ISG Software Research Analyst Perspectives | AI and Machine Learning (7)

The Arguments For, and Against, In-Database Machine Learning

Posted by Matt Aslett on 23 November 2022

Almost all organizations are investing in data science, or planning to, as they seek to encourage experimentation and exploration to identify new business challenges and opportunities as part of the drive toward creating a more data-driven culture. My colleague, David Menninger, has written about how organizations using artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) report gaining... Read More

Topics: Data Governance, Data Management, Data, data operations, analytic data platforms, Analytics and Data, AI and Machine Learning

Technology Puts the ‘A’ Back in FP&A

Posted by Robert Kugel on 22 November 2022

The starting point of an era is never precise and rarely conforms to neat calendar delineations. For example, the start of the 20th century is associated with the outbreak of war in 1914. So I expect that decades from now, the consensus will hold that what became known as the 21st century began in the year 2020, with the pandemic serving as a catalyst that accelerated already existing trends and... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Business Intelligence, Business Planning, Financial Performance Management, AI and Machine Learning

IBM Planning Analytics Enables Agility Based on Insight

Posted by Robert Kugel on 18 November 2022

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson is a comprehensive, cloud-based business planning application that supports what Ventana Research calls integrated business planning. We coined this term in 2007 to describe a high-participation approach to business planning that integrates strategy, operations and finance. Our Next Generation Business Planning Benchmark Research demonstrated the value of IBP:... Read More

Topics: Predictive Analytics, Office of Finance, embedded analytics, Business Intelligence, Business Planning, Financial Performance Management, Watson, Digital transformation, AI and Machine Learning

Databricks Lakehouse Platform Maximizes Analytical Value

Posted by Matt Aslett on 16 November 2022

I have previously written about growing interest in the data lakehouse as one of the design patterns for delivering hydroanalytics analysis of data in a data lake. Many organizations have invested in data lakes as a relatively inexpensive way of storing large volumes of data from multiple enterprise applications and workloads, especially semi- and unstructured data that is unsuitable for storing... Read More

Topics: Business Intelligence, Data Governance, Data Management, Data, Streaming Data Events, analytic data platforms, AI and Machine Learning

IBM’s Cloud Pak for Data Builds a Foundation for Data Fabric

Posted by Matt Aslett on 08 November 2022

I have written recently about the similarities and differences between data mesh and data fabric. The two are potentially complementary. Data mesh is an organizational and cultural approach to data ownership, access and governance. Data fabric is a technical approach to automating data management and data governance in a distributed architecture. There are various definitions of data fabric, but... Read More

Topics: Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Data Governance, Data Management, Data, data operations, AI and Machine Learning

Orchestrating Data Pipelines Facilitates Data-Driven Analytics

Posted by Matt Aslett on 25 October 2022

I have written a few times in recent months about vendors offering functionality that addresses data orchestration. This is a concept that has been growing in popularity in the past five years amid the rise of Data Operations (DataOps), which describes more agile approaches to data integration and data management. In a nutshell, data orchestration is the process of combining data from multiple... Read More

Topics: Data Management, Data, data operations, Analytics and Data, AI and Machine Learning

MLOps: A Disciplined Approach That Increases Organizational Agility

Posted by David Menninger on 20 October 2022

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are valuable to data and analytics activities. Our research shows that organizations using AI/ML report gaining competitive advantage, improving customer experiences, responding faster to opportunities and threats and improving the bottom line with increased sales and lower costs. No wonder nearly 9 in 10 (87%) research participants report using AI/ML... Read More

Topics: Analytics, AI and Machine Learning

Cloudera Embraces SaaS with Data Lakehouse Launch

Posted by Matt Aslett on 18 October 2022

Ventana Research’s Data Lakes Dynamics Insights research illustrates that while data lakes are fulfilling their promise of enabling organizations to economically store and process large volumes of raw data, data lake environments continue to evolve. Data lakes were initially based primarily on Apache Hadoop deployed on-premises but are now increasingly based on cloud object storage. Adopters are... Read More

Topics: Business Intelligence, Data Governance, Data Management, Data, data operations, Streaming Data Events, analytic data platforms, Analytics and Data, AI and Machine Learning

Celonis Improves Business Processes with Process Mining

Posted by David Menninger on 14 October 2022

As I recently pointed out, process mining has emerged as a pivotal technology for data-driven organizations to discover, monitor and improve processes through use of real-time event data, transactional data and log files. With recent advancements, process mining has become more efficient at discovering insights in complex processes using algorithms and visualizations. Organizations use it to... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Business Intelligence, Process Mining, Streaming Analytics, AI and Machine Learning

Aerospike Has a Data Platform for Real-Time Intelligent Applications

Posted by Matt Aslett on 06 October 2022

Earlier this year I described the growing use-cases for hybrid data processing. Although it is anticipated that the majority of database workloads will continue to be served by specialist data platforms targeting operational and analytic workloads respectively, there is increased demand for intelligent operational applications infused with the results of analytic processes, such as... Read More

Topics: Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Data, Streaming Data Events, analytic data platforms, AI and Machine Learning

Building a More Predictive Finance Department

Posted by Robert Kugel on 05 October 2022

A predictive finance department is one that can command technology to be more forward-looking and action-oriented while still fulfilling its core role of handling the financial elements of its organization including accounting, treasury and corporate finance. Beyond just automating rote tasks, technology also facilitates a shift toward becoming a predictive finance organization. Greater amounts... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Business Intelligence, Data Management, Business Planning, Financial Performance Management, ERP and Continuous Accounting, AI and Machine Learning

Process Mining improves Business Processes

Posted by David Menninger on 04 October 2022

Process mining is defined as the analysis of application telemetry including log files, transaction data and other instrumentation to understand and improve operational processes. Log data provides an abundance of information about what operations are occurring, the sequences involved in the processes, how long the processes are taking and whether or not the processes are completed successfully.... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Business Intelligence, Process Mining, AI and Machine Learning

Enhancing Data Catalog with AI

Posted by David Menninger on 22 September 2022

Organizations are collecting data from multiple data sources and a variety of systems to enrich their analytics and business intelligence (BI). But collecting data is only half of the equation. As the data grows, it becomes challenging to find the right data at the right time. Many organizations can’t take full advantage of their data lakes because they don’t know what data actually exists. Also,... Read More

Topics: Business Intelligence, Data Governance, Data Management, data operations, AI and Machine Learning

Kinaxis Extends Platform into Supply Chain Execution with MPO Acquisition

Posted by Robert Kugel on 21 September 2022

Kinaxis recently announced it has acquired a Netherlands-based company, MPO, a cloud-based software offering that orchestrates multiparty supply chain execution. The combination is designed to enable Kinaxis to extend its concurrent planning platform to handle core elements of supply chain execution. Kinaxis acquired all the shares of MPO for approximately US$45 million, with some of the final... Read More

Topics: Business Intelligence, Business Planning, Operations & Supply Chain, Enterprise Resource Planning, continuous supply chain, AI and Machine Learning

Initiatives using AI Improve Marketing and Sales Effectiveness

Posted by Stephen Hurrell on 20 September 2022

I have written about vendor efforts to use artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics in their applications targeted at sales and revenue teams to improve focus and prioritize activities, both for pipeline management as well as individual opportunities. Since then, vendors have continued to innovate, and there have been more releases showcasing efforts to aid sales and revenue. And with... Read More

Topics: AI and Machine Learning

Augmented Intelligence Reduces Dependency on AI/ML Skill Sets

Posted by David Menninger on 15 September 2022

Business intelligence has evolved. It now includes a spectrum of analytics, one of the most promising of which has been described as augmented intelligence. Some organizations have used the term to describe the practical reality that artificial intelligence with machine learning is not replacing human intelligence, but augmenting it. The term also represents the application of AI/ML to make... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Business Intelligence, natural language processing, Collaborative & Conversational Computing, Analytics and Data, AI and Machine Learning

External Data Supports a More Predictive Finance Department

Posted by Robert Kugel on 15 September 2022

Organizations do not live in a vacuum and things happening outside their walls have a direct impact on how they perform. So, it is essential for them to incorporate external data in their forecasting, planning and budgeting, especially for predictive analytics and machine learning (ML) to support artificial intelligence (AI). I use the term external data to include any information about the world... Read More

Topics: Office of Finance, Business Planning, Financial Performance Management, AI and Machine Learning

Zoho One Reaching Needs of Larger Organizations

Posted by Keith Dawson on 07 September 2022

Zoho presented analysts with a deep look at its strategy and roadmap at its July analyst conference, describing how it intends to meld its many business applications together through integration at the level of the platform. The company, which is privately owned and funded, has generally sought to build its own tools rather than buy or partner. This approach has allowed the firm to create a suite... Read More

Topics: Customer Experience, Voice of the Customer, Data, AI and Machine Learning

Palantir Operationalizes Analytics and Data for Actions and Decisions

Posted by David Menninger on 26 August 2022

Organizations are managing and analyzing large datasets every day, identifying patterns and generating insights to inform decisions. This can provide numerous benefits for an organization, such as improved operational efficiency, cost optimization, fraud detection, competitive advantage and enhanced business processes. By bringing the right, actionable data to the right user, organizations can... Read More

Topics: embedded analytics, Business Intelligence, Internet of Things, Streaming Analytics, AI and Machine Learning

Qlik Advances Self-Service Analytics and Business Intelligence

Posted by David Menninger on 11 August 2022

The analytics and business intelligence market landscape continues to grow as more organizations seek robust tools and capabilities to visualize and better understand data. BI systems are used to perform data analysis, identify market trends and opportunities and streamline business processes. They can collect and combine data from internal and external systems to present a holistic view. BI... Read More

Topics: Analytics, Business Intelligence, Data Governance, Data Management, Analytics and Data, AI and Machine Learning