story is the future ownership of IT provided versus self-service data access in a regulated environment.

Also regulated, if somewhat less stressful, is the work of the more than 4,800 financial advisors at Raymond James Financial, whose job it is to maximize their time on accounts that are the most promising for ongoing relationships. Providing data access and a proper analysis tool is on half of the equation; improving adoption and building powerful skill sets is another. As it turns out, Ed Ferrer, the application development supervisor at Raymond James, is equally immersed in both worlds.

Our In the Trenches column comes from the CIO and CTO of mighty GE Real Estate, who describe how their company uses sensitivity analysis to analyze future results under different theoretical conditions. It is a straightforward concept that grows complex in a hurry, but getting the basics from this well written and easy-to-read tutorial will help your business get it right from the start.

Core competency is again abuzz in the vertically disintegrated corporate world as organizations grope with what actually separates them from the competition, which should in turn become the be-all and end-all of focus. Tom Koulopoulos of Delphi Group has a high-level message for anyone who might miss the essential nature of core competency.

With all the noise around Information Management this year, it would be wise to stop and think about what the front end of all of this structured and unstructured content will look like to the user. Erica Driver and Connie Moore of Forrester Research introduce us to the concept of the Information Workplace, a contextual, collaborative interface environment that will require much requirement gathering so as not to turn into a black hole of infrastructure.

The analysts of AMR Research return to provide the third and last installment in their series on performance management, and in doing so close the loop on the why, what and how of properly defining a measurement strategy. And don't forget to check out our online columnists, including regulars Bob Charette and Howard Spielman, and a new profile of Pepsi bottler Gillette Group, which cut out paperwork and gained a granular view of its distribution channel through a proper application of management strategy and technology. As always, feel free to send your comments and suggestions to me at jim.ericson@sourcemedia.com.


Jim Ericson is editorial director of DM Review, a SourceMedia publication. You can reach him at Jim.Ericson@sourcemedia.com.



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