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DSS News
D. J. Power, Editor
October 13, 2002 -- Vol. 3, No. 21
A Bi-Weekly Publication of DSSResources.COM
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Check the "Origins of OLAP" article by Nigel Pendse
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Featured:
* Report from 2002 Teradata PARTNERS Conference
* Spreadsheet-based DSS Tip - Plan it!
* What's New at DSSResources.COM
* DSS News Releases
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Download a FREE evaluation at www.crystalball.com/dss
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Report from 2002 Teradata PARTNERS Conference
by Daniel J. Power
From September 29 through October 3, 2002, I was in Las Vegas at the
16th annual Teradata PARTNERS User Group Conference and Expo. Sunday
afternoon I rushed from the airport to attend a 3:30 pm presentation by
Rhonda Kirkpatrick, the Executive Officer of the Iowa Dept. of Revenue
and Finance. Rhonda spoke about how a data warehouse/DSS has helped tax
administrators make decisions about audits. Data warehousing and data
mining are used to detect non-compliance and better understand taxpayer
behavior. For example, the system is used for scoring and ranking of
potential audit leads. The system has resulted in significant additional
tax revenue for the State of Iowa. I'm planning to follow-up with Rhonda
and get a case study for DSSResources.COM.
Monday morning was busy with keynote speakers. The opening session began
dramatically with a multimedia sequence of rain, thunder, lightening,
and singing to demonstrate the need "for business to proactively embrace
their own data storms". An audience of more than 2500 listened to Lars
Nyberg, NCR chairman and CEO, and Mark Hurd, NCR's new COO. The next
session featured Harry Dent and Gary Hamel "pep" talks.
For the next 2 1/2 days, I tried to focus on interesting decision
support case study presentations and software demonstrations. I attended
hands-on mini-lessons on Teradata MetaSurf product, Teradata Warehouse
Miner, and the Teradata Dynamic Query Manager. MetaSurf is a web
accessible search program for accessing warehouse metadata. It was easy
to use, but it doesn't overcome the barrier to understanding caused by
cryptic names used for fields, views and even tables. Why do database
designers persist in using names like Loc_Avg_Itm_Rev? The Warehouse
Miner session was much too short. The descriptive statistics tools are
easy to use. The analytic algorithm called affinity analysis is
interesting, but it presents a dense display of "results". The decision
tree tool was used to create a model to help in cross selling products.
Overall, the software provides little help for those who aren't familiar
with when and how to use data mining and decision support tools. We
probably don't want "naive statisticians" mining data with tools like
the Teradata Warehouse Miner. Finally, the Query Management software
should make the life of a DBA a bit easier.
My selection of case study/customer session was varied. Harrah's Casino
topped the list followed by Applebee's and Travelocity. There were too
many "good" sessions. I did check out the latest comments from Richard
Hackathorn, Kevin Strange and Jill Dyche.
Hugh Watson, Paul Gray, Barbara Wixom and a number of other faculty
associated with the Teradata University Network project were at the
conference. Hugh invited me to sit in on their Tuesday morning planning
meeting. The project is intended to provide professors with resources
to help in teaching about data warehousing. Professors and their
students will have access to a comprehensive on-line learning community
that includes a library with course syllabi, white papers, presentations
and case studies. The faculty group and Teradata people like Alan Chow
and Ron Swift are also working to make software and software
demonstrations available for class use and research. To find out more
about the Teradata University Network go to
www.teradatauniversitynetwork.com.
Well I should probably end this report with a brief mention of the
social functions. Sunday night by the pool, Mike Love and the
California Beach Band on Monday evening, Tuesday the Luxor Hotel and the
Ra Nightclub, and Wednesday evening was Viva Rock Vegas! The food and
music was very good, but with a busy day time schedule I "called it a
night" early on all four occasions. Teradata and the Partners Steering
Committee chaired by Art D'Silva, Royal Bank of Canada, organized and
hosted an excellent educational conference. Partners 2003 will be at
Seattle's Washington State Convention and Trade Center, Sept. 21-25,
2003.
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Visit DSS News Sponsors - Crystalball.com and Teradata.com
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Spreadsheet-based DSS Tip - Plan it!
by Daniel J. Power
Many people "jump in" when they develop a spreadsheet-based DSS with
little or no planning. After all "it's easy to change or edit a
spreadsheet application". WRONG! An effective, attractive and used
spreadsheet-based DSS is more likely to result if a developer carefully
plans the application and develops a design.
The first planning step is to clearly define what decision task the
spreadsheet-based DSS will support. What is the purpose of the proposed
DSS?
The second step is to determine what analyses and results the decision
maker will want to examine. What outputs are needed to help make the
decision(s)?
The third step is to determine what user inputs and stored data are
needed to perform the analyses and provide results to the decision
maker.
The fourth step is to determine what calculations and in many cases
models are needed as part of the DSS.
The final step is to plan and sketch the user interface of the DSS. How
many worksheets will be needed? What design elements like spinners and
buttons can enhance analyses? What layout is best for tables, charts,
input information?
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What's New at DSSResources.COM
10/06/2002 Posted article by Pendse, N., "The origins of today’s OLAP
products", URL http://dssresources.com/papers/dssarticles.html.
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Get information about Dan Power's book, Decision Support
Systems: Concepts and Resources for Managers, at
http://www.dssresources.com/dssbookstore/power02.html .
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DSS News Releases - September 29 to October 11, 2002
Complete news releases can be found at DSSResources.COM.
10/11/2002 MIS DecisionWare announces October seminar series that
showcases budgeting solutions.
10/11/2002 Data mining leader SAS hosts M2002 conference.
10/09/2002 Siemens announces SX56 Pocket PC phone with 'Pioneering'
capabilities.
10/09/2002 Report describes present and future for Customer Relationship
Management in energy industry.
10/09/2002 Cognos series 7 and Cognos Analytic Applications extend
enterprise value with new analytic offerings.
10/09/2002 Mechdyne and SGI to provide second visualization solution for
John Deere.
10/09/2002 Meetingworks announces release of Meetingworks Connect 6.1.
10/09/2002 Case studies and keynotes announced For DCI's "Creating the
Real-Time Enterprise" conference this December.
10/08/2002 ProClarity delivers the first analytic solution for defining
and sharing best analytic practices.
10/08/2002 Hyperion helps RCN Corporation meet growth objectives with
business performance management solutions.
10/07/2002 Cognos introduces next generation scorecarding solution.
10/07/2002 MicroStrategy's new web services development kit earning
praise.
10/07/2002 Advanced Reality adds real-time collaboration to Microsoft
SharePoint Portal server.
10/07/2002 Balanced Scorecard: strategic performance measures improve
corporate strategy execution.
10/07/2002 Spotfire captures analytic decisions with DecisionSitetm
Posters.
10/02/2002 California Public Employees' Retirement System selects
Medstat for Decision Support System.
10/01/2002 Boeing Autometric, Teradata to enhance business intelligence
gathering.
10/01/2002 SAS fights money laundering with new solution, practice.
10/01/2002 IBM defines a new era of dynamic work with enhanced Lotus
software portfolio.
09/30/2002 Teradata announces an industry first: data warehousing for
all.
09/30/2002 Inxight SmartDiscovery sets new standard for enterprise
information retrieval.
09/30/2002 ProClarity signs partnership agreement to provide integrated
analytics for healthcare payer practice of CGI.
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DSS News is copyrighted (c) 2002 by D. J. Power. Please send your
questions to daniel.power@dssresources.com.
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