Archive for August, 2010
Week two of Reportapalooza starts
Well the week got of to a running start. We were Emailed Sunday what our Dashboard assignments were. Mine is the Internet Dashboard. I feel the pressure because this is the Dashboard idea that received the most votes.
So here is what is going on behind the scenes. We are not provided the data so we have had to go look for statistical information. I think it is kind of ironic that I have to use the Internet to create a Dashboard about the Internet. One problem I have is that I am a bit scattered in thinking so it takes me a little while to focus. First I had to decide on the scope of material I would gather be it Global or North America? Then what is the subset of information that I think would be interesting to present? Is it what Browser we are using? How are we browsing? What device are we using to browse? Do I want current information or do I want to show a trend?
So here we are Wednesday and most of the Dashboard is coming together. I have been up until 2 or 3 every night working on this Dashboard because I have had two challenges. The first is a steep learning curve. I have taken an Xcelsius class before and even built a simple dashboard, but that was nearly a year ago. In this case if you don’t use it, you will loose it and I did.
The biggest of the two challenges was the data. I wanted to make sure that I had consistency across data points such as yearly data. I would get information on topic a from 2007 – 2010 but topic B only had data from 200 – 2006. I would also find that Regional information was not grouped the same. For example North America, Central America and South America. Each data source grouped the countries within each differently. Then I had to align the data I gathered with the maps in Xcelsius.
Our Dashboards are due Friday evening. I will be turning mine in Friday morning because I am catching a flight back to California for a class reunion. I will post a picture here of the Dashboard Friday. On Monday you be able to actually interact with the Dashboard on the Reportapalooza website.
Week one of Reportapalooza ends
Today closes the first week of Reportapalooza and the poll for Dashboards by Request. I want to thank everyone who has supported me and this campaign. It looks like Internet and Mobile phone use is the most popular request followed by Climate second with Caffeine consumption a close third. The experts are working off-line to determine who will create which Dashboard. I have volunteered for the Internet and Mobile phone usage. We are waiting for one expert to lay their claim before we have the official list.
So far this has been a very interesting experience. I can’t say enough good things about my fellow competitors. I think we all want to win on an individual level, but during a conference call today it was very evident that each and everyone of us wanted the campaign to succeed first and foremost.
The amount of time I am allowed to create has decreased from my original understanding. I had assumed that I would get 2 to 3 weeks to work on each event. That is not the case so the first event I have one week, actually 4 days, to complete the first dashboard. Now remember I have a full-time job and life outside of this event so the number of hours available are limited. We will see how this plays out.
The next event is creating two how-to videos. One video will be at the beginner level, the second will be at the advanced level. Again, we will poll you the community to see what you would like for us to create for you. The how-to will be for Crystal Reports.
Next week I am traveling to California for a class reunion. The kids will be at the doggy-spa. If I tell them they are going to the kennel it makes it difficult to get them in the car.
Reportapalooza is in the news
Today is the second day of Reportapalooza challenge where this week we are asking for the community to go out and vote on Dashboard ideas. We are also are collecting report hero submissions where the report hero gets the prize, not the Expert.
The press release by the PR firm Page One can be found here. There is also a great article on Social Media Today talking about Reportapalooza that you will enjoy.
Reportapalooza Launched Today!
Today is the launch of Reportapalooza. I have the extreme honor of being in the company of 4 other people chosen to be in this challenge for which I have great respect. For me the challenge is not just showing my technical and creative abilities, it is the challenge I face to expand my abilities within the social media realm. There is also the challenge over the next four months is to insert and balance Reportapalooza in to my work/life schedule. I am sure the other contestants are in a similar situation.
If you have not visited the site we have two events going on. The first is a Dashboard Poll where we are asking the community to vote on what Dashboard they would like the Experts to create. The second is telling us your story of how you became a hero at work by using a Crystal Solution.
In addition to Reportapalooza I am Vice Chair for an ASUG Local Chapter Board that is planning for our Sept 17th meeting for our Local Chapter meeting. I will also be speaking about the use and application of subreports within Crystal Reports at this meeting.
In October I will be in Orlando, FL for the Annual Business Objects conference where I will be making two presentations. One is with Dave Rathbun which I am sure the audience will enjoy where we will be comparing Web Intelligence to Crystal Reports side by side in a live demo.
Is your BI Strategy stuck in a rut? Or is it following a standard?
The other day I received a joke from a very good friend of mine in Canada. The joke, based largely or partially on fact, talked about the history of the width of U.S. railroad tracks.
The joke begins with the story of the U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) being 4 feet, 8.5 inches. The joke goes on to say that the US railroads were built by English ex-patriots and that this width was the English standard. Before roads were paved they were traveled upon daily by horse drawn carriage which followed ruts in the dirt road. In order for carriages to stay in the ruts and not break wheels, most carriage builders kept to a uniform width.
The joke continues to say that the Imperial Roman Army was among the first travelers leaving behind ruts for others to follow in England. The width of a Roman chariot came from the need to fit the chariot behind two war horses. The joke ends by saying “So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder ‘What horse’s ass came up with this?’ you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses.”
So after I chuckled and shared this with my co-worker and good friend Dave Rathbun we began to talk about the relevancy of this joke and how it related to BI strategy. I am the perpetual kid that wants to know why? I took apart my fathers powered lawnmower when I was 10 because I wanted to know why? Why does pulling on the cord make the engine run, that turns the blade that cuts the grass? There is no happy ending to that story.
So when working on this project I had a lot of “why” moments. Why are we creating 13 reports that are eerily similar in content and scope? Why not just a couple? Why are we creating them in Webi? Would some of them be better suited for Crystal Reports or an Xcelsius Dashboard? Why aren’t we creating summarized values?
Those “why” questions were nearly always followed by a “because” which made me realize we were stuck in a rut. We were creating 13 reports because of some specification, procedure or process that has been followed for years and to my knowledge has not changed.
I think any BI strategy has to ask the sometimes uncomfortable question why and deserves a legitimate answer. If we are to participate in the business strategy of our companies we need to be prepared to ask questions and to be able to provide solutions to the current business need.
So I have to ask myself did I served my company well by following standards or have I done them a disservice by following the rut that was laid before me?
Reportapalooza
I have been accepted as 1 of 5 experts in the Nation to compete in a national campaign called Reportapalooza. So what is Reportapalooza?
• Description: 5 Experts will compete in 5 challenges that showcase SAP Crystal solutions.
• Timeline: August 16 – November 22, 2010.
• The Winner: At the end of each challenge we will choose a “challenge winner” and points will be awarded to each Expert for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. When all five challenges are completed, a Grand Prize winner will be chosen from the Experts, as well as 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th.
• Community Involvement: The challenges will be designed so the Experts will be required to also solicit information or data from the online community in order to complete each challenge.
Master Timeline:
• Go live: August 16
• Dashboard Tool for Everyone: August 16 – September 3
• Hero Challenge: August 16 – October 1
• Training Challenge: August 23 – September 17
• Charity Challenge: September 27 – October 22
• The Final Journey: October 25 – November 12
• Final Voting Week: November 15 – 19
• Winner’s announced: November 22
Please visit my microsite @ http://bit.ly/csB7i1 I will blog here in detail about Reportapalooza. You can also follow me on twitter as daltexswede or through LinkedIn or Facebook as durning_brian@yahoo.com