How Retail Data Management is More Difficult than Just Remembering Your Shopping List?

May 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Visiting the neighborhood supermarket on weekends to shop for groceries has become a weekly occurrence for most working people. We all know buying food everyone in the family likes can be a difficult task. I normally have a lot to purchase during these visits because my wife and I have different kinds of breakfast. I am a person who loves the full English breakfast while my wife prefers the delicacies of Indian cuisine.

The Grocery List

Listing our shopping items is a simple process carried out easily in our minds and through conversations. However, for companies that produce the items we buy at the supermarket, maintaining product catalogs is more complex and difficult. Each product is made up of ingredients vital to the nutritional value, flavor, and aroma of the product. For my frosted flakes with honey and almonds to taste perfect and be marketed with the right labels, companies use a data management system to ensure that the right ingredients go into the right products at the right time. Consolidation of information about core products and optimizing product information workflows, increases operational efficiency by providing people and systems in the company with a single source of accurate and consistent product information. [Read more...]

Filed Under: MDM Tagged With: , , , ,

Last Man Standing

October 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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For many years, the MDM market  has been segmented across data domains: 

  • Want to synchronize the product information on your Web site’s online store, back-end accounting systems and supply chain? Implement a product-specific MDM solution.
  • Want a single view of the customer across all of your systems? Implement a customer-specific MDM solution.

This model inevitably led to higher costs for customers and more data silos.

Most recently, TIBCO has been doing lots of work with retailers who want to convert passive customers to passionate “fans” by building powerful loyalty solutions. In order to make these loyalty programs operate in real time (when a customer is in the store or on your Web site), a single-domain MDM solution would not be sufficient.  How can a retailer build a loyalty solution with just customer data or just product data? They need a multi-domain MDM solution to make it all work together.

Our team here at TIBCO believes in the multi-domain MDM model – a platform model that enables our customers to leverage MDM skills and technology across whatever data domain they need.

For a while, there were other contrarians standing with us and together we offered customers the most value. Well, today it is clear that TIBCO stands alone as the only multi-domain MDM player. [Read more...]

Filed Under: MDM, Two-Second Advantage Tagged With: , , ,

Closing the Big Data Loop

October 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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It has been two weeks since TUCON 2012, the TIBCO user conference held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada. TIBCO is well-known as an integration company but used the event to demonstrate its broad platform approach to the biggest challenges of today, like digital customer experience, loyalty, and the topic of this article, Big Data.

The TIBCO CTO, Matt Quinn spoke about the patterns hiding within the rapidly increasing amounts of data flowing across the enterprise. Quinn made an important distinction between data at rest, information sitting in databases or flat files waiting to be queried, and data in motion, which includes streaming data and data stored in-memory (also known as cache).

Quinn made the point that it takes analytics like those offered within TIBCO’s Spotfire product to be able to see what would be invisible to people trying to keep up with the increasing deluge of information. To Quinn, the smart enterprise finds patterns in historical and machine data (log files that up until recently weren’t mined for patterns) that provide insight that can be applied to data that’s coming at today’s “full speed.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: BPM, CEP, Cloud, Complex Event Processing (CEP), Event Processing, MDM, SOA, Social, Spotfire Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Personal. Connected. Social.

October 11, 2012 by 1 Comment
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A recent blog talked about Generation C, also known as our time’s Digital Natives. These are the folks who wouldn’t think twice about trying out a new social platform or using a mobile device as their first choice when deciding where to go, what to buy, and what’s happening in their world.

They are the leading edge of the next great technology wave, the move to a digital customer experience that is personal, connected and social. Sports fans were already social long before now, as tailgate parties, fantasy leagues and sports bars attest. That’s why a digitally native sports fan is the leading edge of the leading edge… a great place to showcase the future.

The app

At TUCON 2012, the Main Stage gave us that showcase. Presenters included Rick Welts, President and COO of the Golden State Warriors. Rick is a passionate basketball fan and was ahead of most of the NBA in moving forward with creation of a mobile app to connect fans with the team.

Rick worked with Vivek Ranadivé, part owner of the Warriors and CEO of TIBCO, to develop the Golden State Warriors app, chosen by TechNow! as the App of the Week a few months ago.

The app provides fans with news, stats, video and offers that are unique to using their mobile device. Even more clever, it embeds the tibbr social platform that allows posting and taking feeds from Facebook and Twitter, as well as connection to the Fan Zone, the Warriors loyalty program.

It becomes very easy to see what comes next as apps like this can be used to provide arena information, take feedback on services, suggestions for improved experiences, buying concessions courtside and a host of other capabilities that allow the fan and the team to become more connected. The road forward is pretty clear.

Beyond the NBA

While basketball may be the easiest place to find fans, this highlights a trend that will continue across other industries as enterprises wake up to the potential that social, mobile and loyalty bring in combination. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Loyalty, MDM, Social

Using Real-Time Data to Predict the Future: TIBCO Helps Rent-A-Center Put Customers First

August 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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A famous quote from Peter Drucker says, “Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.” I learned this during my MBA days, and it seems to have relevance at a more granular level these days. In the present age of shorter selling opportunities and changing expectations of a customer, the customer must receive value from every single purchase. Questions that businesses need to ask are: Is it possible that these customers wanted other product(s), which could have provided greater value to them? Was there any insight into the customer’s wants and expectations before selling? The answers lie in the revealing truth that companies forget to uncover the voice of the customer and create a value in context. Today, Peter Drucker’s quality theory needs to be applied to all transactions you do with the quality product or service you’ve built.

Businesses have to shift from after-the-fact marketing analysis to real-time analysis at the point of sale and be able to predict the next purchase from a customer. Businesses need to adopt “intelligent selling” by aggregating real-time data from various touch points of customer interaction and combine the new data with historical information on customer [Read more...]

Filed Under: Automation, MDM, Transform Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fastest Cars in the World Rely on Pirelli Tires

July 18, 2012 by 1 Comment
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A Pirelli-supported team smashed the outright circuit lap record at the Australian GT Championship at Winton. “We’re very happy with the pace of the Pirelli,” Maranello Motorsport engineer Pat Cahill commented post-event. “Jonny Reid hadn’t driven on the Pirelli before, and he was impressed with the pace and consistency of the tire.”

Let’s take it to the highest level: FORMULA ONE racing have the fastest on Earth – cars with speeds up to 220 mph with frequent hairpin turns, often on slick tracks. Milan-based Pirelli – exclusive tire supplier to FORMULA ONE racing through 2013 – uses TIBCO technology to circulate essential, real-time race data to FORMULA ONE Management (FOM) and FORMULA ONE teams.

Pirelli Decides to Speed Things Up With TIBCO Technology

With TIBCO, Pirelli became faster and more accurate in collecting, sorting, analyzing, and reporting key performance indicators (KPIs). Data processes that once consumed 90 days, now through integration, take just 30 minutes to generate the latest KPIs on business units and individual products. With these real-time indicators now readily available enterprise-wide, decision makers not only see Pirelli more clearly – they manage it more skillfully.

Pirelli’s reliance on TIBCO’s real-time data backbone doesn’t stop at the FORMULA ONE circuit; it extends to the marketplace, where competitive pressures are equally intense.  In the case of Pirelli, “21st-century efficiencies” mean integrating a global network of some 10,000 distributors and retailers. Every time Pirelli integrates a distributor into the system, the company boosts profitable growth.

TIBCO integration made Pirelli more profitable by balancing inventories to ensure that each time a customer enters a store, the right tires are in stock – no more, no less.  With TIBCO-powered integration, Pirelli gathers optimized results on the race track, generates new profit, and optimizes work processes and information flow to reduce total costs of ownership for its distributors.

“We capture practice sessions, qualifying sessions, top speeds, lap times, intermediates, flags, accidents, and the position of each car on the track and in the pit lane. The engineer of each team uses this real-time data to better understand the car, the track, and how to optimize performance. It’s an advantage enabled by Pirelli’s TIBCO integration.” 

– Fabrizio Orioli, Pirelli’s Integration Service Manager

Read the full story here.

Filed Under: Automation, CEP, Event Processing, Integration, MDM, Transform Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Zipcar Shifts into High Gear Using BI Tools

May 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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Today, Business Intelligence (BI) tools mean much more than sifting through volumes of historical data to create reports for future planning and decision making. Businesses are moving away from after-the-fact analysis to real-time analysis of data in motion generated in the daily operations of a business. This transformation necessitates BI tools to be nimble and user friendly so that end users responsible for decision making have easy access to data and, more importantly, understanding. Data visualization designed to enable the non-technical to analyze information and quickly make business decisions like, offering a discount or approving a request, makes BI more relevant in the success of a business.

For Zipcar, a membership-based car sharing company for automobile reservations in North America, vehicle utilization is a key metric. To maximize utilization across their fleet, Zipcar must assess the performance of each car and its location individually to relocate underperforming vehicles. TIBCO Spotfire® provides Zipcar with a visual and interactive environment allowing business managers to gain greater insight into fleet utilization and member behavior.

Managers have been able to evaluate performance and set the optimal mix of pricing, membership, and fleet characteristics to extract the most value from Zipcar’s assets, which has increased Zipcar’s profit margins. Zipcar likes to say – “We are redefining the way people think about transportation.” TIBCO is happy to help Zipcar with the two-second advantage to dive into data at a moment’s notice to find and exploit new opportunities instantly.

“Spotfire brings our data to life – whether it’s finance, operations or marketing – and enables us to rapidly visualize information, draw insights and take action across our business.”- Ed Goldfinger, Zipcar CFO

Explore the full story here.

Filed Under: Analytics and Optimization, Automation, MDM, Spotfire, Tech Trends, Transform, Transportation and Logistics, Two-Second Advantage Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Technology is at the Heart of Keeping Patients Safe

April 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
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Health Insurance Exchanges (HIX) were supposed to be a cornerstone of the Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act of 2010, providing a way for individuals and groups to shop around and get affordable healthcare. Federal law mandates every state has to have a fully operational HIX in less than two years time. The act is designed to reduce overall spending on healthcare and raise taxation in a variety of ways by more than $400 billion over the first 10 years. To date, the federal government has awarded over $220 million to help the first 13 states design, build, and go live with their HIX, and over $600 million altogether.

So far so good, it seems. Reduce costs by introducing competition and provide more affordable healthcare for all—sounds great, right? Here’s the rub: Chaos abounds—as reported in the New York Times. States are taking a wait-and-see attitude for the results of the Supreme Court decision due over the summer and also for the results of the November 2011 general elections. On January 1, 2013, Obama will decide which states are advanced enough to run their own HIX, and which will be run by the federal government. Some states have backtracked. According to the New York Times article dated February 27:

“Wisconsin began planning an exchange last year under an executive order issued by Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican. But he repealed his own order last month and told state officials to stop work on the exchange.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Analytics and Optimization, Automation, BPM, Event Processing, Healthcare, MDM, Spotfire, Tech Trends, Transform

Rent-A-Center Invests Heavily in IT Infrastructure and Hits a 52 Week High in Their Stock Price: Coincidence, or ROI?

December 20, 2011 by 1 Comment
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A news item that caught our attention today concerns Rent-A-Center, whose stock price hit a 52-week high. We tip our hats to a company whose forward-thinking and visionary ways have made it a leader in the highly competitive rent-to-own industry.

True to its commitment to invest in people, technology and processes, Rent-A-Center took another big step this year to make information management a priority, embracing Master Data Management (MDM) as a key initiative. Its MDM program enables all Rent-a-Center employees to access shared data that help them better manage customers, from identifying risky accounts to upselling to monitoring the changes in their customers’ lives that could drive future rentals.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Automation, Loyalty, MDM Tagged With: , , , ,

Is MDM the way to manage event patterns, rules, & decisions in an IT system?

January 28, 2010 by 4 Comments
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One of the interesting use cases for TIBCO CIM (TIBCO’s MDM product), which is incidentally part of the same TIBCO Business Optimization product stack as TIBCO’s CEP product BusinessEvents, is managing some of the artifacts used in event processing in some applications. Now this may seem strange: why should event definitions, event patterns, or decision rules be considered “master data”? On reflection, though, it might seem strange to even ask that question, as if one is treating things like event patterns and business rules as input data to an application, then these are surely as “master” (as in “business critical”) as it gets.

Lets see what MDM brings to the table: from TIBCO’s MDM page we see:

  • MDM ensures that master data (assets, people, locations) is accurate and consistent across multiple transactional systems.
    • Well, you certainly want event processing definitions, patterns and decision rules to be accurate and consistent. These may require more specific verification and validation over simpler data sets, but such tests are themselves part of the “process”…
  • It enforces the necessary processes, policies, and procedures so that clean data stays clean.
    • So even if we have more complex verification and validation processes, these can be included in MDM.
  • It allows organizations to manage the complex hierarchies and relationships within their data such as the relationships between two products, a customer and a vendor, general ledger hierarchies, and so on.
    • And also relationships between multiple versions of events, patterns and decisions and each other, presumably. At a more complex level part of the management means hierarchies of processes and their inter-relationships…
  • Through effective MDM, organizations can eliminate errors, become efficient in their business activities, and accelerate critical processes such as new product introductions, service provisioning, cross-sell/up-sell, and customer service.
    • If the business activity is updating / maintaining their event processing applications, then maintaining consistency and associated artifacts across services makes sense too.
  • Additionally, MDM builds a data services foundation that supports IT initiatives such as SOA and BPM.
    • And, er, CEP.

And of course if I am treating / storing event processing models as master data / in MDM, then I can also treat / store other changable, critical (BPM) process models as master data / in MDM, too. The MDM system becomes an IT repository as well as a business repository.

Food for thought, anyway!

Filed Under: Complex Event Processing (CEP), MDM Tagged With: , ,
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