The Data Warehousing Institute and the Business Intelligence Network June 13 launched BI-BestPractices.com, a new partnership web site that serves as a collaborative, interactive community forum for the business intelligence/data warehousing industry.
BI-BestPractices.com provides relevant articles, case studies, podcasts, blogs and message boards, delivering the expertise of industry leaders and the collective experience of the BI/DW community from a vendor-neutral environment, a B-I Network spokesperson said.
Through BI-BestPractices.com, IT professionals and their business sponsors can share information about the issues they face on a daily basis, such as customer intelligence, dashboards and scorecards, data governance, enterprise BI/DW, government and non-profit issues, master data management, predictive analytics and other topics.
“We saw an opportunity for a unique way to serve the audience that both companies serve. Theres nobody out there focused specifically on enabling conversations about BI/best practices,” Shawn Rogers, co-founder and executive vice president of the Business Intelligence Network, told eWEEK from company headquarters in Boulder, Colo.
Might this be a sign that business is heating up in the BI/data-warehousing sector?
“Yeah, I think theres been a lot of flux and change in the marketplace,” Rogers said. “Teradatas about to be spun out by NCR later this year. Oracle purchased Hyperion, and SAP bought OutlookSoft. Theres a lot of consolidation, a lot of interesting things happening in the space right now.
“Professionals are just looking for the best way to get the job done. What were hoping to enable with the site is to give them resources … and access to industry experts, and most importantly, to have a platform for that conversation through things like blogs and discussion forums,” Rogers said.
Faced with the challenges and complexities of BI/DW implementations, people often do not know where to turn for practical advice and mentoring, said Richard Zbylut, general manager of The Data Warehousing Institute in Seattle.
“This partnership with the Business Intelligence Network will enable us to share best practices and provide a venue for peer-to-peer connection, thereby meeting our goal of advancing the best practices of BI/DW,” said Zbylut.
Information about courses for professional advancement also can be found at the web site. Additionally, DWIs Best Practices Awards winners solutions in developing, deploying and maintaining applications for business intelligence, data warehousing and related data management areas are featured, Zbylut said.
