The On-Line Executive Journal for Data-Intensive Decision Support
*** November 11, 1997: Vol. 1, No. 6 ***
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IN THIS ISSUE:
ROBERT GROTH TELLS HOW TO SEIZE THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE WITH DATA MINING
DATA MINING: MICHAEL BERRY OFFERS SOME COGENT PERSPECTIVES
MICHAEL BURWEN ADDRESSES THE ONGOING TRANSITION IN DATA WAREHOUSING
Robert Groth currently works at DataMind where he works with corporations implementing applied data mining. He is the author of two books, "Hands-on SQL" and "Data mining for Business Professionals" through Prentice Hall. Most recently he has spoken at DCI's Data Mining forum and the "Minimizing Churn in Telecommunications" conference. Groth's background includes a broad base of technical consulting, working for companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems.
Groth observes: "Data mining is a remarkable industry. In what other field will you find big business outsourcing much, if not most, of the very activities it views as too big a competitive advantage to talk about. Using data mining as a competitive advantage within your own organization can be extremely profitable, but, given the odd nature of the industry, there are some caveats to be aware of
"The natural questions to ask when trying to justify data mining within your own organization is: how is data mining is being used, and, what is the return on investment? What shouldn't be too hard to figure out is that if data mining is viewed as an "emerging" market, yet is expected by Meta Group to be a 4.7 billion dollar industry in 1997, then something is clearly being left unsaid."
HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE DATA MINING
by Michael J. A. Berry
Michael J. A. Berry is a client partner and director of the data mining center at Naviant Technology Solutions. Along with Gordon Linoff, also of Naviant, he is author of Data Mining Techniques for Marketing, Sales and Customer Support (1997, John Wiley & Sons). For more information on the book, see http://www.data-miners.com For more information on Naviant Technology Solutions, see http://www.naviant.com
Berry writes: "I first became involved with data mining and database marketing while working for a now defunct manufacturer of supercomputers. Most of our multi-million dollar massively parallel machines were installed at places like Los Alamos, Sandia, White Sands and the Naval Research Laboratory. A number were installed at Washington area agencies known by three-letter acronyms. Others were simply picked up by unmarked trucks and driven off to locations unknown. Because these exotic machines were difficult to program, we generally shipped applications engineers along with them to help the customers develop their parallel applications. For a time, I worked as one of these AEs."
DATA WAREHOUSES WILL TRANSITION TO INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION AND COLLECTION CENTERS
by Michael P. Burwen
Michael P. Burwen has been in the computer industry since 1959 and has been a consultant to high-tech industry since 1970. In 1981 he co-founded Palo Alto Management Group, Inc. (PAMG) in order to focus on issues relating to leading-edge technologies. In addition to his consulting activities, he served for seven years as Director of the Superperformance Computing Service and of the study, Large-scale Database Solutions, which concentrated on the emerging market for data warehousing and decision support. He is currently leading a second edition of that study entitled Database Solutions II. Burwen has a B.A.E. from Rensselaer and an M.S.E. from UCLA.
Palo Alto Management Group, Inc. (PAMG) was founded in 1981 as a consulting firm dedicated to providing strategic, product and market planning services to companies in the computer, telecommunications and semiconductor industries. Although most of the Company's work is carried out for individual clients on a confidential basis, the firm has on occasion undertaken syndicated projects. Examples are the Superperformance Computing Service which focused on high performance computing and data communications, and the multiclient study, Large-scale Database Solutions, which addressed issues associated with the emerging market for data warehousing and decision support. PAMG is now beginning a second edition of this study entitled Data Solutions II.
PAMG is soliciting a limited number of line-of-business or IT managers from North America, Europe and Japan to participate as interview subjects in the user survey in the Data Solutions II study. Those selected to participate will receive free copies of the survey results and the Data Warehousing/Decision Support Resource Guide and will be eligible to become members of a continuing panel devoted to issues relating to Decision Support.
To qualify as an interview subject, you must have detailed knowledge of an existing or planned data warehouse or data mart. To submit your name for consideration, send email to datasol@pamg.com and include the following information:
Ready-Made Data Warehouse Use on the Rise
Rather than designing a customized system, ReliaStar Life Insurance Co. chose IBM's fraud-management package to establish a data warehouse for detecting false insurance claims. ReliStar estimates it saved half a million dollars and six months of development time. "The IBM package contained the industry experience we needed, while providing a financially viable option to in-house development," said Joel Portice, director of the Minneapolis company's Integrity Plus Services division.
New Software Company Harnesses The Power Of Artificial Intelligence
Evolv is a new company dedicated to using genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic, encryption techniques and neural networking to solve particularly vexing problems for business and industry. The company's AI-oriented solutions help in situations which require computers to act like the human mind and less like computers.
SAS Institute Expands Distribution Channels
SAS Institute Inc. has announced details of a focused alliance strategy in data warehousing, data mining and decision support that continues the expansion from its traditional direct sales model to embrace alternative distribution channels. SAS Institute is developing strategic reseller and referral-based partnerships with select vendors whose specialized competencies complement SAS data warehousing, data mining and decision support solutions.
CONFERENCE CALENDAR
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