Turning Data into Actionable Insight
581994
I've known Bruce for years and I've always appreciated how he takes complex and seemingly intractable subjects and unpacks them into interesting and actionable insights.  This book is certainly representative of his unique talent.  I highly recommend it - not just for the IT and Data folks out there - but for any business leader seeking sources of profitable growth, looking for sustainable competitive advantages and willing to transform their business through data.  - Dave Sutton
3975536
As a non-scientist who is greatly interested in the power of data, I found Eric's book a surprisingly easy read. He takes a deeply complex topic, and through excellent storytelling, helps the reader understand the value of the science of predictive analytics.

My professional focus is on how data can be used to benefit marketers. Through Eric's stories, we come to understand that we have a vast treasure trove of data available to us that can make marketers better, and make the companies they represent, more money.

If you aren't a data geek, don't worry. Eric is simply here to tell you that you need one to increase your chances of success.
1015700
As a consultant working with companies forging the next wave of information driven businesses, this book offered me truly relevant insights, and strategies on 'how to' as well as 'how not to' make the most of my clients' business opportunities. It focuses on "information-driven" industries, covering not only computer-related companies but also any industry that seeks to leverage information.  Cases such as those on H.P. and the VOIP  space offered fresh frameworks for thinking about the challenges and opportunties available for companies in similar business lines.  It details how various forces act on and shape these different industries, what managers can do to try to understand these forces and therfore, how to optimize their environments instead of reacting to the actions of others.  Do not be daunted by the 'textbook' like structure of the book. The information provided is invaluable and the cases are easily read and enjoyable.
141758
Coming from a professional data analyzer point of view, listening to data is important especially in the today competitive market. You do not only want to know your customer want and need but also other valuable information as it would allow you to better understand your customer and deliver.
With such valuable information, it had empowered Amazon and their backend team to deliver ads on the website which rocket up Amazon group revenues and profits.
Overall this is a book that reads well and provides readers new knowledge of business, leadership, people in evert chapter. A wonderful entertaining read
4052830
DW 2.0 The Architecture for the Next Generation of Data Warehousing, written by W.H Inmon, Derek Strauss and Genia Neushloss, is a excellent book that  provides the details to support DW2.0 as the next generation of architecture for the data warehousing environment.

DW2.0 effectively:

- provides information specifically needed to make sound decisions regarding hiring, technology investments and the disposition of legacy systems
- explains the integration of unstructured data in DW 2.0 environment
thoroughly examines unstructured data, business metadata, statistical and exploration processing, security, granularity and performance
- identifies issues with first data warehouse architecture and provides a road map for migration from 1.0 to 2.0 architecture
- explains the importance of deriving maximum value from all corporate data utilizing the 2.0 architecture; allowing the business to be most effective with the use of their data

Key strengths of DW2 are spelled out in chapters outlining the life cycle of data within the 4 sectors, metadata, technology infrastructure and methodology approach to support ever changing business requirements.

Concepts are presented in a way that will assist businesses in becoming very efficient and cost effective with their data. The figures pictured throughout the book provide an excellent demonstration to the concepts being described.  The literature is extremely informative and provides needed details with straightforward approach which allows for ease of understanding.

I am always impressed with Mr Inmons understanding and breadth of vast industry needs and his passion and foresight to formulate the foundation needed to take companies to the next level!

This is an excellent book and I will recommend this book to my technical, business and management colleagues.
65467
Ever wondered why is it so difficult to put rich data into the relational model, or why so much of database logic keeps being badly manipulated by application programs instead of by DBMS?  Ever felt SQL was too verbose, or complex, or illogical, and simply arbitrarily limited?  Mr Pascal helps us organise our grips against current DBMSs and hope for a better future.
This book analyses common database problems every professional with more than a few months in the field has already faced, and relentlessly trace them to failures in SQL implementations or in the SQL language itself.  A real mind-opener in the current state of the field, where from press to shop everything is dominated by vendors but few true critics survive.
1427815
I really enjoyed reading this book. The author provides a perspective that allowed me to look at my business through a new lens and explore what the IoT revolution can mean. My company does data management for clinical research, and there is the obvious fitness tracker being incorporated in the research paradigm. John Rossman, through many examples, provides a way to broaden thinking about how the new way of Iot can be applied. We have generated a bunch of ideas, many of which are pretty crazy, but some will be gaming changing for us.
3646731
Authored by Economist writer Kenneth Cukier and Oxford Professor Viktor Mayer-Schonberger, Big Data is a new book that explores what the big fuss about the business buzzword "big data". Written to a general audience, the authors do an excellent job highlighting the fundamental changes that big data has made on society, law, and the very question of human nature. Most people think that big data is some technical idea best relegated to "data nerds and geeks". But doing so would be a huge mistake to an informed citizen...or the typical business school student. Big data's importance on humanity, particularly business people, cannot be understated as demonstrated by the authors. Let us count the ways.

First, according to the authors, big data changes the way we use statistics. Before big data, humanity was confined by taking only a sample of a population to conduct statistical analysis. But with today's technologies of storing and computing vast amounts of data, we don't have to limit ourselves to a sample. We can, as the authors note, do analysis on the population (i.e. N = all). And this ability allows us to solve problems at the granular level, which we couldn't do before. Being exact is no longer the goal. More data, though messy, gives us a general direction of what is happening...and for businesses, that's good enough.

Second, big data, for all its practical uses, shifts the goal of marketing from causality to correlation. In other words, the what matters more than the the why. Regression analysis is a classic and powerful tool taught in business schools, yet the goal is still to find out why customers like or do X. With big data, regression analysis is more robust because it contains the whole population not just a sample. And the insights couched in correlations are gold for decision-making.

Finally, the authors show the dark side of big data--a warning that business executives should heed. Since big data's power comes not just in divining insights that drive action but also in predicting behavior, a new set of rules governing the use of data by private businesses is needed. In particular, to prevent fraud or abuse of data, the authors recommend that the burden of privacy be shifted from users (consent forms) to holders of data (businesses). The power of big data is in its secondary uses (Google makes free email not only to help people but to track them and advertise to them) and only businesses are in the best position to know how to use data to its fullest potential. Therefore, businesses need to set limits on what can and can't be done with data...and governments must hold such companies accountable for data abuse.

More can be written about the many big ideas about big data in this provocative and thoughtfully-written book. But I must stop. The rich examples and stories of how big data has already and will continue to revolutionize how we live, work, and think are well worth your time to read this book. For the business school student, one important career advice from the book is notable, namely that big data gives us a hint of what are expected of future managers and what to study now--mathematics and statistics with a dash of programming.
3206754
Computer scientists at Siemens have developed an intriguing and very useful approach for describing the architecture of software systems. This book, written at a high level of quality, details a wide variety of factors that project managers and architects must consider during the course of planning, designing, and implementing small-, medium-, and large-scale projects. Backed by data from real-world examples, the authors present their ideas in a very understandable form and give software engineers many good ideas for improving the quality of their products.
1710916
I read this book in preparation for several invited talks I gave about the intersection of Big Data, visualization and analytics.  This is an excellent, largely non-technical view of this exploding area.  In particular I like how it addresses the integration of analytical expertise to business.  An easy read that can be read in parts to address your company needs.  That advice can be used whether your data is 'big' or not.  The types of data sources and how they can be combined are also well covered.

Also useful was the authors description and advice on constructing analytics teams and an 'analytics innovation center' and how resources can be used to staff and empower this idea. Discussed is the need to understand and promote an analytics culture that will promote the resulting improvement.  Good thoughts there .... we implemented aspects of this in our company, where the centers were set up to address particular kinds of data for specific functional parts of our enterprise.  That was done because the ready access to key data sources and subject matter expertise was important to making the idea work

This book is a great introduction to the subject.  Managers should read it.  All technology areas like this exist on quickly shifting ground ... but this is a case where the analytics part is not shifting as quickly, and can often be used in a plug-and-play way to address business process improvement.  So this book will be useful for a long time to come, when integrated with other online and vendor resources that keep you up to date.  Also many and varied industry examples.  Pick one that is closest to your industry and explore it in detail.  I used a number of points from this book in my talk, and the ensuing conversations led to several next steps.  Excellent book for an introduction to this space.
2403106
The theme here is that access to multitudes of data simply is not enough.  Using intelligence systems, renewed mindset and culture change all contribute to an evolved decision making paradigm to level-up.  These changes contribute to a data-driven workforce who find deeper insights while avoiding the most common data fallacies plaguing progress. As someone who consults and as thought leader in decision making with data for over 15 years in energy, finance and marketing technology, "Winning with Data" delivers the best framework for any business or firm still searching for success leveraging their data assets.

I've followed Tomasz's blog for several months and have included those insights into analysis we help to support some of our clients.  The book will now be required reading for our prospects, whom we will ask to read before considering to engage with us.
4839423
Performance is something that's easy to talk about but difficult to do. You could say that every app could in some way perform better, but how do you really think about where to make investments? Too often, developers take an ad hoc approach, not really clear on what they're trying to accomplish. This can waste a lot of resources in areas that won't have real impact on the customer experience. In this book Brian brings years of real-world insight to the question of finding what matters, clearly defining your performance goals, and then going through the process to measure the app's present reality, making changes, and evaluating progress. And like another reviewer has said, performance information--even just what tools are available--is scattered around, and having one place to bring it all together is super-valuable.
3734215
First of all, full disclosure, I worked with Steve at a Palo Alto design consultancy in the 90s where I was a principal and it was his first job. At that time, customer research was an emerging discipline in design to discover unmet needs and drive the design process and we were all in learning as you go mode. Steves educational background was interface design but his analytical mind and natural ability led him into research.

Since then we have both moved on, but over the years I have followed him online and watched him blossom and become a thought leader in customer research. More recently, when I was a Senior Director at Plantronics, I brought him in to help us better understand our customer base for a new and risky product category. His insights were just what we needed to break the decision logjam and move forward.

I think this book is instructive, not so much as a do-it-yourself tool, but more for product teams to better understand what it takes to conduct research and analyze the inherent messiness of data. It requires creativity, people skills, and seasoned experience to chase down customer statements and uncover their hidden meanings into actionable insights.
2049090
Fantastic data-driven view into People Ops. Recognizes the need that data is the problem and also the solution. Once you have a system in place one must continuously query their staff and use that input to make the org better.
2662795
A great book that helps you understand the digital transformation, filled with great knowledge and insight. I really enjoyed reading it.
4821509
This is a great book for understanding data.  So often folks tout "Big Data" and the wonders of it, but they are unable to really quantify the value of the data.  I personally work with large sets of data and work in reporting.  I thought this book was a good way to bridge the gap between folks that actually work with the data and those who are key holders in the value of the data.

I found this book to be really good to help discuss this in a way, this book I think has a great audience with those who are vested in big data, managing big data or selling the benefits of big data.
23034
That the majority of larger system development projects fail to meet expectations is well known.  Further, the futility of redoubling efforts to elicit customer requirements is now being recognized.  What to do?

The more advanced system thinkers and a few simply lucky practitioners are discovering the value of capabiltiy cases as enablers of solution envisioning.

This book describes 36 aspects of system envisioning, including insights into the mysterious decision flow called system architecting.  It provides a repertoire of 15 example Capability Cases.  Further, it shows the reader how capability cases can be defined, thusly bootstrapping his/her repertoire.  Moreover, it shows how new capability cases can be shared and vetted thus leveraging the 'wisdom of crowds.'

Invest in this book.  Because it costs less than one wasted personhour of project effort your ROI can be very high.