Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts

• What are the key BI team roles and responsibilities?

  A business intelligence team helps an organization deploy, manage and use BI tools. Here are the primary roles on a BI team and an overview of their responsibilities and duties.  Continue Reading

• What data management challenges do analytics programs face?

  Expert Anne Marie Smith shares five reasons why organizations' analytics programs might fail and how a data management framework and other programs can help.  Continue Reading

• How do augmented analytics and BI tools differ?

  See how augmented analytics compares to traditional BI and self-service analytics tools and what this new generation of AI-powered data analysis platforms can deliver.  Continue Reading

• How do I get experience for a business intelligence job?

  IT professionals who want to move into business intelligence roles should take classes, advises careers expert Matt Mueller -- or accept an entry-level position.  Continue Reading

• Need for business intelligence analysts spans industry spectrum

  While technology, healthcare and retail companies are currently hiring more BI analysts than other types of organizations, careers expert Matt Mueller says jobs are available across the board.  Continue Reading

• Communication skills a must for business intelligence professionals

  Today's enterprises want business intelligence managers and staffers with good communication skills and a solid understanding of the business, advises careers expert Matt Mueller.  Continue Reading

• Big data means big demand for business intelligence analysts

  Business intelligence and analytics are booming in the big data era -- and so is demand for BI analysts, managers and developers, according to careers expert Matt Mueller.  Continue Reading

• Design a business intelligence system properly -- for business users

  Rick Sherman explains how to avoid common mistakes when planning and designing BI systems, saying that the varying needs of different business users must be front and center.  Continue Reading

• The justification for running multiple mobile analytics tools

  Finding a mobile analytics tool that will properly serve all end users is nearly impossible, eBay's BI manager says.  Continue Reading

• Do predictive analytics projects require data scientists?

  Expert Mark Whitehorn explains what skills are required for predictive modeling -- and whether business users can do the work of data scientists.  Continue Reading

• R language well-suited to analytical data sampling and manipulations

  Analytics expert Mark Whitehorn explains the strengths of R and how to determine if the open source programming language fits your analytics purposes.  Continue Reading

• How to leverage agile BI to help your BI architecture

  Learn how to leverage agile BI to help with your business intelligence architecture. Find out why you should split your BI architecture into two categories -- data integration and BI applications.  Continue Reading

• Customer data you should collect for your customer analytics program

  Every piece of customer data you can collect is potentially important to your customer analytics program, according to customer data analytics expert Richard Snow. Find out why.  Continue Reading

• The most effective form of Excel spreadsheet management for BI, CPM

  Get advice on proper Excel spreadsheet management for BI and CPM projects in your organization. Learn when spreadsheets should be used for business analytics – and when not.  Continue Reading

• Is your company primed for social media analytics?

  Are some companies primed to get more use out of social media analytics than others are? Find out, plus learn how a social media analytics strategy compares to BI strategies.  Continue Reading

• Tips on how to properly use Excel for business intelligence projects

  Learn how to properly use Excel for business intelligence projects, including advice on governing and securing your data sources and putting data governance processes in place.  Continue Reading

• Seven aspects of a successful business intelligence (BI) architecture

  Knowing what makes for a successful business intelligence (BI) architecture can help you plan and expand your current BI system. Learn what your BI architecture should include.  Continue Reading

• Is there such a thing as a user-friendly ad hoc query tool for BI?

  Can you find a user-friendly BI tool for ad hoc queries? Read what a BI expert thinks about ad hoc query tool needs and the BI software sold by business intelligence vendors.  Continue Reading

• Understanding operational reporting and the data warehouse

  Should operational reporting come out of a data warehouse? Get an expert's take, plus learn about the relationship between operational systems, decision support and trend analysis.  Continue Reading

• How to create an enterprise information management (EIM) strategy

  What's the best way to create an enterprise information management (EIM) strategy? Get best practices advice, plus learn how an EIM roadmap is vital for a successful EIM plan.  Continue Reading

• A definition of enterprise information management (EIM)

  What is enterprise information management (EIM)? Get an enterprise information management (EIM) definition, learn what an EIM system can do and how an EIM strategy can address data integration challenges.  Continue Reading

• How to design a project proposal draft and project management schedule

  Learn how to create an effective project proposal draft and a realistic project management schedule and find out what factors often affect project phases with this tip.  Continue Reading

• How to gather business intelligence reporting requirements from BI users

  Gather business intelligence reporting requirements from BIend-users with six questions from an expert. Learn if you should use a reporting requirement template during the evaluation process for business intelligence (BI) projects.  Continue Reading

• Fastest way to learn business intelligence (BI)

  Find out how you can learn business intelligence (BI), get business intelligence training and discover why analytics is the key to marketing efforts in this BI tip.  Continue Reading

• Examining different data access methods: OLAP and data mining

  Learn about the different types of data access methods including OLAP and data mining, find out about using query languages to access data warehouses and SQL and OLAP's role in accessing data.  Continue Reading

• Tips for the business intelligence (BI) requirements-gathering process

  Get tips for business intelligence (BI) requirements-gathering during the early phase of a BI evaluation project. Learn how to make the process run smoothly and get all the necessary input from vendors in order to make the right decision.  Continue Reading

• Starting a career in BI with a computer science background

  How should you start a career in business intelligence (BI)? Find out in this expert response.  Continue Reading

• Tips for building a better business intelligence resume

  To get that business intelligence (BI ) job, you'll need a professional BI resume that talks, according to a BI career expert.  Continue Reading

• Who should the business intelligence team report to?

  Learn which department the business intelligence (BI) team should report to -- and why -- from a BI expert.  Continue Reading

• Would an MBA help my business intelligence career?

  Find out if an MBA is valuable for a business intelligence (BI) career.  Continue Reading

• Data mining uses in vertical industries

  Get examples of how data mining is used in vertical industries, such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare, financial and telecommunications.  Continue Reading

• Do business intelligence tools require a data warehouse?

  Learn why business intelligence tools and data integration processes are best supported by data warehouses, according to an expert.  Continue Reading

• Starting a business intelligence career from a financial background

  Learn various business intelligence career options for professionals with financial analyst experience. It may not be that hard to make the transition, according to a BI expert.  Continue Reading

• Data warehousing, data mining and data querying: Terms and definitions

  Learn the difference between data warehousing, data mining and data querying.  Continue Reading

• Business intelligence career through Web development

  Learn why it's possible to start a business intelligence career through gaining Web development experience.  Continue Reading

• Data mining in the healthcare industry

  Learn the advantages of data mining in the healthcare industry, according to our analytics expert, William McKnight.  Continue Reading

• Data mining tools: Advantages and disadvantages of implementation

  Learn the advantages and disadvantages of data mining tools and of implementing data mining technology.  Continue Reading

• Business intelligence security considerations

  There are two main components to business intelligence security: access and profiling. Read what business intelligence security measures our expert suggests to take when thinking about a BI security program.  Continue Reading

• Is data mining reliable?

  Data mining does not stand alone on its own merits within an organization, expert William McKnight advises.  Continue Reading

• Business intelligence software: Business Objects vs. SAS

  Learn about the differences between Business Objects' business intelligence software and SAS.  Continue Reading

• Data extraction with SAP BW through the open hub service

  Learn about data extraction with SAP BW through the open hub service from SAP BW and BI expert, Jay Narayanan.  Continue Reading

• Do I need BEx Analyzer and SAPGUI to access an SAP BW system and reports?

  Peter Scott, BW expert, advises a new BW user on the ways to access the SAP BW system on Windows, depending on user role and responsiblity.  Continue Reading