Be Skeptical about BI Predictions and TrendsBe Skeptical about BI Predictions and Trends

Happy New Year! Have you ever wondered why every year in December we hear all these new BI predictions and trends for the following year? Should you invest the time and energy to listen and believe them? Well after being in the BI market for now 20 years, I have become more skeptical than optimistic about much of this hoopla. While they might sound interesting you should clearly examine the sources of information. If they come from a technology vendor executive, do they result in pushing their company's agenda, or if they come from a consultant or firm is it helping market their services? What you do with BI has become more complex than simple and the exercise of coming up with predictions and trends might be limiting your perspective and not expanding it.Yes, I could be creative and come up with my own but I honestly do not believe it would help you. I have learned after many years of doing BI research across thousands of organizations and examining the IT and different line of business needs it is not that simple. I would recommend a strong cup of caffeinated coffee and a mirror in front of your organization would be a better recommendation. Understanding your reality and accepting the fact that you are probably trailing your competitors in using information from BI is a good first step.

So, instead of some BI predictions or trends for 2008 let me provide you some facts that happen every year. The technology suppliers will continue to consolidate, their will always be new suppliers that provide a faster, better, newer and cheaper approach and there are always places you and your organization can improve dramatically by applying BI better. Most importantly are you able to help lead your organization forward with BI or just going to accept what you did last year as the best viable option for the future. With these simple observations, I hope you find this year to be the one that exceeds your expectations and can leverage BI to advance your opportunity to manage performance to the next level.Happy New Year! Have you ever wondered why every year in December we hear all these new BI predictions and trends for the following year? Well after being in the BI market for now 20 years, I have become more skeptical than optimistic about much of this hoopla. While they might sound interesting you should clearly examine the sources of information. If they come from a technology vendor executive, do they result in pushing their company's agenda...