Shankar RamaNathan

What is searchandizing? Obviously search in the context of merchandising. Retailers have taken this technique to a different level. Constant price pressures and competition from online retailing has spurred the innovation in this area both in terms of tools, approach and overall strategy. In the early dot com days several online retailers have built custom […]

One of the major challenges of Big Data initiatives is the Value Creation. What is the business value of the data in question and how to leverage it to successful business strategies. There are various factors influencing the successful value creation.

Many companies have invested millions in building a successful BI / EDW and are investing in advanced analytics for the future. But the mystery remains about the data quality. Though glaring DQ issues might be contained through constant backend data corrections or through exception handling, many organizations still faces the challenge of poor data quality. The reason Data […]

Digital Transformation has been happening for a while, what is different now compared to earlier years of digital transformation, is the factors which determine the Transformation. Who is changing the game ? the speed and the volume of information available etc. The change is fast because it is just not only the companies who changes the customer engagement […]

In my earlier blog, Salesforce and Predictive Analytics, I was making a point why Salesforce has taken a keen interest in predictive analytics software.  Salesforce has turned the market inside out by taking the complexities of IT and infrastructure delays, and not to mention out-of-the-box implementation features, easy enough for small companies to implement with minimal budget and external help. […]

Salesforce is a boon for companies which can’t take a number and wait for IT to prioritize the implementation. However if adequate data architecture planning is not done, it can end up as a siloed application with Data Quality issues. Many companies don’t have the time to engage the Enterprise team for CRM implementation besides […]

You might have seen the news that Salesforce and Microsoft invested in the predictive analytics (Insidesales.com) company to the tune of $65M. Salesforce is the leader of cloud / SaaS platform in the world, why are they investing in predictive analytics? Barring any obvious financial reasons, it is very clear that ERP serves the purpose of […]

As new companies embark on the Digital Transformation leveraging Big Data, key concerns and challenges get amplified especially for the near term before the technology and talent pool supply adjusts to the demand. Looking at the  earlier post Big Data Challenges, the top 3 concerns were: Identifying the Business value/Monetizing the Big Data Setting up the […]

As companies start adapting to handle Big Data, the challenges still remains. Barring the obvious applications, the challenges of getting the value out of the new-found data continues to be on the top of the list. ROI’s and potential revenues are yet to be realized. As the technology and the usage becomes more sophisticated we will […]

Managing data has been a challenge irrespective of the size of the company. Last couple of decades most of the companies invested in leveraging the Enterprise Data through variety of initiatives like Enterprise Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence. If we divide the enterprise information usage in the last 2 decades, primarily they fall into the […]

  Everyone wants a piece of Big Data action whether you are part of Product Company, Solution provider, IT, or Business user. Like every new technology, Big Data is confusing, complex and intimidating. Though the idea is intriguing, the confusion begins when the techies start taking sides and tout the underlying tools rather than solution. […]

The year 2014 just ended. 2015 is already looking like another year of data intensive initiatives.  Looking at the initiatives and investments happened in 2014, Big Data will continue to be on the top, and so does the cloud. Enterprise Data investment continues to grow as the laggards in technology are warming up to the Information […]