Masters of Business Analytics: Sponsored by SAS
Needed: A New Technology Environment for Analytics
Current Analytical ‘Sandbox’ Too Big, With Too Many Tools
By Tom Davenport on Tue, 08/24/10 - 5:00pm.I think we’re on the verge of a dramatic change in the technology architecture for analytics, and I plan to write several posts about it. If you think about it, we’ve had virtually the same technology environment for 20 years or so. It involves such features as:
• The separation of analytics software from transaction processing software;
• The creation and use of data warehouses to feed reporting and analysis processes;
• The use of multi-purpose analytical toolkits, a.k.a. “statistical packages;”
• Premise-based (as opposed to online service-based) analytical applications;
• Applications and tools that are generic with regard to the industry
These attributes have led to a technology environment I will call “the analytical sandbox”—a term that some organizations actually use. It signifies a separate world in which an analyst can play to his heart’s content; all the data and analytical methods that he or she could ever need are made available, and any question can be answered, any decision supported.
The problem, however, is that unless you are a very skilled analyst, there is too much sand (the data) and too many toys (the analytical tools) in the sandbox. Even the most capable analysts are probably familiar with only a few tools. And large volumes of data in enterprise-level warehouses make it difficult to find what you need for any particular analysis.
The problem for non-specialist businesspeople is even worse. We talk about “drill-down” and query processing and do-it-yourself analytics, but let’s face facts. Most people don’t have the skill to use sophisticated analytical tools, and they are even less able than analysts to identify and prepare the data they need to assist them in making a decision.
It’s as if we pointed to a big sandbox and said to a group of very young children, “Go play!” But the sand is too deep, the toys too unfamiliar. As a result, we seriously undermine the ability of businesspeople to make better decisions with analysis and data.
In the next few posts, I’ll write about a different analytical technology environment that is now emerging. It may take a while for it to vanquish the current paradigm, but I’m confident that it’s coming.
- About Masters of Business Analytics
- Tom Davenport holds the President’s Chair in Information Technology and Management at Babson College. He has published widely on the topics of analytics in business, process management, information and knowledge management, and enterprise systems. He pioneered the concept of “competing on analytics” with his best-selling 2006 Harvard Business Review article (and his 2007 book by the same name). His most recent book is Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results, with Jeanne Harris and Bob Morison. He wrote or edited twelve other books, and has written over 100 articles for such publications as Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, the Financial Times, and many other publications. Tom has also been a columnist for CIO, InformationWeek, and Darwin magazines. In 2003 he was named one of the world’s “Top 25 Consultants” by Consulting magazine. In 2005 Optimize magazine’s readers named him among the top 3 business and technology analysts in the world. In 2007 and 2008 he was named one of the most 100 influential people in the information technology industry by Ziff-Davis magazines. Tom is also the co-founder and research director of the International Institute for Analytics (www.iianalytics.com).
Most Discussed Posts
-
Network World, Inc
The Connected Enterprise