Real Business Intelligence Insights: Analysts Insights and Roundtable Discussions on the Future of BI, Data and Analytics

Dresner Advisory Services has been providing world-class Business Intelligence (BI), Data, and Analytics research since our founding more than 14 years ago. Besides our flagship Dresner Advisory Services Wisdom of Crowds Business Intelligence Market Study Report we provide deep analyst insights in our Research Insights report into a variety of solutions and industry views.?Like our Market Study Reports, these benefit from the nearly 300 years of our world-class team of analysts. Having authored both Market Study and Research Insight reports for Dresner Advisory Services myself, I can appreciate first-hand the rigor and quality insights that go into these by the analyst team.?Both provide incredible insights for the “Data Leaders” that are the focus of our fifth annual Real Business Intelligence Conference coming up September 21st and 22nd 2021.??As an on-line BI, data, and analytics event we will feature an outstanding faculty of thought leader speakers.?

Five Outstanding Concurrent Roundtable Sessions Led by an Outstanding Team of Dresner Advisory Services Analysts

Howard Dresner and the analyst team at Dresner Advisory Services will be leading interactive roundtable discussions with attendees on five cutting-edge, timely and relevant topics.?There will be five concurrent round table sessions each day, and sessions will include analysts, alumni, speakers, and sponsors as panelists.?I recently sat down with the team of Dresner Advisory Services Analysts to discuss what they are planning for these interactive roundtable discussions.

Q: Howard Dresner, your team at Dresner Advisory Services has literally centuries of cumulative experience with BI solutions. What will your team focus upon in the roundtable session “Building/Perfecting the Analytics Organization”? Any key best practices to offer “Data Leaders” who will attend this roundtable session?

A:?The Covid19 pandemic has accelerated the pace of digital business in a way that brings data and analytics competency to the forefront of business strategy. Most enterprises are challenged on how to use their data assets and analytical decision-making processes more effectively.?This panel will focus on how “Data Leaders” can develop a vision, narrative and operational plan for their organization that will position them for success.?The responsibilities of an analytics organization are broadly encompassing to include driving data quality initiatives; building a data science competency without busting the budget; and creating a data and analytics program that enables value within the business culture.

Our analyst team will be joined by?Joshua Merrill,?Manager Data Delivery & Analytics, Boston Children’s Hospital who is tackling the issue of how to meet enterprise growth and risk management objectives with a new data and analytics program. Joining us on the panel will also be?Chandrashekar LSP, Senior Evangelist at?Zoho and Wayne Slater,?Director of Product Marketing at Prophix, to provide the technology and solution provider perspective on how they align their offerings to data and analytics organizations needs and objectives.

Q: Jim Ericson, as VP and Research Director, you have experience conducting roundtables at previous Real Business Conferences, both in-person and on-line.?What do you plan to cover in your roundtable session on “Data Leadership”?

A: The urgency surrounding organizational data competency has accelerated C-level appointments of Chief Data and Chief analytics officers, albeit at a slower pace than we might expect. There are good reasons for this slow adoption: many or most organizations simply aren't prepared for an enterprise approach to data competency, face fragmented data resources or are too busy "putting out fires" to make use of a CDO or CAO. Before they appoint a CDO and claim "digital transformation," organizations need to examine their own organizational characteristics and then define the portfolio, responsibilities, reports and goals of the role. These duties can be many and varied according to data assets and proficiency, might manage up, down or both, and focus on outcomes related to operational, competitive or revenue goals.

I am looking forward to discussing this landscape with Charles Boicey, Chief Innovation Officer at Clearsense LLC, Kevin “Doc” Elder, Data Fluency Program Lead for JLL, Kevin Ruppel, Director, Enterprise Solution Engineering at SiSense and?Jace Mclean, Director, Data Insights at Domo.

Q: Brian Wood and Brian Lett – as Research Directors for Dresner Advisory Services, you have both contributed extensively to both BI market studies and research insights deliverables. What can we expect from your “Data Governance” roundtable? What will Gwen Pechan CIO at Flagler College and Robin Chhetri Chief Technology Officer at AIDC , and Bhupesh Malhotra, Product Manager, Grape City contribute to the discussion?

A: Across user surveys, and in our discussions with clients and vendors, this topic continues to show high levels of interest, need, importance, and investment. Data governance has many different but related dimensions. For example, in addition to any supporting technology and systems, data governance needs to consider key factors such as business goals and needs, organizational structures, culture, business processes, and constraints and requirements (such as compliance). And data-governance considerations will vary greatly across organizations, depending on factors such as industry, department, user role, and organizational function, size, and maturity.

With that context, we expect a fast-paced and varied discussion that will touch on these elements and others, and we’re expecting to take a lot of questions from attendees. Our panelists varied backgrounds and extensive experiences will provide interesting and varied perspectives into key considerations for data governance, as well as lessons learned from working on these programs firsthand.

Q: Bill Hostmann, as Research Fellow, and a longtime Dresner Advisory Services analyst, you detailed how thought leadership will be key in “BI Insights: Dresner Advisory Services Thought Leadership at the 2021 Real Business Intelligence Conference”. How will your roundtable session “Data Visualization” featuring Jonathan Sharr, Data Analytics Manager at Dorel Juvenil, and Robin Chhetri Chief Technology Officer at AIDC, showcase using data more effectively to present and predict overall results, as well as tell stories using BI, data, and analytics?

A: We certainly have a significant amount of great content for this important topic, which ranks highly in our annual BI Market Study “The Wisdom of Crowds”.?I am really excited about Dr. Stephanie Evergreen’s workshop “Presenting Data Effectively”. ??I already know that Jonathan will contribute his insights, as I remember him discussing Ed Tufte’s favorite example of data visualization in a roundtable at last year’s conference, the famous “Napoleon’s March to Moscow and Retreat”.?Robin will bring a great perspective as a CTO, as IT are important allies in working with functional areas to simplify and make reporting as impactful as possible with data visualization.?Of course, all of this is key to data storytelling, literally using visuals including graphics and dashboards to tell “the story behind the numbers” and provide an impactful, executive-level view. Very excited to be joined by Bhupesh Malhotra, Product Manager, Grape City, and we will have the solutions/vendor perspective to round out our exciting and interactive roundtable. ?

Q: Elizabeth Espinoza and Lyndsay Wise, as Research Directors with extensive experience on both the vendor and client side of BI, what are the key themes you expect to cover in your roundtable session “Women in Data”? What will Kelly Crevier, Business Intelligence Manager, First Bank and Trust,?Tammy Powlas, Senior Business Analyst at Fairfax Water, contribute to the discussion you expect to have?

This year our roundtable session “Women in Data” will focus on data leadership and creating mentorship opportunities. Both Tammy and Kelly work as BI practitioners with senior roles. And Terry is an IT Director, giving all three leadership experience within technology departments. We look forward to hearing about their experiences and how their educations, opportunities, and experiences have been driven by support received as well as how they help mentor other women in STEM.

We want to align with this year’s “data leader” focus, specifically with how we can encourage more women to take data leadership roles.?We will discuss how current leaders are working with and mentoring others to help younger women step into data leadership roles

Bonus: hear from a Leading BI Expert and Thought Leader: What Makes a “Data Leader”?

Jim Ericson, VP and Research Director?Dresner Advisory Services, LLC?Advisory Services, is a recognized expert in Business Intelligence, Data Governance, Cloud, and Business Intelligence Competency Centers.?He defined three defining qualities of data leadership in his recent blog “What Makes a “Data Leader”, as well as?what you can expect to see at the Real Business Intelligence 2021 Conference. ?

Visit the Real Business Intelligence 2021 Web site for the latest information on sessions, speakers, and sponsors. Check out the conference faculty page for more information on the extraordinary roster of external and Dresner Advisory analyst speakers. As a socially responsible organization, ticket sales help benefit charity.?

Fred Isbell is a Research Director at Dresner Advisory Services, a high technology industry marketing veteran and former Senior Marketing Director for a large global ERP solutions and services company.

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