There are a few moments in present day life, where the simple touch of a glass surface such as this iPad, or a click of the mouse.....or the click of a key...sets off a string of actions that eventually release into motion a heavy object that's been just waiting to fall for all eternity until....finally something, someone, somehow manages to change something at the nano level of the universe that triggers the release of all that potential energy...instantaneously converting it into pure kinetic energy. The kind of energy that creates Tsunami's or in more personal terms changes career direction ot environments.
I don't know how many of you have asked yourself.....before hitting the send button...is this the right thing to do?
Life is what you make of it. Push that send button and push it confidently.
Remember, we have the power to balance life.
CenterChannel.Org
Where mass media collides with business.
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August 28, 2009
Virtual Business Vehicles - What we could do then, what we can do now,...what we can do tomorrow
1. What we could do then:
http://www.geocities.com/wallstreet/7040
2. What we can do now:
http://TurningPoint-Solutions.com
3. What we can do tomorrow?
http://CenterChannel.typepad.com
Q: What are things you can do today because of technology that you couldn't do five years ago?
Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.
A: I can create mass market caliber broadcast vehicles that promote business and do it virtually and without waste and use these vehicles to promote and support my future endeavors.
July 06, 2009
March 07, 2009
How Do BI Vendor Product Roadmaps Impact Customer CAPEX Budgets for Software Implementations?
First off it’s basically a 3 player battleground, Oracle and SAP, with IBM playing catch-up. Microsoft is on the sidelines nervously awaiting their turn to play, but way behind from a “big-business” gaming standpoint. I don't agree with some market opinions that SAP has fallen behind in terms of having an “Integrated” set of solutions. I spent 13 years within SAP and always marveled at how they always took the role of lead steer in terms of “SOA”, "Web enabled apps", "Marketplaces", "Protocol Inclusion", "Industry Packaging and Market Segments", "% of R&D Invested, and many other areas and initiatives. I continue to be amazed to see many competitors just copy and promote the same initiatives and industry buzzwords as a defensive tactic.
Over the last 5 years SAP hired thousands of people who were x-Peoplesoft, Seibel, Oracle and Hyperion folks and as a result adopted some of the incoming "Organizational Cultures" of these workforce immigrants, but mostly a couple in particular....the "Sales & Marketing" and the "Management & Control" cultures and the American philosophy of doing business. In my opinion they have a trade off of revenue & short-term profits at the cost of a significant detriment to customer satisfaction and loyalty and long term growth. The net result has witnessed a trade-off between "Substance" to "Sales" and "Long Term" to "Short Term" focus, not particularly revered German values as I understand.
This has left the two major players as virtually indistinguishable, at least in the present era.
There are two major battle fronts in the “Business Intelligence” field, the CFO, COO’s, Cxx (Business Users) & CIO (Technology Managers).
The BO acquisition...if you look at the pure numbers of BI Sales given the US$7B purchase price would have taken 10 years payback period on the basis of pure BI sales alone. That doesn't make to much sense for most finance guys. But if you factor into account the fact that within BO's installed base of approximately over 27000 customers worldwide of which approximately only 5k were SAP Joint customers, there was an opportunity to sell into the Oracle & Other ERP installed base SAP's main line of products in the ERP which more than validated the consummation of such an expensive deal.
But back to the 2 battle fronts.....
1) Data Integration:
* SAP was traditionally weak in this area. They relied upon a few different strategies over the years, partnering with Informatica, an OEM arrangement with Ascential..(which of course fizzled once IBM took over completely), and now BO's strong EIM Suite of products completes the package.
* But here we're really talking about 2 layers, EAI & ETL. With EAI, SAP partnered with WebMethods and eventually absorbed the technology with its own branded application of XI, which is now part of the SAP Netweaver Stack. WEB Server also replaced the IIS and (SAP) ITS but really had roots in InQmy.
* SAP rebuilt its platform from the bottom up, WebServer, XI, BI & KM, and on top the Portal Technology which was gained via the Top-Tier acquisition which was both Dot-Net & Java Based and quickly integrated with the Netweaver Stack. They adopted IBM's Eclipse protocol for their object based development platform and these actions took them to a lead of approximately 2-3 years ahead of Oracle with their "Fusion" or better said con-fusion created by way of the mammoth number of acquisitions, Siebel, Peoplesoft, and Hyperion. Oracle stepped up to the plate however purchasing BEA which basically unified their technology stack, but has the same pains as SAP in stitching together and “Re-Weaving” a new integrated suite of products.
* So bottom line....both are basically commodities...and both can work interchangeably with or without each other. IBM is there too.
2) Business Utilization:
* All the technology in the world is only as good as the results it achieves. At least in the minds of "non-IT" business people. The CFO's office for a very long time has been dominated by legacy accounting systems and by agnostic believers of best of breed SAP, Oracle, Peoplesoft, Seibel, Baan and many other G/L applications, but most often by a sincere belief in “do-it-yourself” spreadsheets based on light integration with MS Office products.
* When it comes to Consolidations, or Business Planning, Hyperion has held the biggest share of the market and still does from a "not broken don't fix it" standpoint. But many CFO's and companies are not happy with the entirety of integrated solutions and looking at a high TCO given multiple systems, multiple data integrations, multiple databases, and multiple BI systems and analytics as well as the SOX & IFRS requirements and increased exposure during these “high pressure” economic times.
* At the same time, the main competitor of all of these applications is not SAP Business Objects , Hyperion, Cognos, Microstrategy, Teradata,....and many many others...it's "MICROSOFT" Excel.
* So the sales pitch of the large vendors is mostly aimed against uncontrolled, dispersed, distributed, sparse, unsecured strategic data and intellectual property existing within a highly mobile workforce environment capable of disseminating proprietary intelligence and with all the portability to their favor. In other words Security. I worked within the Security Industry for 7 years and one thing I learned from this (quasi-intelligence) industry, is….It’s easy to sell fear! It’s actually good for Security selling businesses!
* The other term most likely used by BI Software Vendors and Analyst which for me is “making information ACTIONABLE”! This is so…”passé” (out with the old guard and administration!) Believe me, COO’s, CFO’s, and successful managers don’t only want information to be “actionable”, this connotes a “potential action” but is based upon the whim and slack of a “responsible” employee. That’s why we’re facing the current economic crash and debacle, because some “irresponsible” employees, managers, chiefs within the Fed, Treasury, and SEC, didn’t see the need to take action, although Intelligence was “ACTIONABLE!” My many years within the ranks of industry as chief bean counter tell me that they want information to be processed into Intelligence which initiates validation via inquiry and prescribes orders for remedy (action) bringing symptoms into a “within established parameters” equilibrium status. To quote a past COO “I don’t like being the “bad guy” always having to kick someone in the pants in order to get things done…have the system do this for me so by the time I do my rounds the managers already know what I know and have even had a chance to remedy things before I do. I’m basically a nice guy and would prefer such pro-activeness!”
* The closest thing I’ve seen which approximates anything relating to my previous point, is the integration of Business Process Management with Business Intelligence. But this is NOT on any roadmap I’ve seen. SAP’s got a whiff of this but Product Management has not yet packaged or proceeded to officially launch such an initiative and if so is keeping it under closed covers. The only thing near it is Actionable (SOA) or On-Demand products.
* Oracle, Hyperion, Cognos, IBM, are not on the forefront of this direction but are sure to follow.
So in summary, how do customers view their future investment into BI? Cautiously, they await future release dates and functionality promises, they evaluate the cost “as-is” and “to-be” versus the benefits (ROI) to be received. They evaluate the current return on their invested projects that are “productive” and whether or not they can extend out this return via corporate/entity wide absorption and utilization.
Beyond this they sift through mounds of prophetic sales people and proficient solution engineers who execute wonderful theatrics and soap operas complete with espionage, provocative relationships, romancing, and pontification, and victory parties and celebrations only to find after it is all said and done…the cold hard reality of a sobering headache…and a hell of a task cleaning up and getting things back into order.
Let’s focus on our deep rooted values and ethics…and get to work. There’s room for investment without all the hype and fear mongering, and there are sincere people out here willing to understand issues and resolve problems effectively and efficiently. CAPEX is Long Term my friends, not short term and that is what controls project spend, not your annual budgetary process which is subordinate to CAPEX funding by the board.
Happy Hunting in 2009!
Fermin F. Iduate Intelligence Advisor - Enterprise Performance Management
& Business Intelligence
Turning Point Group, LLC
8470 SW 148th Drive Miami, FL 33158
M +1-(786)-556-5415 (cell)
F +1-(786)-427-1360 (fax)
Confidential Information
The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons of entitles other than the intended recipient is prohibited. This information shall be keep as confidential and should not be disclose to any third party without the written consent given by the party who transmitted such information. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.
La información transmitida es para el uso exclusivo de la persona o entidad a quien va dirigida, y contiene información de carácter confidencial o privilegiado. Se prohibe a cualquier persona o entidad distinta al destinatario, cualquier revisión, retransmisión, distribución u otro uso de la información trasmitida. Esta información confidencial no podrá ser de ningún modo divulgada, revelada, entregada o transmitida a terceros, salvo autorización previa y por escrito de la parte emisora. Si recibió este mensaje por equivocación, atentamente le solicitamos eliminar la información.
February 24, 2009
The confluence of BI and change management
Having worked for many years as a consumer of systems information, and also within the Business Intelligence Software Business with SAP & Business Objects, I agree with the Statement that change management is a companion bedfellow in the wake of BI implementation brought to light in Peter Thomas’ blog: “The Confluence of BI and Change Management”
http://peterthomas.wordpress.com/2009/02/24/the-confluence-of-bi-and-change- management/#comment-136
Proven business models, analysis, queries, cubes, universes,…whatever you want to call them, when implemented require the appropriate, cleansed source data, as well as processes which homogenize the information, so as to report clean and navigable information. Many implementors of BI Systems will admit that a successful implementation of BI has as a related byproduct, the tendency to require ORDER to improve in all underlying source systems, thereby also bringing about change.
A very important distinction needs to be drawn between what is INFORMATION, versus what is INTELLIGENCE. Information is input which an intelligent “Mind” or “Processor” interprets, and defines ACTIONS that need to be executed in order to complete the circle of action vs. reaction, or detection vs. prevention, or inspection vs. expectation.
Most “BI” companies go so far as to make information “Actionable” leaving it basically up to the HUMAN FACTOR to resolve, therefore the Change Management requirement. Making the “ACTION” part of the Software Solution by incorporating business rules associated with the business process is the CHANGE that needs to be managed.
Fermin F. Iduate Intelligence Advisor - Enterprise Performance Management
& Business Intelligence
Turning Point Group, LLC
8470 SW 148th Drive Miami, FL 33158
M +1-(786)-556-5415 (cell)
F +1-(786)-427-1360 (fax)
Confidential Information
The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons of entitles other than the intended recipient is prohibited. This information shall be keep as confidential and should not be disclose to any third party without the written consent given by the party who transmitted such information. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.
La información transmitida es para el uso exclusivo de la persona o entidad a quien va dirigida, y contiene información de carácter confidencial o privilegiado. Se prohibe a cualquier persona o entidad distinta al destinatario, cualquier revisión, retransmisión, distribución u otro uso de la información trasmitida. Esta información confidencial no podrá ser de ningún modo divulgada, revelada, entregada o transmitida a terceros, salvo autorización previa y por escrito de la parte emisora. Si recibió este mensaje por equivocación, atentamente le solicitamos eliminar la información.
February 17, 2009
INFLATION VS. DEVALUATION
There’s a direct inverse relationship regarding Inflation & Devaluation that has held true throughout history, witnessed in Europe after the discovery of America, during the expansion of the British Empire, before and after WW1 & 2, during the 70’s & 80’s and the Oil Embargo period and throughout the Gulf wars and to this day!
In short:
For every significant rise in INFLATION experienced by users of a currency…..there is a corresponding decrease in the valuation of such currency, or in other words (devaluation).
The last 30 years have shown average house values rise from US$100k to 450k, and back down to US$ 300k. Oil prices have gone from $1/gal to +$4/gal, and back down to $2/gal. We’ve all witnessed increases in Insurance, Electricity, Food Prices, Electronics…just about everything.
But during this period a curious thing happened that really has not surfaced or been a major subject of discussion……how much the dollar is worth in comparison to other currencies. Many of us who have been fortunate enough to make a good living and have travelled to Europe are well aware that travelling to Europe over the past few years has been “unaffordable”, yet at the same time here in the states we’ve been seeing planeloads of Europeans coming here to frolic on vacation and buy goods which in some cases due to the really cheap bargains can actually pay for the trip itself.
Folks, we were all bamboozled by the previous administration into believing that we had a healthy 3-4% annual inflation rate….but how could this be with property, commodity, and fuel prices along with the price of living all increasing at a real rate of 11-15%. According to GAAP, FASB8 & FASB52 (old school rules) and sustained inflation in excess of 10% for 3 consecutive years is ruled a “Hyper-Inflationary” economy!
You can’t have high inflation without a corresponding devaluation of that currency…it’s just a natural effect caused by balancing external balances in the global trade system. This effect is not something really noticed by the local population and users of a currency because everything is all relative…salaries go up, cost go up, house values go up, mortgages go up,…etc. In the past, interest rates also went up…causing a barrier to further inflation in the cost of goods of an economy. More recently under the reigns of Alan Greenspan…Interest Rates were held artificially DOWN, thereby prodding Growth in values of everything, houses, cars, electronics, just about everything.
So in trying to keep inflation at bay….they actually inspired it. All the while, the EURO and other Currencies increased in Strength relative to the US Dollar. But who cares?....We don’t need to travel to Europe anymore its dangerous anyway right?
And the dollar continued to erode in Value. The eroded value also meant it cost more dollars to buy Petroleum and other foreign goods, therefore even higher prices!
Well, at some point it had to stop.
I’m happy to report that since the bubble burst in Oct 2008 up through the end of the year….we’ve seen a DROP in US$ values in homes, investments and commodities of about 40%. Of course the doomsayers will say that it’s only going to get worse…but let me just open up the possibility that….well…there are already signs that things are getting better!!
What….are you crazy??? (You may be yelling)
Nope….see, already the US$ has strengthened to the tune of 23% since JAN 1st 2009 thereby increase purchasing power OUTSIDE the US in Europe and elsewhere! With our currency stronger…we can leverage more in any deal we deal. We’ve taken the hits and are redirecting our investments and long term strategy!
The reverse also holds true….a deflation also causes a correspondingly inverse reaction in the value of a currency thereby cause a VALUATION increase in the Dollar.
In real terms…..although our houses are worth less (in relative terms to US Citizen’s) they are actually worth MORE from a foreigner’s perspective who would like to live here!!
In other words, the demand for US LIFE is actually higher as evidenced by the higher entrance cost required.
That’s called “Appreciation” and that’s why I say, things are moving in the right direction!!!
Fermin F. Iduate Intelligence Advisor - Enterprise Performance Management
& Business Intelligence
Turning Point Group, LLC
8470 SW 148th Drive Miami, FL 33158
M +1-(786)-556-5415 (cell)
F +1-(786)-427-1360 (fax)
Confidential Information
The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons of entitles other than the intended recipient is prohibited. This information shall be keep as confidential and should not be disclose to any third party without the written consent given by the party who transmitted such information. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.
La información transmitida es para el uso exclusivo de la persona o entidad a quien va dirigida, y contiene información de carácter confidencial o privilegiado. Se prohibe a cualquier persona o entidad distinta al destinatario, cualquier revisión, retransmisión, distribución u otro uso de la información trasmitida. Esta información confidencial no podrá ser de ningún modo divulgada, revelada, entregada o transmitida a terceros, salvo autorización previa y por escrito de la parte emisora. Si recibió este mensaje por equivocación, atentamente le solicitamos eliminar la información.
