News - 15 Sep: The Death Of Business Intelligence

The Death Of Business Intelligence
Dan Woods, Forbes.com

Multi-touch display screens with up-to-the-minute data should gain traction in the enterprise.
 
During the presidential election, CNN anchor John King danced around the newsroom in front of gigantic multi-touch screens, tapping states and moving information around with his hands. He showed a way of analyzing information that is applicable to almost every business.

King did not have to plan his presentations. He could respond to unanticipated questions from reporters and interviewers with a spontaneous narrative that used the information presented in the visual display to help him tell a story. He did not yell backstage, "I need to answer this list of questions, so please prepare reports for me." When a new train of thought came to him, he could jump right on and use the display to show what he was thinking or discover new information that led in new directions. King also didn't stand by and have someone else run the display--he did it himself--and he had access to the latest data.

Business intelligence in the enterprise should be just as fluid and flexible, but it isn't: You must plan the questions to answer. You must ask someone to create reports for you. And then you access stale data. Analysis from boardroom and operational meetings, and from business users, should focus on what is happening right now. But such analysis needs a new name: Operational intelligence is probably the best term.

Operational intelligence, what King was doing, is made possible by a new generation of technology that delivers to business the same experience King had during the election. For now, only larger organizations can afford the multi-touch screens from Perceptive Pixel that King used, but a variety of other technologies and techniques offer equivalent dynamic and fluid interaction with data that most businesses can afford. In a couple of years, multi-touch will be far more affordable.

Read the entire article online.