The missing BI link

Consolidation in the BI space is picking up speed, similar to a snow ball rolling down a hill.  HP has jumped into the game and Oracle recently announced the acquisition of Hyperion Solutions.  I don't have an opinion on if this consolidation is good or bad, but I do think it was bound to happen.

What I find interesting is that there is a missing piece to what is going on in the BI industry.  No vendor seems to be focusing on how to efficiently gather and document the user requirements for BI systems.

What got me thinking about this topic is my work with BI Pathfinder and a recent article in InformationWeek, Query: What's Next In BI?  There are billions of dollars being spent on BI tools, but very little of that is being spent to better identify what is truly valuable to the decision makers in organizations.

I believe that the next wave in BI will be tools that allow the designers of BI systems to present decision makers with relevant and timely information that helps them assess status and find problems.

Good Reading

Check out two really good books from Jay Cross of internettime.com fame.

I was spending some time catching up on my reading tonight and realized I had not plugged a couple of really good books from Jay Cross at Internet Time.  The first book is Informal Learning and the second is Implementing E-Learning.  Check them out, I think you will find either of them incredibly valuable.

I first met Jay several years back at the S.F. Bay Area Knowledge Management Roundtable that I led.  Jay has some incredible insights into not only KM but e-learning.� You will want to read both of these books.  You can find links to Amazon in the Reading section of KM News.