Actionable Intelligence: A Guide to Delivering Business Results with Big Data Fast! - Hardcover

Carter, Keith B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118915232 ISBN 13: 9781118915233

Publisher: Wiley, 2014

Synopsis

Building an analysis ecosystem for a smarter approach to intelligence

Keith Carter's Actionable Intelligence: A Guide to Delivering Business Results with Big Data Fast! is the comprehensive guide to achieving the dream that business intelligence practitioners have been chasing since the concept itself came into being. Written by an IT visionary with extensive global supply chain experience and insight, this book describes what happens when team members have accurate, reliable, usable, and timely information at their fingertips. With a focus on leveraging big data, the book provides expert guidance on developing an analytical ecosystem to effectively manage, use the internal and external information to deliver business results.

This book is written by an author who's been in the trenches for people who are in the trenches. It's for practitioners in the real world, who know delivering results is easier said than done – fraught with failure, and difficult politics. A landscape where reason and passion are needed to make a real difference.

This book lays out the appropriate way to establish a culture of fact-based decision making, innovation, forward looking measurements, and appropriate high-speed governance. Readers will enable their organization to:

• Answer strategic questions faster
• Reduce data acquisition time and increase analysis time to improve outcomes
• Shift the focus to positive results rather than past failures
• Expand opportunities by more effectively and thoughtfully leveraging information

Big data makes big promises, but it cannot deliver without the right recipe of people, processes and technology in place. It's about choosing the right people, giving them the right tools, and taking a thoughtful—rather than formulaic--approach. Actionable Intelligence provides expert guidance toward envisioning, budgeting, implementing, and delivering real benefits.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Praise for Actionable Intelligence: A Guide to Delivering Business Results with Big Data Fast!

“As with most new terms, a true definition should be provided to set the readers understanding in the right place. I believe BIG DATA is, to Keith’s point, moving from just numbers to actionable facts that can drive major business impacts. People are hungry for how to get this done and how much data/info is good enough to go forward and use. Plus how one can get better over time. Keith provides the way forward.”
—Jacquelyn M. Howard, Vice President, Supply Chain, MCDonald’s China/Hong Kong

“Actionable Intelligence has the critical insights business leaders need to leverage Big Data to win in the emerging digital marketplace! Well done, Keith!”
—Ed Hunter, Vice President, Product Supply-Asia, Procter & Gamble Europe SA - Singapore

“Keith Carter’s Actionable Intelligence discusses Keith’s use of data personally and professionally. He understands that the answer is not just more data, but data that you need and can use to make decisions. In an era when some authors simply extoll the massive size of available data, Actionable Intelligence helps the reader to think through how to utilize the right data, including big data if necessary, at the right time, to yield results.”
—Dr. L. Joseph Thomas, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor of Operations Management, Dean Emeritus, S.C. Johnson Business School, Cornell University

“If you’ve ever thought to yourself that ‘there just has to be a better way,’ well, you’re right. Actionable intelligence is not easy. In this book Keith, Donald, and Cliff provide a framework and a roadmap for how to deliver on the often-elusive promise. I’m requiring my whole Business Intelligence (BI) team to read this book!”
—Robert Hewardt, Current Head of Marketing Operations at Red Hat and former IT Vice President, Computer Associates (CA) Technologies

“Actionable intelligence is key to any decision maker’s success. Whether it is on the battlefield or in the boardroom, good information means good decisions; good decisions mean better outcomes. However, many assume this level of intelligence is only for governments and big multinationals. Not anymore. Access to technology and Big Data is the new equalizer. This book makes that case. It is a must read.”
—John Ritchie, Head of Security for a major US financial institution in Asia, and former Operations Officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

“Keith Carter understands the need for speed and accuracy of decision making in business. Actionable Intelligence supports business leaders’ need to have fact-based decision making. Actionable Intelligence: A Guide to Delivering Business Results with Big Data Fast! is a must read for all business leaders that require quick and fact-based decision making to support profitable business growth.”
—Bill Kunz, President, Kunz Consulting Services, with over 25 years of supply chain and procurement experience within the beauty industry

From the Inside Flap:

The data revolution was supposed to lead to better business and faster improvements, but for employees, big data often just means a big headache. Business leaders need to get all stakeholders on board with the idea that big data has the power to make life easier and improve business outcomes. That’s Actionable Intelligence. In this book, Keith B. Carter takes the age-old idea of business intelligence and turns it into something businesses can actually use.

It’s true that if you can gather all the right data into one place, you can come up with some significant truths that might not have been accessible a decade or two ago. It’s also true that the use of big data can make organizations more agile and improve their ability to look forward to address issues before they become problems. But all this is easier said than done. Unlike many books on the market, Actionable Intelligence focuses less on the saying and more on the doing. Executives and leaders will appreciate the concrete guidance on hiring the right people, gaining their trust, and processing massive sets of data in a way that actually makes things happen faster.

Actionable Intelligence is not just about making charts and graphs. Author Keith Carter covers visualization and the basics of big data, but his approach is unique. With interactive elements and thought-provoking questions peppered throughout the text, he encourages readers to begin with a solid foundation—a firm business purpose and a genuine desire to improve the lives of others and deliver sustainable improvements using data. Carter understands the need for leaders to surround themselves with people who are passionate about moving the organization forward and doing whatever it takes to deliver results. Actionable Intelligence is a new way of thinking about data, and it could be the spark your organization needs to think bigger and act better.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1118915232
• ISBN 13: 9781118915233
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224