As I mentioned a little over a month ago, I was pretty excited about the chance I was given to attend the Strata+Hadoop World conference in San Jose. It turns out that that anticipation was justified. The event was a one-of-a-kind networking opportunity and an even greater learning experience.
Here are three of the many things I learned at Strata+Hadoop World:
1) This is a BIG industry.
Let me give you an idea of the scale we’re talking about here. When I first walked into the Grand Ballroom at the San Jose Convention Center to check out the opening keynote speakers, I was stunned by the sheer number of people in attendance. There were literally thousands of chairs set up and I still struggled to find somewhere to sit…and when I did, I was so far from the stage that I found it easier to watch the presentations on the big screen. Meanwhile, across the hall, a vendor expo as large as an auto show (but promoting products 1/10,000 the size) was preparing to open its doors to the throngs of data scientists, IT professionals, journalists, salespeople, analysts, researchers, and engineers that attended this awe-inspiring event.
Speaking of the vendor expo, you know an industry is getting big when it’s starting to develop subindustries. There weren’t just all-in-one analytics solutions being promoted here. There were multiple competitors fighting for market share at every step in the analytics process (e.g., there were several firms whose sole offering was a data cleansing solution). This is a big business and the stakes are clearly very high.
2) The biggest challenge remains connecting the technical side with the business side.
In nearly every session I sat in on, the excitement about the potential of data and analytics was palpable, and the challenge of maximizing that potential in terms of customer value and bottom-line impact was impossible to ignore. At this conference, there was a breakout presentation track dedicated to the “data-driven business.” I would wager that as more organizations start to grapple with the task of converting their analytics tools and capabilities into business results, the data-driven business will demand its own conference.
3) APQC has positioned itself well to conduct meaningful research.
One of APQC's strongest areas of expertise is change management: the planning and execution of organizational change initiatives. And if there’s one thing that organizations will need a lot of as they work to bridge the gap between the technical underworkings and applications of analytics and its business implications, it’s change management.
That’s why I’m more excited than ever to work learn more about and share the best practices for overcoming organizational resistance and building a roadmap to move to a data-driven culture.
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