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Curt Monash

The future of analytic technology is becoming a little clearer

By CurtMonash on Mon, 06/08/09 - 7:41am.
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I posted today elsewhere about The Future of Data Marts.  Key points include:

  • Data marts aren’t just for performance (or price/performance). They also exist to give individual analysts or small teams control of their analytic destiny.
  • Thus, it would be really cool if business users could have their own analytic “sandboxes” — virtual or physical analytic databases that they can manipulate without breaking anything else.
  • In any case, business users want to analyze data when they want to analyze it. It is often unwise to ask business users to postpone analysis until after an enterprise data model can be extended to fully incorporate the new data they want to look at.
  • Whether or not you agree with that, it’s an empirical fact that enterprises have many legacy data marts
    (or even, especially due to M&A, multiple legacy data warehouses).
    Similarly, it’s an empirical fact that many business users have the
    clout to order up new data marts as well.
  • Consolidating data marts onto one common technological platform has important benefits.

This is now beginning to happen. (eBay is a prime, multi-petabyte example)

A few days ago -- somewhat connected to the Google Wave announcement -- I posted on Reinventing Business Intelligence.  Key themes there were flexibility and data exploration -- which of course are easier when an analyst or department can control their own private data mart.

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About A World of Bytes

Curt Monash is a leading analyst of and strategic advisor to the software industry. Praised by Lawrence J. Ellison for his "unmatched insight into technology and marketplace trends," Curt was the software/services industry's #1 ranked stock analyst while at PaineWebber, Inc., where he served as a First Vice President until 1987. He subsequently co-founded Evernet, Inc., a $40 million networking systems integrator. Since 1990, he has owned and operated Monash Research, an analysis and advisory firm covering software-intensive sectors of the technology industry. In that period he also has been co-founder, president, or chairman of several other technology startups.

Curt has served as a strategic advisor to many well-known firms, including Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, AOL, CA, and Netezza. Curt earned a Ph.D. in mathematics (Game Theory) from Harvard University. He has held faculty positions in mathematics, economics and public policy at Harvard, Yale, and Suffolk universities.