-
-
Marketplace
-
Channel Resources
-
One brand, one Web site! DM Review is now the home of all the content you're used to at BIReview.com and much more. If you are registered at BIReview.com, you're already registered at DM Review. If not, take just a moment to sign up for all the free services we have for you at the new DMReview.com.
Synchronicity
Master data management is a relatively new topic to many readers of BI Review. While some see it as a technology plumbing exercise, MDM is really the processes involved in synchronizing and updating a particular kind of information - customer, product, supplier etc. - from across the databases where information resides. Applied to business processes, accurate and current data optimizes the usage of information - and the value of the underlying systems. Scott Lee of R.R. Donnelley kicks off our issue with a great primer on the MDM program at his company; the article is useful to any executive trying to cut through the master data haze. Tony Politano offers a separate take on MDM in his column, which looks at a way to connect the MDM concept to corporate performance management.The man on the cover of our magazine, Lt. Cmdr. Joe Staier, is just the kind of dedicated public servant you would hope to see managing a vital readiness program for the U.S. Coast Guard. Staier's challenge gives new meaning to the term resource optimization, and, it's refreshing to work with an organization that offers complete transparency to its culture, challenges and response.
Our other feature is on The Hillman Group, one of those great American success stories that grew from a mom-and-pop operation to national stature as the preeminent retail hardware distributor/manufacturer whose products are everywhere you turn. You'll meet Hillman CIO Jim Honerkamp, who describes how Hillman is beefing up its built-out business with information technology as a full partner.
Data warehousing and business intelligence sound old hat these days to many executives; hotter today is the idea of leveraging data through the application of analytics for better planning, forecasting and predictive use. But we're just entering the analytic age of BI according to Peter Graham of Palladium Group. Graham argues effectively that analytics, rather than a competency, should become a formal function in the organization, with a dedicated chief officer and support staff. A chief analytic officer might make more sense for some companies than others, but an enterprise approach to analytics is likely on the horizon for most organizations.
John Zonneveld and Kurt Crisman of Latitude Consulting Group take on the topic of managing performance in the channel with the usual scorecarding and extranet portal, along with causal network analysis to provide a basis for understanding which factors have the greatest impact on performance. As the channel grows in size, information becomes harder to forecast and more fragmented from an information perspective; the authors' control consciousness might be worth a look if this applies to your company.
Watch for online exclusive features coming March 1 at BI Review.com. Included in these is an interesting idea from Bob Charette on internal futures as a way to predict and manage risk in the organization, an interval/ordinal exercise from Howard Spielman, and a profile on an Alabama farmers co-op that it definitely not in the weeds when it comes to data analysis. Thanks for reading, and please send your comments and suggestions to me directly 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.
