Five Minutes of News: Kroll Factual Data, MIAC Partner
February 19, 2009
Jeff Gentry, the Vice President of Emerging Services at Kroll Factual Data, tells The IT-Finance Connection in a podcast that the agreement between his company and MIAC will give mortgage lenders, property managers and others that use real estate data information products that are timely and that can be sequenced in a way that show trending over time.
Podcast: If Integrated Correctly, Legacy Mainframes are Powerful Business Intelligence Tools
February 16, 2009
Legacy mainframes can be a powerful BI tool. However, integrating these platforms 
requires thought and finesse, says Dan Finerty, the Senior Consulting Engineer for DataDirect. The keys are to pay attention to the hardware, the software – and the people who will write and use the applications.
Five Minutes of News: Cumberland Farms Taps Chesapeake System Solutions
February 11, 2009
Earlier this week, Chesapeake System Solutions was chosen by Cumberland Farms to provide IDM and SmartAnalysis Software for the chain’s corporate treasury operations. John Synder, Chesapeake’s Director of Business Development, says that Cumberland–which has more than 1,000 locations, mostly on the east coast–will use the tools to ensure that store receipts and local bank deposits match.
The Meeting of Business Intelligence and Software-as-a-Service
February 9, 2009
The easier and more efficiently software is deployed and configured, the more likely it is to benefit the organization. Software-as-a-service, which puts that simple thought into action, could have a big impact in how IT shops operate. Analytix on Demand CEO Vik Torpunuri tells The IT-Finance Connection that SaaS is reaching business intelligence. 
The approach, he says, is a low cost and fast way for companies of all sizes to plan, deploy and manage their BI and related initiatives.
Five Minutes of News: GridApp Clarity 5.1
February 4, 2009
In a podcast interview, GridApp CEO Rob Gardos says that the newest version of the company’s Clarity platform is designed to work in cloud environments and to provide more control over license compliance issues.
The Financial Meltdown Points to a Growing Role for BI, GRC
February 2, 2009
One element of the economic crisis was poor oversight. 
Many billions of dollars later, financial services and other industries are looking to upgrade their Governance, Risk and Compliance platforms. Gordon Burnes, OpenPage’s Vice President of Marketing, says that many companies are moving to integrated and programmatic platforms that rely heavily 
on BI tools and not an “army of spreadsheet jockeys” using heavily siloed data. These companies understand that they will need a new approach to satisfy what will be far more stringent rules and regulations.
For New BI Tools, Communications is a Two-Way Street
January 28, 2009
In the past, BI platforms have been incapable of quickly and fluidly incorporating input from people in the field. Often, workers are left using error-prone and cumbersome spreadsheets to fill the gap between what they have and what they need. Harriett Fryman, the Business Unit Executive for BI and Platform for IBM, says that emerging
software from IBM Cognos and others make a dialog possible. This results, she says, in tools that are far better attuned to employees’ quickly changing requirements.
Integrating BI, Portals and CMS Software Into a Single Platform
January 26, 2009
Companies want to optimize their investments by buying best-of-breed platforms. The difficult job of integrating these packages always falls to the IT department. Bluenog Co-Founder and CEO Suresh Kuppusamy 
says that newly available open source tools are the most effective way to knit together and maintain these all-inclusive platforms.
Coral8: Continuous Intelligence Drives Fast and Savvy Actions
January 22, 2009
The quicker data can be put to use the more valuable it is. 
John Morrell, the Vice President of Marketing for Coral8, says that the firm’s Continuous Intelligence platform updates events on a real-time basis and links to historical data.
The result is far more timely information that drives proactive responses and, potentially, provides competitive advantages compared to companies that use platforms that are updated less frequently.
Finding Bottlenecks, Supporting Demanding Apps Keys to Surviving a Tough 2009
January 19, 2009
Things aren’t getting easier: The economy is spiraling downward as corporate demands increase. Indeed, in some cases the amount of data a company collects has doubled in just a few years. Harvey Tessler, the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Syncsort, says that the keys are accurately predicting where the 
bottlenecks will be and adequately planning for the most demanding applications. During the difficult year ahead, the emphasis will be on finding efficiencies by doing more with less.
Around the Net: October 5 to 9
Big IPOs Due this Week from Verisk and Santander: Read More at Market Watch…
Banks Building Business Intelligence: Read More at eFinancial Careers…
Heavy Lifting: Read More at Information Management…
Finding Your Niche in On-Demand BI: Read More at IT World Canada…
British Telecom Picks Jaspersoft for Analytics: Read More at CNET…
E-Medical Data valuable to Healthcare Industry: Read More at InformationWeek…
Pervasive Business Intelligence: Read More at PC Quest…
--Carl Weinschenk
