Articles on Featured

Do you need machine learning? Maybe. Maybe not. Everyone's talking about machine learning but its not the answer to every problem.

Want to be a data science rockstar? of course you do! Sorry for the clickbait headline, but I wanted to reach as many people as I can with this important

When analyzing data, one of the best (and worst) things you can do is data mining. When done right, its great but when done wrong, beware the data mining.

The shift from information to intelligence requires an analytics foundation that can unleash the power of data

Are your digital transformation initiatives stuck? It could be the data you need to drive transformation remains in silos, or maybe it’s just bad data.

Proper data integration and management will help you spend less time sifting through data and more time divining insights from it.

The role of Chief Data Officer plays a critical role in data-driven transformation. But only if they’re set up to succeed.

Marketing data lakes help data analysts collaborate with customer-facing teams to predict behaviors, personalize offers, and improve engagement.

Marketing departments have too many choices today. Without proper governance and selection processes, getting things done becomes impossible.

Machine learning will not replace humans in the security chain, but it can help IT professionals monitor data access and system security effectively.  

Along the path to digital maturity, your organization needs to reach data maturity in both organizational and technological aspects.

Accuracy and Trust in Machine Learning - are they mutually exclusive or can you have both when building machine learning models?

Do you know what the big four machine learning risks are? Do you know how to mitigate these risks? If not, check out this article to learn more.

How much is bad data costing you? It could be very little or a great deal. An example of what the cost of bad data really looks like.

What can you actually do with machine learning and AI? Examples of areas within organizations that can benefit from these technologies.

Just because your machine learning or AI models look good on paper does not guarantee they will work in the real world.

I'm regularly asked about how to get started with big data. My response is always the same: I give them my big data roadmap for success.

Guidance for non-technical people on how to ask the right questions to evaluate whether a machine learning model is good enough for the job.

A brief look back at 2017 and a quick preview of what 2018 looks like for me.

When should deep learning be used? the answer isn't a simple one. The answer depends on the problem, data size and number of other factors.

Stop thinking about big data technologies.  Think of ways to 'analyze, contextualize, internalize' your data instead.

Data and culture must go hand in hand in modern organizations.

When working with data, don't just find the answers to your questions. Keep digging and find new questions to ask.

Many organizations are jumping on the big data bandwagon (rightfully so). A good portion of them aren't thinking about data quality before data analytics.

Doing data science without 'science' is nothing more than throwing darts at a dart board and thinking the results are meaningful.

You (and your company) probably don't need machine learning. Most companies just need good data management with good regression modeling.

Your data project is going to fail. You can plan everything perfectly, use the best systems, hire the best people yet your project will fail.

Big data isn't the answer. Big data is a just one more tool that can be used in the toolbox that an organization can use to improve.

Data preparation is extremely important to your data analytics / big data projects. Good data preparation can lead to good data analytics outcomes.

Data Analytics means different things to different people. I discuss prescriptive vs descriptive analytics and try to explain why you should care.

Good data science isn't about finding answers to questions. Good data science is about setting up your data and systems to allow you to find more questions.

I spend a lot of time talking to companies about big data and data science. Many conversations are with people at the CxO level (CEO's, COO's, CFO's, etc

The technology debate is usually the wrong debate. Focus on what value you will deliver with whatever technology you have or might acquire.

The three roadblocks to big data success are: Starting too fast, Going too big and Corporate Culture

if you want a great data analytics culture, build a great communications culture. You can't have one without the other.

Best practices aren't enough. You need to have the smarts and creativity to know to better align yourself and your strategy with market conditions.

Collecting and analyzing data means nothing if you do not use it for more than taking up storage space. That is wasted money and time.

In “Big Data, Big Analytics and You”, I wrote: “Big data is obviously important to most organizations. There’s plenty of data out there and even more data

Is bit data worth it? Absolutely...but only if you put the time and effort into the analysis of that data. Big data isn't easy, but it is worth it.

Make sure you have the tools and skills in place to analyze / use what you have before you go and add 'more' to the mix.

Jeffrey Philips currently wrote a nice piece titled "Innovate your processes before innovating your products" over on his excellent Innovate on Purpose

This won't surprise many people (at least I hope it doesn't)...there is a huge difference between "theory" and "practice". I'm an academic AND and

I just ran across an article titled "The CIO balancing act: agility, innovation, cost savings" over on The Enterprisers Project. If you haven't stumbled

A nice short post over on Farnam Street today highlights the various traps that people and companies can find themselves in when they begin looking at

Mark Thiele published a post recently titled "Why we Value IT Incorrectly - Innovation vs Cost Center."  You should go read it. If you don't follow Mark's

There's no 'easy' button or 'secret' to success in big data. It takes hard work and listening to the data to let it tell its own story.

Some say the IT group and CIO are irrelevant. I disagree. The New CIO can make IT more relevant than ever before.

Do you want to be a supply chain CIO focused on operations or a Strategic CIO focus on adding business value?

Companies no longer want a controller of technology. They want a leader who can demystify IT and help them use technology to deliver real value.

CIOs should not bemoan their predicament. They should see it as an opportunity to reshape their job, career, and the IT group's role.

Today, we are drowning in data and starved for information. What can we do about it?

A while back I wrote a piece titled The Strategy Disconnect where I wrote: Millions can be spent on the ‘perfect’ strategy, but if that strategy isn’t

What are the important skills for a data scientist?

Big data is complex and difficult, but with proper planning and strategic thinking, you can prepare for many of the challenges you will face.

Marketing isn't shortchanging IT. IT has shortchanged itself by failing to lead organizations into the digital world. Time for the CIO to step up.

Data is not everything, but with proper planning and management it can deliver real, long-term value. Drive your data, do not let it drive you.

Big data is about more than just finding new revenue streams or finding ways to bring in more revenue from existing customers.

I'm often asked the following question: What is the difference between Business Intelligence and Big Data? Before getting into my approach to answering

Recently, my wife wanted to buy an item for her photography studio.  This particular item is something that you'd never think belonged in a studio...but

While doing a bit of research on the role of the CIO for an article I was writing earlier this week, I ran across this definition of Chief Information

I've been writing about the "New CIO"  for almost 5 years and I finally feel like there's some real change coming to the CIO role and subsequently, to the

While working technology selection projects, one feature that I like to look at is flexibility. In the past, flexibility wasn’t exactly a feature that was

Dark Data can arise in many ways. One way is via Shadow IT and the Data Disconnect

I just finished reading Using an Internal Social Network to Solve Real Business Problems by Nichole Kelly over on Social Media Explorer. When I started

Finding the right people has always been a problem for IT organizations for many reasons. There’s always been a “build or buy” decision for organizations

Cross Posted at TradeTheSentiment.com While working up my data analysis chapter of my dissertation, I came across some interesting tidbits of information

IT pros should welcome the opportunity to disrupt their own services and processes. It prevents complacency and opens new ways to add value.

I just finished reading "Can big data technology be used to replace creative marketing?" and felt the need to vent a bit. This first part of this vent:

I'm a fan of data. I love using data to solve problems and find answers. I love combining context and data to help organizations find identify issues and

I just finished reading Big Data and Marketing: A Confused Relationship? over on Marketing Pilgrim. There's some good stuff in the post - but what really

Ah Granola. That wonderful treat consisting of oats, nuts, honey and other assorted goodies like berries, bananas, chocolate chips, raisins etc etc.

There are many ways to make coffee.   You've got your pre-ground coffee. You're pre-packaged coffee. Whole Bean coffee.  Self-roasted coffee.  Instant

I'm the worlds worst developer. Really. I am. I don't follow best practices and my coding style is the oft-chided "brute force" method. I owe (blame?) my

A few weeks ago I wrote about Big Data and Small Business. From that post, I wrote: As its defined, big data might be too big for small business, but the

This is a cross-post from Trade The Sentiment. Originally published as Using Twitter Sentiment for Intraday Signals. While most of my research on Twitter

Big Data.  Two small words with huge meaning. Do a search for "big data" on Google and you'll find over 23 million results. Do a book search on amazon for

How long have you been looking for that 'perfect' system? You know....the project management 'system' that will be your savior. Or the governance process

I love the motto "fail fast, fail often". Its been the driver behind a lot of what I've done in my life. There's been many times that I've failed quickly

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. It's a new year and time for review of 2012.  This coming year is an important one for anyone, but

This is a cross-post from Trade The Sentiment In my post titled Correlations – Twitter Sentiment, AAII Sentiment Survey and the S&P 500 Index I

This is a cross-post from Trade The Sentiment I just finished presenting a paper titled Bulls, Bears…and Birds? Studying the Correlation between Twitter

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. Joel Dobbs published a great piece titled The Entrepreneurial CIO: Putting Innovation to Work over

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. My post last week titled A Marketing Technology Office...the next fad? got some interesting

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. John Dodge posted a video over on the Enterprise CIO Forum titled "Enter the chief marketing

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. I just finished reading Rafal Los' piece on the Enterprise CIO Forum titled Hiring information

A review of the new Marha Heller book CIO Paradox.

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. Complex can be good. Processes can be complex and still work just fine. Complex is often the

How do we educate users about security dangers without boring them while remaining open to change and new platforms?

Educate organization to Trust but Verify.Education is expensive but should be looked at as another line-item toward securing the organization.

A look at a strategy that uses Twitter Sentiment Extremes to generate Buy signals. This strategy leads to 5 trades since Jan 2012 and a return of ~ 5.5%

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. First off...if you aren't familiar with the boogeyman, its the bad person in stories that are

Using Twitter Sentiment to gather market sentiment and comparing that sentiment with that of the AAII Sentiment Survey.

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. Following up my Data Disconnect and Shadow IT post from yesterday, I wanted to talk about the 2nd

Your data might remain in that vacuum. But worse….whatever knowledge that data might create (or has created) will remain in that vacuum as well.

You will not snuff out Shadow IT. But by educating and communicating, you can lead your organization's technology initiatives instead of playing catchup.

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. I want to share a story with you. Its a story about how an approach

An analysis of twitter messages using the #CIO hashtag and captured / analyzed for patterns and information.

Most people in the IT world are Professionals...but it only takes a few Fanboys to ruin it for everyone.

Making IT Costs more Transparent - IT and the business need a way to communicate more transparently about costs.

A visualization of the #CIO Twitter stream from data collected July 16 to July 18.

That’s the magic and mystery of 1%. Don’t ignore it because its small. Don’t overlook it due to its size. 1% is small and large at the same time.

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. What have you done for me lately? If you've grown up in the world of IT, you probably either get

I like the idea but don't know many organizations where this system wouldn't be seen immediately as 'gimmicky' but I'm going to be thinking more about it.

What if you build a gamification platform as a rewards platform for IT professionals to share knowledge within IT and outside of IT, do you think it would work?

But...the real question (to me) is: Have we outsourced the right stuff?

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. Here's an interesting thought experiment. Assume you got promoted.  Maybe you've just moved from

Importance is relative. Before demanding something because it is important to you, consider how it ranks on the other person's priority list.

An overview of my research into using Twitter sentiment and message volume to model stock price movements for the S&P 500 SPY ETF.

CIOs and IT pros face a choice: keep the lights on or drive new technology initiatives. The role is changing, and now is the time to step up.

Can twitter be used to determine sentiment for making investing decisions?

IT talks endlessly about change but rarely acts. Whether it's a revolution or evolution, something needs to happen. It's time to do more than talk.

The CIO challenge: allow everyone to be different while keeping a handle on the things that need to be secured and protected.

It is time to change the default sign of IT from subtraction to addition. Start adding value to the organization and attitudes will follow.

You've probably heard the old saying that "Hope isn't a strategy". I've written a few words on the topic of Strategy, Tactics and Hope in the past and

Its been quiet over the last few weeks on here for a reason... I've been finalizing my Dissertation Proposal. Yesterday (Wed Oct 26th), I successfully

I've been reading a lot lately about the 'love affair' between Chief Information Officer's and Chief Marketing Officer's around the world. I think this is

I just finished reading Eric T. Peterson's post titled The Myth of the “Data-Driven” Business. I don't talk or write much about 'data'...mostly because

Everyone has an agenda. I"m not talking about a meeting agenda...I'm talking about the personal agenda that everyone has built their lives around. This

A few months ago, I wrote a post titled How project management made me a better trader/investor where i talk about my experience and skills learned from

The word 'professional' is quite often overused in today's world. There are tons of professionals out there. Professional sports players. Professional

I'm starting to see more people talk about the real need for change within  IT groups.  The big analyst/consulting companies (Forester, Garnter, etc) are

Most businesses are chasing. They're chasing their competitors. Chasing their industries. Chasing their perceptions of their future as well as chasing

I don't think there's anyone out there who would argue that the world of IT has become a complex one. The systems are complex. The processes are complex.

I heard a pretty good story recently.  It goes something like this: A new CIO joins the company. He's not completely new to the organization but he is new

I've been playing around with the idea of User Personas for use in technology selection projects.  I've used user personas while building various websites

"I own the technology, you own the content" Those eight words are shared every single day between an IT professional and a Marketing professional. Some

This post sponsored by the Enterprise CIO Forum and HP. Application Modernization....only two words...but two words that denote a big undertaking for most

I'm a big believer in the mindset that you've got to measure it to manage it. If you can't measure something, its very difficult to manage that

Neil Pearce just published a very nice piece titled "It is all about The Customer". Go read it. In the article, Neil argues that IT needs to focus on

After my last post on the topic of Reinventing IT, I decided to think about the different aspects of actually reinventing IT and what it might actually

Strategy...its a word that conjurs up a lot of images...some good and some bad. There are a lot of people writing and talking about strategy. There are

This is based on a true story...its long but worth it...I hope. As long as Little Johnny could remember, he wanted to be 'the boss'. He came from a long

We are quickly coming up to the end of 2010.  Most people are winding down for the holidays....perfect time to grab a few good books during the down time.

I had a conversation two weeks ago with a colleague who was taking over the social media, marketing and PR responsibilities for a small but growing

Over on InfoBOOM yesterday I wrote a post titled The Cloud and The Silo where I discussed one of the current challenge of CIO's and IT groups today - that

A few months ago I wrote a post titled Cognitive Dissonance & IT. From that post, you'll remember that cognitive dissonance is: an uncomfortable

Lately, I've been having a lot of knee pain.  For the last few months, its been constant and regular and seemed to get worse when I would spend a lot of

I've been reading Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath & Dan Heath (amazon affiliate link).   If you haven't read the

Ray Ozzie is leaving Microsoft. After it was announced that he was leaving, he published a memo on his blog. The memo, titled Dawn of  a New Day,  is an

As promised in earlier posts (here and here), its time to talk about the two main issues that cause problems between the CIO and the CMO. In CIO’s vs

If you don't know, my passion outside of technology, entrepreneurship and writing on this blog is photography.  I've recently been spending even more time

Passion. What type of emotion is evoked when you read it or hear that word? What do you think of when you think of passion? Do you think about your job?

I've said before that people are more important that process. I've said it in many different ways and in many different articles.  After every article, I

Last week I wrote a long article titled Building Tomorrow's Organization - without today's IT? The purpose of that article was to walk through a 'what if'

A few weeks ago I wrote about The diminishing role of IT and the CIO.  That post struck a nerve with quite a few readers so I wanted to expand on the

Did you know that technology selection is about much more than technology? Yep...its true.....but most people don't realize it. Many in the IT world love

In a previous article titled The Future of IT & the CIO - Redux of the DoDo I pointed to some survey results that should be alarming to most IT

I love peanut butter and jelly.  What a great idea to put those to food items together on a piece of bread. Have you ever thought about how much the

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post titled Open Source, The Enterprise and The Community where I wrote about embracing the community that exists within your

Rackspace has just announced their open source cloud platform, OpenStack in collaboration with NASA. While the open source world has been a viable area

In my doctoral research, I've been researching ways to improve knowledge capture and sharing methods, specifically within project teams but the ideas can

I've been sitting at my computer staring at the screen for a few minutes trying to come up with a topic for my weekly "New CIO" article.   While waiting