03 Nov 2015
By Allen
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Return on Data – InnoTech Download

Return on Data – InnoTech Download

BI/DW Projects, Downloads
Thank you to all who attended today's 'Return on Data' session at the 10th Annual InnoTech in Oklahoma City. This session helps chart the waters through the sea of options when working with data. IT departments need tools to turn data into useful information for users. Instead of ROI, this session talks about 'Return on Data' for IT Managers. To measure the return on investment (ROI) of a financial instrument we look at the costs of the investment such as transaction costs or annual expenses as well as the total value of the interest and dividends over time. To look…
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11 Jun 2015
By Allen
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SpotFire for Analytics

BI/DW Projects
SpotFire for Data Analytics I recently completed a rollout for a major energy company using SpotFire for data analytics from multiple data sources.  This is just a quick review of initial impressions.   My career in the corporate tower was short, but out of it came some great experience with a new tool in my data toolbox.  You can download a free trial here:  http://spotfire.tibco.com/   Pro's: Development environment is very easy to learn Learning portal has lots of great videos to get you started Great choices of visualizations Marking - this is a great feature to allow web users to…
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08 Oct 2014
By Allen
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Time Value of Data

Time Value of Data

BI/DW Projects, Featured, , ,
The concept of 'Time Value' of data and the associated costs of data are a segment of the 'BI Basics' session which always brings up a lot of discussion at SQL Saturday.  Here, I will expand on the discussion and hope you will join in below.  This session was given at SQL Saturday in Oklahoma City and Kansas City and can be downloaded here. My background is in economics with a good bit of finance thrown in. In Economics, we often look at markets in terms of supply and demand curves. In Finance studies, the 'time value of money' is a…
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23 Aug 2014
By Allen
2 Comments
SQL Saturday 309 Downloads

SQL Saturday 309 Downloads

BI/DW Projects, Business, Microsoft SQL Server,
Downloads for SQL Saturday #309 in Oklahoma City are below. Thank you to all who attended. Thanks also to all the sponsors who help make these great events possible for the tech community. Business Intelligence Basics: Finding Return on Data This session will you chart the waters through the sea of Business Intelligence (BI) options. IT departments need tools to turn data into useful information for users. Instead of ROI, this session talks about 'Return on Data' for IT Managers. In this session we look at the roles of data warehousing, big data and business intelligence systems. The Microsoft BI…
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10 Apr 2013
By Allen
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Getting SQL data into SharePoint

Getting SQL data into SharePoint

BI/DW Projects, Microsoft SQL Server, , , , ,
In March, I was invited to speak at the OKC SQL Users Group and I never got the slide deck posted. So here it is to help get you started. Sharing SQL data in SharePoint from Allen Smith Session Level:  Beginner SQL and Beginner SharePoint Session Abstract:  Microsoft SharePoint is a collaboration software that provides a web based portal for business intelligence, content management and document sharing. In this session we will start with the basics of sharing a SQL table as a 'List' in Sharepoint. Next we move on to fun stuff of integrating SQL Server Reporting Services integration.…
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18 Jul 2012
By Allen
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Measuring BI ROI begins with Business Analysts

BI/DW Projects
Calculating 'Payback Period' or 'Return on Investment' (ROI) on business intelligence projects requires information at every project stage. On a recent project expansion required my team to provide information about cost savings for the project. This process was important not just for project approval, but also for validation after the project was built. If business analysts are asked to provide this type of information, it will involve gathering and logging information from users starting at project initiation. Once the project is built, tested and in production there should be follow up with the users to validate the estimates. Project Initiation.…
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