In this episode, Wayne Eckerson and Jen Underwood explore a new era of analytics. Data volumes and complexity have exceeded the limits of current manual drag-and-drop analytics solutions. Data moves at the speed of light while speed-to-insight lags farther and farther behind. It is time to explore intelligent, next generation, machine-powered analytics to retain your competitive edge. It is time to combine the best of the human mind and machine. Underwood is an analytics expert and founder of Im...
Jul 10, 2018•27 min
In this podcast, Carl Gerber and Wayne Eckerson discuss Gerber’s top five data governance best practices: Motivation, Assessment, Data Assets Catalog, CxO Alliance, and Data Quality. Gerber is a long-time chief data officer and data leader at several large, diverse financial services and manufacturing firms, who is now an independent consultant and an Eckerson Group partner. He helps large organizations develop data strategies, modernize analytics, and establish enterprise data governance progra...
Jun 20, 2018•31 min
With today’s unprecedented velocity of change in data and technologies, the single version of the truth (SVOT) is sometimes looked upon as a nice to have. But SVOT is not optional. Despite the difficulties in constructing a single version of the truth, it is now needed more than ever to keep CEOs happy and to stay compliant with new regulations like the GDPR. Originally published at https://www.eckerson.com/articles/single-version-of-the-truth-not-optional
Jun 11, 2018•12 min
Ethics is challenging because right and good are not always clear. More data, more kinds of data, and advanced analysis of data often conflict with concerns of data privacy, security, anonymity, and ownership. Resolving these conflicts requires acknowledgment, discussion, and the hard work of defining ethics-based policies and creating a culture of ethical conduct. Originally published at https://www.eckerson.com/articles/data-ethics-the-new-data-governance-challenge
May 25, 2018•7 min
In this episode, Wayne Eckerson and Jeff Magnusson discuss the data architecture Stitch Fix created to support its data science workloads, as well as the need to balance man and machine and art and science. Magnusson is the vice president of data platform at Stitch Fix. He leads a team responsible for building the data platform that supports the company's team of 80+ data scientists, as well as other business users. That platform is designed to facilitate self-service among data scientists and p...
May 14, 2018•34 min
To survive and thrive in today’s information economy, organizations need to establish a compelling data strategy that advances the company’s key objectives and goals. This is not a job for the chief information officer or even chief data officer; it’s a task that the CEO must own and champion and assemble his best and brightest to execute. This audio blog examines the ten step methodology that Eckerson Group uses to help organizations create a data strategy. Originally published at https://www.e...
May 02, 2018•16 min
Data engineering is one of the hottest and most difficult jobs to fill in the field of analytics. Breadth and depth of required skills limits the number of people qualified to work as data engineers. If you’re seeking to hire data engineers, consider the 24 skill areas identified here as guidance to shape job descriptions and to screen candidates. If you’re seeking to become a data engineer, take the skills assessment to highlight your strengths and identify your gaps. Originally published at ht...
Apr 24, 2018•4 min
In this podcast, Wayne Eckerson and Joe Caserta discuss data migration, compare cloud offerings from Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, and define and explain artificial intelligence. You can contact Caserta by visiting caserta.com or by sending him an email to joe@caserta.com. Follow him on Twitter @joe_caserta. Caserta is President of a New York City-based consulting firm he founded in 2001 and a longtime data guy. In 2004, Joe teamed up with data warehousing legend, Ralph Kimball to write to writ...
Apr 16, 2018•31 min
Every organization that manufactures data for decision making is rethinking its data architecture. Compared to five years ago, there is a treasure trove of new technologies and techniques that promise to transform the way organizations compete and serve customers. This audio blog summarizes the major characteristics of a modern data architecture and serves a high-level guide for organizations that are in the midst of developing a new data strategy for the modern age. Originally published at http...
Apr 09, 2018•11 min
In this podcast, Wayne Eckerson and James Serra discuss myths of modern data management. Some of the myths discussed include 'all you need is a data lake', 'the data warehouse is dead', 'we don’t need OLAP cubes anymore', 'cloud is too expensive and latency is too slow', 'you should always use a NoSQL product over a RDBMS.' Serra is big data and data warehousing solutions architect at Microsoft with over thirty years of IT experience. He is a popular blogger and speaker and has presented at doze...
Apr 01, 2018•31 min
In this podcast, Henry Eckerson interviews Dave Wells on the current health and future of the data warehouse. Wells acknowledges that data warehouses are struggling, but argues they are still necessary and cannot be replaced by data lakes. He then explains what the role of the modern data warehouse should be, practical steps forward for evolving the data warehouse, and much more. Wells is an advisory consultant, educator, and industry analyst dedicated to building meaningful connections througho...
Mar 20, 2018•28 min
In this episode, Wayne Eckerson and Jeff Magnusson discuss a self-service model for data science work and the role of a data platform in that environment. Magnusson also talks about Flotilla, a new open source API that makes it easy for data scientists to execute tasks on the data platform. Magnusson is the vice president of data platform at Stitch Fix. He leads a team responsible for building the data platform that supports the company's team of 80+ data scientists, as well as other business us...
Mar 06, 2018•34 min
In this episode, Wayne Eckerson and Mike Masciandaro discuss keys to creating successful reports that users will love and use. Masciandaro provides in-depth explanations of each key (easy, drill, monitor, accurate, relevant, timely, responsive, and secure). Masciandaro is a veteran business intelligence practitioner who recently retired from an illustrious career at Dow Chemical as director of BI. During that time, Mike saw and did just about everything there is to do in the world of BI, data, a...
Feb 19, 2018•33 min
In this episode, Wayne Eckerson and Lenin Gali discuss the past and future of the cloud and big data. Gali is a data analytics practitioner who has always been on the leading edge of where business and technology intersect. He was one of the first to move data analytics to the cloud when he was BI director at ShareThis, a social media based services provider. He was instrumental in defining an enterprise analytics strategy, developing a data platform that brought games and business data together...
Feb 04, 2018•36 min
In this podcast, Henry Eckerson and Stephen Smith discuss the movement to operationalize data science. Smith is a well-respected expert in the fields of data science, predictive analytics and their application in the education, pharmaceutical, healthcare, telecom and finance industries. He co-founded and served as CEO of G7 Research LLC and the Optas Corporation which provided the leading CRM / Marketing Automation solution in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Smith has published jou...
Jan 25, 2018•40 min
In this episode, Mike Masciandaro and Wayne Eckerson discuss how to partner with the business and ensure high levels of customer satisfaction and adoption. Mike is a veteran business intelligence practitioner who recently retired from an illustrious career at Dow Chemical. Mike has seen and done just about everything there is to do in the world of BI, data, and analytics. He is now intent on sharing his hard-won knowledge with others.
Jan 22, 2018•41 min
In this podcast, Wayne Eckerson and Joe Caserta discuss what constitutes a modern data platform. Caserta is President of a New York City-based consulting firm he founded in 2001 and a longtime data guy. In 2004, Joe teamed up with data warehousing legend, Ralph Kimball to write to write the book The Data Warehouse ETL Toolkit. Today he’s now one of the leading authorities on big data implementations. This makes Joe one of the few individuals with in-the-trenches experience on both sides of the d...
Jan 16, 2018•48 min
Dewayne Washington is back this week for part II of his Secrets of Data Analytics Leaders podcast with Eckerson Group. In part I, Dewayne and I discussed the role of the CIO. In this episode we discuss the keys to IT success. Washington is a senior consultant with 20+ years of experience in BI and Analytics in over two dozen verticals. He is the former BI manager at Dallas/Fortworth International Airport and the current CIO at The Business of Intelligence. He is also the author of the book Get I...
Jan 09, 2018•29 min
In this podcast, Dewayne Washington speaks the unadulterated truth about the role of the CIO and discusses keys to success and common pitfalls. Washington is a senior consultant with 20+ years of experience in BI and Analytics in over two dozen verticals. He is the former BI manager at Dallas/Fortworth International Airport and the current CIO at The Business of Intelligence. Washington is also a sought-after speaker and mentor for organizations striving to leverage BI and Analytics to meet busi...
Jan 08, 2018•44 min
Mike Masciandaro is a veteran business intelligence practitioner who recently retired from an illustrious career at Dow Chemical. Mike has seen and done just about everything there is to do in the world of BI, data, and analytics. He is now intent on sharing his hard-won knowledge with others. You will learn the definition and purpose of a BI program, the role of subject matter experts, how to hire and retain talent, keys to delivering value as a BI program, and more.
Jan 04, 2018•34 min
In this podcast, Kevin Sonsky reveals the secrets to his success as a business intelligence leader at Citrix Systems. During the past 11 years, he has implemented an enterprise-wide self-service reporting environment that has delivered deeper insights into customer purchasing behavior. At the same time, he has established a grassroots governance program that has successfully standardized on dozens of key enterprise metrics and reports. Kevin is interviewed by Wayne W. Eckerson, long-time thought...
Jan 16, 2017•30 min
