Posted by Denham on August 16, 1999 at 12:53:40:

In Reply to: Re: Some thoughts about Data Warehousing posted by Reilly Atkinson on August 15, 1999 at 22:08:42:

Reilly,

Those are interesting questions! I think packaging has something to do with the current interest in data mining. Integrated tools that make it easier to scrub, arrange, validate and add data from legacy apps certainly made data mining more widely available.

Some very credible examples of competitive advantage e.g. WalMarts logistics, have brought this to upper management attention. The need to squeeze more value from major investments in transaction processing may be another driver.

You have identified the crux of the matter when you ask who will recognize, validate and appreciate the meaning behind the business rules, the visual clustering, the nueral net results. This is the current weak link and an area that would greatly benefit from wider collaboration, deeper dialog and stronger engagement. It takes the combined insight, experience and the recall from a good corporate memory to sift through the data mining output, pick the gems that matter and then implement them (embed) into existing systems.

I do not see an alternative to a qualified data analyst but I do see leverage from collaborative insights to spot the results that have real meaning in terms of the business.

In my more cinic moments I think data mining, OLAP, data warehousing has migrated from the statistics office to the golf course and hence to the boardroom. It is now fashionable to have a DM unit and to be seen to be doing something with your transactions. A few years ago we did it, but it was not a hot topic, the DM meme had yet to catch fire.

An interesting question is what comes next? So you have mined your transactions, integrated the rules, applied the new categories and are using the forecasts, where is the next competitive move, meme or area?

A suggestion: mining relationships and networking!!

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• Re: What's Next? Kees de Vos 15:24:04 8/16/99 (0)

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