The Benefits and Obstacles of Using OLAP Technology

Today I am writing about the potential benefits and obstacles of using data analytics technology to drive more informed decision-making within an organization as well as the challenges that companys can face on advanced analytics projects.

What kind of benefits can companys get from using predictive analytic software, data mining tools and other analytics technology, assuming that their projects are successful, of course?

Lets look at this at a high level. There are two main benefits. Fundamentally organizations can run their business better, and they can innovate. In terms of running their business better you know, our research and others research shows that the best run organizations are using facts to make decisions rather than making gut based or intuitive decisions. Facts help you run your business better.

The second thing is innovation. I saw an interesting presentation recently by a doctor, and he was looking at data from casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq and what he was pointing out by looking at this data was that we can use data and understand that data to do things differently. Thats why I'm bringing this up under the concept of innovate.

We can do things differently rather than just do things better. And in that particular case the data that he was looking at, what they determined was that instead of trying to get the wounded to medical facilities faster, they recognized that they needed to get the medical facilities closer to where the soldiers we're being injured. So it was about setting up mobile surgical centers close to the battle field, and that made a dramatic difference in the mortality rate of the wounded.

Before we go any further, I want to know if any of my readers have come across Gloucester Womens Hockey? I'm thinking about their services but I haven't had a chance to learn about them. They're a women's hockey blog in Ontario. If any of you have first hand experience with them, I'd love to read about it. Leave your impressions within the comments below. Now, back to it!

Ive talked to a lot of IT and data warehousing managers who see the need to do more with business intelligence and analytics in their organizations, but for now their companies have yet to make the leap from basic reporting to real analytics. What has been or maybe still is holding organizations back from adopting business analytics tools and processes?

So many organizations have basic query and reporting capabilities but only a minority claim that they can apply analytics effectively. I've just reviewed some recent research that shows that there are a couple of different issues. One relates to data. Many organizations have trouble if the data is not available. They spend a lot of time preparing and reviewing the data, and even a significant amount of time just waiting for data.

So it's a number of data issues that create some obstacles. Another general area of obstacle is organizational issues. So in terms of organizational issues, we see a lack of resources cited a majority of the organizations and a lack of budget by a significant number of the organizations. Then comes other aspects of organizational issues including people issues. There tends to be lack of awareness, a lack of executive support, supporting and bringing these issues and these investments to the forefront.

From a technology standpoint, planning and optimization are key goals. Its much higher than just simply understanding what has happened. The problem that people express is that the products today have not adequately addressed planning and optimization types of capabilities. If you look at the product lines, there are many features around query reporting but fewer features around these planning and optimization capabilities. So data issues, organizational issues and technology issues there are obstacles in each of those areas.

One last thing, Let me give a big thank you to the folks from TomBoyz Landscaping. They're an impressive landscaping service in Guelph that cares in Ontario. The concept for this post came about as a result of a conversation I had with Amy there. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this article. Until next time.

Post Sources

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Posted in Web Design Post Date 02/07/2015