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The On-Line Executive Journal for Data-Intensive Decision Support
*** July 7, 1998: Vol. 2, No. 27 ***
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IN THIS ISSUE:
DISCOVERING KNOWLEDGE FROM DATA: PART II
BY INDERPAL BHANDARI
IT DRIVEN DATA WAREHOUSING: FACING REALITIES
BY JIM GALLAGHER
THE STANDARDS RACE BEGINS IN DATA MINING
BY JOHN THOMPSON
ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY
GOLDEN MEANS: DISCOVERING KNOWLEDGE FROM DATA -- PART II
by Inderpal Bhandari, executive editor at large
Inderpal Bhandari is widely recognized as a leading researcher in data
mining and computer science. He is one of the few experts who have
successfully demonstrated how the emerging technology of data mining can be
translated into useful applications that offer a competitive advantage.
Recently, he formed Virtual Gold, Inc. to implement his technical vision.
Virtual Gold also offers a consulting service to help clients differentiate
themselves from their competitors via the use of data mining technology.
From 1990-1997, Dr. Bhandari was a member of the research staff at the IBM
T.J. Watson Research Center, where he received several awards for his
pioneering work in data mining and in software engineering. He was the
creator and project director of IBM's Advanced Scout, a data mining program
used extensively by coaches of the National Basketball Association to devise
new strategies based on the automatic identification of hidden patterns in
game data and video.
He was educated at Carnegie Mellon University (Ph.D, Electrical & Computer
Engineering, 1990), the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (M.S.) and the
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India (B.Engg). He has
published extensively in leading computer-related journals and conferences
and has deployed several cutting-edge technological solutions to business
problems.
Dr. Bhandari writes: "Last week, I discussed two scenarios for discovery.
In the first, the trick was to identify the relevant data. In the second, the
trick was to collect and process data in a way that did not affect the
outcome of the decision. Let the count go on. As is well known, the key to
success often lies in merely showing up. Well, much of the time, the key to
discovery lies in simplifying access to data."
100217
IT DRIVEN DATA WAREHOUSING: FACING REALITIES
by Jim Gallagher
Jim Gallagher manages the Data Warehousing Practice within
Spectrum
Technology Group, Inc. He has over 15 years
of experience in building decision support and operational systems,
organizational development and re-engineering, managing client relationships,
and leading people. He is currently a member of Spectrum's internal R&D
organization for Technology and Data Warehousing methodology development, and
supports Spectrum Data Warehousing activities across the nation.
Gallagher writes: "I am sure that the title of this article is raising the
small hairs on the backs of the necks of experienced data warehousing
professionals; we all know that data warehousing initiatives need to be
driven by business needs, and need to have sponsorship and ownership and
strong participation from the business side of the organization. However,
there is a fact out there that is a reality. Many organizations have
embarked upon data warehousing initiatives that were born in the IT
(Information Technology) side of the company. And today, more are continuing
to start out this way."
THE STANDARDS RACE BEGINS IN DATA MINING
by John K. Thompson
John K. Thompson is the Vice President of Marketing for Magnify, Inc.
Thompson has over 15 years experience spanning all major technology
management functions for software organizations. In his current role, as
Vice President of Marketing, Thompson formulates and executes the strategic
direction for Magnify, Inc. and the PATTERN product line. His technology
expertise includes knowledge discovery, decision support, data warehousing,
and database systems. Prior to joining Magnify, Inc., he held a number of
senior technology and marketing positions at PLATINUM technology, IBM, and
Metaphor Computer Systems. Thompson has consulted in Latin America, Europe,
and Asia regarding the issues around building world class data warehouses and
decision support systems. Thompson holds a Bachelor of Science degree from
Ferris State University and a MBA in Marketing from DePaul University.
Thompson observes: "It's official! The Data Mining Industry has decided
that it can benefit from standards. The most important question is: What
should be standardized and who should control "the standard"? The wrangling
has begun. Technologies for use in analytical applications have gone through
this cycle at least twice in the past 15 years."
ACTION ITEMS
Ranger Forms Backbone for Distributed Integration
Solution to Address Data Warehousing Problems
Inventure, a leading provider of innovative solutions for the securities
and investment industry, has announced the release of its latest version of
RANGER. RANGER embeds the Java programming language within the RANGER engine.
By using the emerging cross-platform software standard -- Java, RANGER
customers can create a Distributed Integration solution. Distributed
Integration is a new platform designed to address the data warehousing
challenges unique to the securities and investment industry.
SPSS and Ceres Form Strategic Relationship
to Address Analytical Needs of Retail Market
Retailers will soon have the ability to model their customers and better
predict their behavior, thanks to a relationship between SPSS Inc. and Ceres
Integrated Solutions. Ceres will incorporate SPSS Components to provide the
analytical basis of the automated modeling module within the Ceres
Intelligent Operational Systems (Ceres IOS) for Targeted Marketing and
Merchandising.
Tandem and Clementine to Scale up
Data Mining Technology
Tandem and ISL, the U.K. affiliate of ISL Decision Systems, have announced
that they are working together on providing a scalable data mining solution,
based on the Clementine Data Mining System. CHESS -- the Clementine High
Efficiency Scalable Server -- will be a new product, intended to make it more
practical for businesses to use their data warehouses for data mining.
Initial experiments show typical speed gains of at least 10 to 100 times.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Standards formulation can be tenuous business. Look at what
happened to the OLAP Council. The council worked and argued its
way to a standard API for accessing multi-dimensional databases
only to be usurped by the Microsoft announcement of their own,
competing API."
CONFERENCES & SEMINARS 07.07.98
D S * INFORMATION
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