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DSS News
D. J. Power, Editor
May 9, 2004 -- Vol. 5, No. 10
A Bi-Weekly Publication of DSSResources.COM
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Featured:
* Report from DAMA + Meta-data Conference
* DSS News Releases
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Report from DAMA + Meta-data Conference
by Dan Power
On Monday May 3, 2004 I journeyed to Los Angeles for the Wilshire
Meta-data and DAMA International (www.dama.org) joint conference. DAMA
is the Data Management Association International. The conference is
advertised as "the largest and most authoritative vendor-neutral data
management conference in the world". After attending, I concur.
DSSResources.COM was a media sponsor of the joint conference, but my
knowledge was limited to reading well-designed glossy marketing
brochures and visiting the conference and DAMA websites.
Despite some travel delays, I was able to catch the last part of a
Monday tutorial taught by consultant and well-known author Sid Adelman
and a night school talk by Gordon Everest, Professor at the Carlson
School of Management, University of Minnesota. The number of academics
in attendance was small (probably due to the cost), but the atmosphere
was decidely one of continuing education and curiosity.
In the next few paragraphs, I'll highlight the presentations that I
attended and couldn't attend (but wish I could've). Most of the time
there were 7 or 8 concurrent sessions and I gravitated to those that
focused on materials relevant to designing and building data-driven DSS
and to making operations data understandable to business users with
metadata. The IS practioners from the trenches were out in force and the
sessions I couldn't fit in ranged from data modeling, metadata and
database administration to data architecture and every aspect of data
management. I recommend that readers check the entire agenda at URL
http://www.wilshireconferences.com/MD2004/ .
I wasn't able to attend any of the Sunday sessions that included 10
afternoon workshops by experts like John Zachman, Bob Seiner and Fabian
Pascal and six night school sessions that ran from 7-8pm. Monday
featured 10 day long tutorials. I attended the last session of Sid
Adelman's tutorial, but all of the topics sounded interesting. John
Ladley focused on the data warehouse and information management and
David Marco reviewed managing meta data. Joe Celko reviewed the basics
of data and databases (knowing Joe a little bit I'm sure he had an in
depth presentation).
So what did Sid Adelman have to say? My notes focused on highlights from
the last few hours of Sid's tutorial that started at 8:30am, but all of
the attendees received a CD with his slides (the CD included almost all
of the presentations). I've reviewed many of the slideshows and the CD
is a great resource. Returning to Sid's tutorial about "How to develop
an enterprise data strategy". Sid had 149 slides in eleven modules and
his tutorial included exercises. One highlight for me was Sid's 11
question Business Intelligence Readiness Test. Sid's focus is still on
data warehousing in the readiness test. And perhaps data quality and
data access is the key to the report and query centric Business
Intelligence of most vendors. Module 8 focused on software and
evaluation. Module 11 wrapped up the tutorial by focusing on "selling"
and communicating the data strategy. Sid is a "data guy" more than a
business decision support application guy, but you've got to understand
Sid's world view if you want to move on to data-driven decision support.
At 5pm Monday, I went to night school. The DAMA+Meta-data attendees were
primarily data architects, DBAs, data managers, MIS managers, analysts
and data modelers. There were only about 6 professors registered out of
approximately 900 attendees. So in a spirit of commaraderie I went to
Prof. Gordon Everest's presentation. In a perfect world I would have
attended them all (I'll review the slideshows instead). Gordon discussed
conducting database design project meetings. He strongly advocates an
extended, participative design process. He noted an "accelerated
approach may be good for eliciting information requirements and setting
priorities, not for database design". Gordon advocates an external
facilitator with an internal "scribe" to assume ownership of the meeting
minutes and design decisions. Gordon's presentation was only attended by
about 35 people, but his audience was attentive and interested. Given
the 5pm time slot and competition from Fabian Pascal (the DB debunker)
and 6 other sessions ...
Tuesday morning started early for me with the ERwin data modeling
special interest group session at 7:15am. There was also an Meta
Data/XML conversion SIG meeting down the hall. I ate a bagle and
listened to Marcie Barkin Goodwin and the early bird data modelers.
Following the welcome, Chris Date gave a keynote titled "Database
Graffiti: Scribbles from the Askew Wall". Chris is an entertaining
speaker and he made some excellent points especially about remembering
the history and facts of the relational data model. BUT Chris's
presentation was copyright 1997 and he's still bogged down in the object
database and data warehousing wars of the early 1990s. Chris Date made
it clear he has no respect for Bill Inmon, the data warehousing
evangelist. IMHO Chris needs to check that he's not stuck in his own
"Askew Wall".
A quick coffee break and I headed for Jill Dyche's presentation "From
Afterthought to Asset: The Business Value of Data". Jill is great. She
radiates confidence, knowledge and enthusiasm. Jill and Baseline are
promoting an "Information Center of Excellence" approach to data
management. The center staff has 10 major tasks including defining data
requirements, working with DBAs to design and deploy data, and
understanding how data affects new business processes. Check with Jill
for all the details (http://www.baseline-consulting.com/).
In the session before lunch on Tuesday, I listened to Craig Mullins
discuss database trends. Craig is a technical database consultant with
good ideas. He argues the job of a DBA is "getting increasingly more
difficult". His trends include: intelligent automation of DBA tasks and
a DBA control panel.
Following a Lasagna lunch sponsored by Knightsbridge Solutions, I
attended Jonathan Wu's presentation "Assessing BI Suites and Platforms
for Performance Excellence". Coincidentally, Jonathan is a Senior
Principal with Knightsbridge Solutions. Jonathan cited the following
definition that he attributed to Gartner Group in the late 1980's
"Business Intelligence is a user-centered process that includes
accessing, exploring, and analyzing data and developing insights and
understanding, which leads to improved and informed decision making." Wu
defined business intelligence suites as "software applications that
enable individuals to perform: enterprise reporting, ad hoc query and
analysis, Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), and analytics/data
visualization". He defined business intelligence platforms as "software
tools that enable individuals to develop custom BI applications that
are: subject matter specific and/or integrated with other applications".
Wu identified nine leading BI product vendors: Actuate, Business
Objects/Crystal Decisions, Cognos, Hyperion/Brio, Information Builders,
Microsoft, MicroStrategy, Oracle and SAS. He discussed each vendor in
some detail. Overall, I found Jonathan knowledgeable and interesting. In
terms of BI, Jonathan asserted "The purpose is not to install software,
it is to provide a solution to the information needs of individuals
within the organization". YES, that's the kind of consulting help
managers need.
At 3:15pm, I briefly checked on Charles Betz's presentation on "Metadata
and IT service management". Charlie is a Technical Consultant with Best
Buy. According to Charlie, we need an ERP for IT. We had a chance to
chat Wednesday. I wanted to listen to David Schlesinger of Intel Corp.
discuss data privacy and security. "New data laws require an
understanding of who is using what corporate data". David identified and
defined eight data regulatory groups: financial, customer, privacy,
controlled technical, trade secrets, competitive advantage,
non-financial insider information and conflict of interest. By now my
patient readers have ascertained the richness and expertise of the
program offerings and the presenters. At about 4:30pm I went to the
vendor showcase -- talked, listened and ate turkey and roast beef
sandwiches and had a glass of wine. About 7:30pm I went back to my hotel
room.
Wednesday started out early with another bagel and a SIG on
Post-Secondary Education in Data Management. Deborah Henderson and Anne
Marie Smith, the SIG leaders, are sincere in wanting to work with
community colleges and universities. Apparently DAMA-I has had problems
working with the Information Resources Management Association (IRMA) on
a joint revised curriculum guide. That collaboration ended in January
2004 and DAMA-I plans to issue its own suggestions and work on new
certification tests with ICCP.
At 8:30am I went to Terry Quatrani presentation "UML for Database
Design". Terry is IBM's UML evangelist and a Rational Software alum. The
bad news is that 66% of software projects fail because of lack of user
input, unclear objectives, incomplete requirements, changing
requirements, lack of planning, and communication problems (Standish
Group, 2003). The solution for reducing project failure rates is UML.
The Unified Modeling Language (UML) "is the standard language for
visualizing, specifying, constructing, and documenting the artifacts of
a software-intensive system". Terry did a great job reviewing the basics
and we need increased use of UML in building all types of DSS.
Malcom Chisholm's presentation "A Checklist for Building A Taxonomy" was
next on my dance card. Malcom, President of Askget.com Inc., uses the
following definition "A taxonomy is a hierarchical classification of a
domain of objects that share certain characteristics. The taxonomy
categorizes these objects based on relevant characteristics. It serves a
particular purpose, and is only useful within the context of that
purpose." Malcom reviewed both the definition and business rules
approaches to categorization.
At 11:15am my path led to Robert Randall's presentation "Defining the
Financial Value of Information". Randall didn't offer any new methods,
but he emphasized why we must persist in demonstrating how valuable
information is to managers. Randall noted that decision support is a
corporate driver for defining information as an asset. Other drivers are
corporate memory retention, compliance and regulations. "Make sure
executives understand the value of information."
After lunch I attended an excellent panel discussion chaired by Tony
Shaw of Wilshire Group titled "Data Management: The Next Big Thing."
Tony is the content guy at Wilshire and he's apparently chaired a
similar panel for the past few years. Panelists included Tony, Todd
Stephens, John Friedrich, Charlie Betz, Craig Mullens and Neil Raden. So
what's next? Better business applications that exploit data, more
integration, better tools for managing meta data, a DBA dashboard and
DBA automation, an ERP for data integration, compliance support, and
evolving data management roles. The panel was informative and at times
entertaining. Neil Raden is the "Hired Brain". He's smart, a bit of a
curmudgeon, but I'd put him on my team for a tough project. Charlie,
Craig and Todd are techies with insight. Tony Shaw is Australian and
that says alot about his personality. His smile, knowledge and
attention to detail say the rest.
My last conference session was a keynote by Len Silverston (Universal
Data Models). I hadn't heard Len speak before so I was please to find
out that he could keep a room filled with 800 people entertained and
involved. We were listening, standing up when requested, and we were
learning Len's philosophy of the "how" of data integration. According to
Len, what is needed to create data integration is much more than tools,
methodologies and expertise. Managers need to develop trust, keep sight
of the goal (common goals), appreciate different perspectives, and learn
from the past (re-use).
At about 4pm the Vendor area opened for talk and an "ice cream social".
At 7pm I headed for the airport on the Super Shuttle, did some reading
and took the "red eye" back to Minneapolis and then on to Cedar Falls.
To get the most benefit from DAMA+Meta-Data companies need to send a
team of 5-6 people. A number of companies did that including Aera
Energy, Allstate Insurance, American Express, Anthem Blue Cross, ASG, US
Bureau of Land Management, Capital One, Deere, Eli Lilly, GMAC-RFC,
Hewlett Packard, Intel, Kaiser Permanente, Nationwide Insurance,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sharp Informatics, Boeing, T-Mobile, Toyota, US
DOD, and Wells Fargo.
The conference was well managed and the opportunities to interact with
data mangement practitioners was great. For example, while checking
email, I was able to quiz Cathy Doss, VP and Chief Data Officer at
Capital One, about her use of a Table PC. Cathy was using it with an
internet connection and she feels a Table PC is a great productivity
enhancer. Over lunch the GMAC-RFC guys briefed on their data management
efforts. Neil Raden kept me on my toes and demonstrated once again why I
like his thinking and wit.
Many thanks to Tony Shaw, Chairman of Wilshire, and Andrew Everett,
President of Wilshire Conferences. Also, I want to thank Larry Dziedzic,
DAMA-I President, Michael Brackett, Past President, John Schley, DAMA-I
VP of Chapter Services, and Denis Kosar, VP Citigroup and President
DAMA-I New York. Finally, there were more than 100 presenters at the
conference and they all deserve thanks for their willingness to share
their knowledge and experiences. THANKS.
Please note: The University of Northern Iowa Department of Management
provided financial support for Dan Power's trip to Los Angeles for
DAMA+Meta-Data.
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DSS2004: Decision Support in an Uncertain World
July 1-3, Prato, Italy
http://dsslab.sims.monash.edu.au/dss2004/index.php
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DSS News - April 25 to May 7, 2004
Read them at DSSResources.COM and search the DSS News Archive
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04/26/2004 Microsoft acquires ActiveViews' business intelligence
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DSS News is copyrighted (c) 2004 by D. J. Power. Please send your questions to
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