Go Green
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I recently saw an article about going green in IT. If you've read the editorials for any length of time, you know that I'm interested in energy in general and especially alternatives to fossil fuels. I don't think we're in a crisis like I saw in the 70's, but I do think that we'd be wise to start planning and reducing our dependence on oil.
The article makes some sense in that I think you can save money by moving to alternative energy generation, like solar or wind power. I've read some financial news as well and it seems that many people think that the price of oil will just continue to go up. Which means that your payback is sooner and sooner all the time. Google's solar project is good PR and good for the environment, but it's also likely to save them some money over the next few years.
And you don't need to do it on-site. I've seen some companies build wind farms in Wyoming or solar farms in California when they're located in Colorado.
Business Intelligence
I stumbled upon this blog about BI and thought it did a good job of explaining what BI really involves, at least from a high level. It's by Jamie Thomson, my SSIS-guru-to-go-to, who writes plainly and gets to the point.
I'm not a big proponent of BI as "the next big thing" in the database world. The idea of making better decisions through better access to information has been around a long time and many institutions have built amazing systems.
But it's hard, it takes a long time, and it doesn't immediately give you an ROI because of the initial investment in building a good data warehouse. I just don't think that "most" companies will invest the time and effort, preferring to make do with a Reporting Services installation and maybe, just maybe, a copy of the production database.
Steve's Pick of the Week : - I'm making Jamie's well written, plain, focused blog entry the pick of the week. Whether you're on a BI project, want to be, or just would like a quick introduction, this is worth the time it takes to read. -
I must disagree with your opinion about BI. It's not "the next big thing" it is the current big thing. The reason it's big is because it has been proven to produce a measurable ROI. You're absolutely right that it is hard and it is always a work in progress. You're also correct that gratification, in terms of ROI, may be delayed but I'm not familiar with any magic bullets in our industry that will give you a strong ROI just by writing a few lines of code.
The trend that I'm seeing is that many companies initially try to get by with a Reporting Service installation but soon learn that there isn't a short cut for quality BI just like there isn't a short cut for producing a sound database design.
"Beliefs" get in the way of learning.
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The biggest hole in the Business Intelligence paradigm is that it assumes that there is some consumer for the system who will be able to use the information provided to make better business decisions than are currently being made.
My experience is that business people often site lack of good information as a problem, but are usually incapable of using it to provide measurable business benefit once it is provided.
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I certainly could be wrong about BI, but I'm not sure it's the current big thing. It certainly is popular, but I'm not sure if that's few people using it and the media hyping it.
I also agree with Michael. Not only is it hard for the tech guys, but the business people don't necessarily know what to do.
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