The History of Business Intelligence

I recently came across this video, and thought I should share it. It's a great overview of what Business Intelligence is... and has some humour to it, too. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1y5jBESLPE

Too much information!

I was doing a little reading across various websites earlier today, and was astounded by the multitude of methods and formats available for receiving BI. It could be 'pushed' to me via email or browser link; 'pulled' by me from a website or netsork folder; it could be dropped on my desktop; it could be available on a Blackberry, iPhone, or other mobile device... And then there were so many ways for it to be viewed! Dashboards, reports, analytics, charts, maps...

With all these methods to receive information, I sometimes wonder what we did before we had them!

And then I pause and think about how many of these I need. How many of them can I act on?

The point here isn't to suggest that all of these various avenues to get information aren't relevant. As someone whose livelihood is predicated on the value of good information (for me and for my clients), I absolutely believe that good information is imperative to business success.

But there's a big difference between having twenty tools streaming information to me, cluttering my mind with minute details that are interesting but irrelevant as compared to having one or two pieces of high-value, timely information on which I can act.

To me, this is something like what Stephen Covey was talking about when he explained his Time Management Matrix - comparing the Urgency of things to their Importance. I'll call mine the Importance/Actionability Matrix! :)

Too many people believe that more information is better, when in reality ACTIONABLE information is better!

What's your take on this?

Great Video (Sorry, not BI-related!)

Okay, so I know this isn't really a BI related entry, but I was very impressed with the video in the attached link for the Eat Real, Eat Local campaign. It was done by Hellman's (the mayonnaise people), and sent to me by a friend.

I like the video for two reasons: first, it does a great job of educating viewers (without lecturing) about the origin of our 'fresh' food supply. Some of the statistics are quite staggering, and really give reason to approach shopping from a different perspective,

The second reason that I like the video is that it does a fantastic job of softly and respectfully promoting a bit of national pride. It doesn't suggest that produce originating in other countries is bad; rather it just advocates for the benefits of buying locally.

After viewing the video, I went to the site, and noticed that in response to the actions of people viewing the video, Hellman's has made donations of $35,000 to the Evergreen fund.

So the customer wins by receiving good, empowering information, the environment wins through receipt of the donation, and of course, Hellman's wins through an excellent PR piece. Sounds like the perfect deal.