True business intelligence needs contextual immersion

This past weekend I was at the Corning museum of glass, a 4 hour drive from New York City area. It is world's best collection of art and historical glass, home to Rakow research and library for records on all things glass and optics.

One of the displays there of Fresnel lens got my attention. French physicist Augustin Fresnel knew light rays spread out in all directions from their source. He spent 8 years perfecting a system to capture those divergent rays and redirect them into a strong concentrated horizontal beam. Travel has since changed. A lighthouse made up of several thin lenses, each surrounded by concentric rings or prisms have guided maritime travel for ages. Modern navigational aids use similar concepts.

I could not resist the analogy with data and business intelligence.

Data in your organization are rays of light. Reporting and analytics captures these rays and redirects them to various roles to prepare - yes, just prepare - your organization for executable strategies. Effectively using this delivered information, a sign of true business intelligence, requires improved understanding of the business, a vibrant organizational culture and guided educational programs that prepare the information consumer to take appropriate actions. This preparation includes mental abilities to select, shape and adapt information within your specific environmental context. Intelligent behavior may vary across industries but the processes required to channel the context and redirect the divergent rays of data do not. In role based intelligence, it is of paramount importance to promote lifelong learning with context of business environment.

Business leaders, technology providers, owners and stewards of data need to immerse themselves in these contexts with the information they receive. Without the contextual immersion, data and information provided to consumers fails to fully achieve its ultimate objective - to be agile, to compete and to win with optimal investment.

Each business intelligence initiative needs this context to ask the right questions to drive objectives, goals, activities, business levers and guiding metrics.

Do you have contextual immersion ? or is your business intelligence and analytics a lighthouse without the Fresnel lens ?

Power of 23

50 trillion cells.

20,000 genes.

23 chromosomes.

Sugar, phosphates and 4 other basis of adenine, thymine, cystosine and guanine.

3 billion base pairs.

10 million SNP's (single nucleotide polymorphism)

Graphic source: Cold spring harbor lab press

All those numbers, incredible commonality (99.5% of all humans share the same chromosomes) and a journey that originated for all human beings in the eastern Africa and yet a daunting challenge to successfully unlock the secrets of our genetic code.

I am reminded of the ancient mariner rhyme "water water everywhere not a drop to drink"

From the common cold to H1N1 virus to severe genetic flaws, the need to gain insights into the complex genome to not only cure diseases quickly but anticipate changes to our health, behaviours in the future is becoming crucial for human progress.

Combined information from millions of people, if not billions, on the human genome - the number and its sequence - that forms the recipe of who we are is being harnessed. This will give us significant intelligence on our ancestry, global similarity, personality traits, differences in appearance, how we develop diseases or how we respond to drugs.

Improved health care and a better understanding of ourselves need valuable insights.

One such initiative, the International HapMap project studies four populations extensively. Why four? You can read all about the selection criteria of these populations. Guiding principle corresponds roughly to geographic obstacles to human migration, such as the Himalayas or the Sahara desert as an example.

Any good statistician will tell you it is all about sampling design and the supporting data. A study with flawed design has limited chance of a success.

I was drawn to this study and its potential about 4 years ago and signed up with a company that takes DNA samples and builds a global repository to enable a new and more efficient genetic research. Receiving new information periodically at every stage of the study is fascinating in addition to the satisfaction of being a volunteer collaborator and accelerator to a research for meaningful conclusion. As an information management consultant I am extremely curious on the generated patterns, stratification principles, data cleanup and statistical analysis.

We have been enabling our Clients to get 360 degree views of their information assets of Customers, Products, Suppliers, Employees and Financial instruments.

It is now time to get a 360 degree view of your most important asset.

You.

Of monsoons and amphibians

Monsoons in India can be both a boon and a curse. This June to September season is welcomed by everyone as a beginning of rapid cool off from scorching summer heat, by farmers to aid irrigation and by hydro electric power stations to generate electricity. Torrential rains, however, cause great damage from floods, worsening road conditions and brings large metropolis such as Mumbai to a virtual standstill. Large water bodies of Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea surrounding the subcontinent collude with the mighty Himalayas to create an incredible weather system.

During this seasonal change, one species of amphibians brave the monsoons head on. Frogs! Instead of staying safe in their natural habitats, frogs venture out. It is well documented that they do this to build new and strengthen existing locomotor skills.

In business environments many factors disrupt well laid out strategies. At times, these disruptions join forces and create a perfect storm. Though conventional wisdom may drive us to stay in safe zones during tumultuous times, it is probably the perfect time to capitalize on what we do best and explore the options of what is possible.

Chinese leader and one of the most prominent personalities in modern day history, Mao Tse Tung, once said .. "We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view"

With all the data in your organization you have the ability to gain immediate competitive advantage, execute on intent and introduce innovation by making opportunities visible to your leaders so they can see clearly what is invisible to your competitors.

Do you have the "Drishti" to bring profit monsoons or are you limited like the frog at the bottom of the well?

Rising anxiety with uncertainties of global economic crises and growing pressure to do "something" is resulting in scattered moves by organizations big and small. There is immediate need to explore hidden opportunities.

Do you know where your vulnerabilities are ?

I can help you limit your exposure and data mine for new opportunities with simple and crisp ideas.