Data volume and variety

At a meeting with one of our main clients’ referral the topic of data security shifted to the amounts of data at their disposal, therefore being very agile when it comes to obtaining reports, statistics and such. One of the main decision makers was pointing to the fact that they had close to 100 GB of data “perfectly safe” thanks to the systems and technologies acquired as of recent.

At one point during the discussion I asked what tools they were using for validating the wholeness of such data, making sure there were no duplicates, which interfaces they used to match diverse types of data and their respective packages to talk to each other, how they obtained updated statistics from such data, and a few other questions.
I started projecting the following:

“What if your data were not as c mpl te as y u t ink it is?”
“How do you make sure some of it do you make sure some of it is not duplicates is not duplicates?”
And so on…

Turns out the diverse types of data they posses are not standardized and most programs used have no way to communicate to each other. So, some information stored in database A is duplicated in database B; while some of such data is duplicated inside the same database. There is no policy or tool that guarantees the data is retrievable from backup and even from its original repository. And there is not Business Intelligence package or procedure to gather information from all these places to have instant reports on the financial health of the business or any other operation or department.

In other words, this is another instance of what we refer to as data rich, insight poor.

It was obvious that the IRR on all these expenses (not investments in this case) was of a negative value, an infinite amount, but in terms of time.

The main issue?
Business-type decision makers pointing to the IT-type ones as “not getting it.”
IT-type decision makers pointing to the Business-type ones as “not learning it.”

What is the catalyst for Marrying IT with Biz?
Training.

The least we can do is sit down the biz people for a day listening to IT: not about the technology insights or anything in terms of Terabytes, Gigahertz or Operating Systems; but rather on the reasons why a particular technology is better than the “inexpensive” or “popular” or “affordable” ones; and how those integrate –or not- with the rest of the existing applications.

And then sit down the IT people for a day listening to Biz: not about the budget projections or anything in terms of Marketing, Cost Containment or JIT Inventory; but rather on the reasons why a particular process is better than the “easy” or “accepted” or “cool” ones; and how those incorporate –or not- with the rest of the existing departments.

Once IT gets it and Biz learns it, all that data in your possession will be better able to provide information; its sole reason to exist.

Ready for the meeting?

Train people only when needed

It went like this:
- Sorry, I’m late for the meeting. There were a lot of cars on the streets today.
- Wait, do you drive here?
- Yes, of course. It takes me only 45 minutes most of the times
- You don’t live in 1234 Grand Avenue anymore?
- I still live there. Why?
- Well, have you thought about taking public transportation instead? When I lived close to your home I preferred that, it was a consistent 20 minutes commute, and way cheaper than driving and parking
- I do not know the public transportation system, but do know that schedules change a couple of times a year, so I prefer to drive
- Well… you can learn it pretty quickly and save time and money
- Look, if my car breaks or there is a definitely good reason to study such mode of transportation I will learn it and use it
- Saving time and money is not a good reason?
- I’m comfortable driving my car, alright? If a new law or the company requests I use any other means of transportation then I’ll research it; that time has not come yet, right? By now I’m fine this way
- Well… let’s focus on business then…

And so it is with our computer systems. Some people have shortcuts on their Desktop to get to what they need to open to be able to work. If the shortcuts disappear for any reason they do not know how to get from point A to point B anymore. Some others have a step-by-step document they follow on those tasks that are not a daily routine and forget easily. So, a device, and address or a name changes and the instructions or shortcuts have to be recreated for those users.

Training anyone? When I touch on the subject to decision makers -incredibly- most of them speculate that those employees that get the training will go to the competition. Others do not see the business value of having more IT-literate staff because; well… they already count on those instructions and shortcuts on their Desktops.

I do not know how much productivity is lost by people doing things the way they are used to, instead of knowing and applying different methods to get to their destination. However, I’m sure businesses would save lots of money (and most importantly, time) if personnel simply knew other ways to do such tasks. No need most of the times to pursue certifications or diplomas or titles; a very basic and/or introductory course can take care of most company’s wants.

Any way I see it, I prefer the 20 Vs. 45 minutes ride.

We could argue that “…that time has not come yet…” or anything similar. I might be totally wrong under your company parameters, but independently of field and size, somehow I strongly believe that time is here now.


What's worse than training your workers and losing them? Not training them and keeping them.
-Zig Ziglar

Where are all the trainers?

In our ever-busy IT field, we can barely keep up with demand for maintenance, new projects, new systems and all. We have been getting comfortable lately with very basically implementing whatever it is we need to do in order to continue with the next set of tasks.

We leave the users and/or clients feeling that they have a new shining car, and although the doors are open, they do not know where the keys are.

Where are all the trainers? There must be an incredible amount of demand for so many and varied new packages and ways of utilizing new technologies. Yet we keep being asked again and again about things we thought users would know or find out pretty easily.
I'm also sure we IT departments or consultants could set training sessions for such topics, however there must be people better prepared for such tasks.

And yet, some of my colleagues keep complaining about the lack of work. There is no such thing; there are still so many holes to be filled: training is just one example of myriad areas that still need to be covered.

I'm also sure this does not apply exclusively to the IT field.

So, are you looking for work? Time to start working then.