Chapter 3. Internet-Enabled Business Intelligence | Internet-Enabled Business Intelligence

749 - Chapter 3. Internet-Enabled Business Intelligence <blockquote> <p><script> function OpenWin(url, w, h) { if(!w) w = 400; if(!h) h = 300; window. open (url, "_new", "width=" + w + ",height=" + h + ",menubar=no,toobar=no,scrollbars=yes", true); } function Print() { window.focus(); if(window.print) { window.print(); window.setTimeout('window.close();',5000); } } </script><span></span></p> <table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tr valign="top"></tr></table> <table width="100%" height="20" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1"><tr></tr></table> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr valign="top"> <td align="center"><table width="95%"><tr><td align="left"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"> <tr><td valign="top" height="5"><img src="/books/2/551/1/html/2/images/pixel.gif" width="1" height="5" alt="" border="0"></td></tr> <tr> <td><b><font size="1" color ="#0000FF">Team-Fly<img border="0" src="/books/2/551/1/html/2/Fly-Logo.gif" width="81" height="25"></font></b></td> <td valign="top" align="right"> </td> </tr> </table> <hr size="1"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="76" rowspan="4"><img src="/books/2/551/1/html/2/images/0130409510/0130409510_xs.jpg" width="76" height="95" border="0"></td> <td valign="top">Internet-Enabled Business Intelligence<br>By William A. Giovinazzo<br> </td> </tr> <tr><td>Table of Contents</td></tr> <tr><td></td></tr> <tr><td valign="bottom">Part 1. The Solution</td></tr> </table> <hr size ="1"> <br><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding ="0"><tr><td valign="top"> <h2>Chapter 3. Internet-Enabled Business Intelligence</h2> <blockquote> <p><span>If you're good at finding the one right answer to life's multiple-choice questions, you're smart. But there's more to being intelligenta creative aspect, whereby you invent something new "on the fly." Indeed, various answers occur to your brain, some better than others.</span></p> <p><span>Every time we contemplate the leftovers in the refrigerator, trying to figure out what else needs to be fetched from the grocery store before fixing dinner, we're exercising an aspect of intelligence not seen in even the smartest ape. The best chefs surprise us with interesting combinations of ingredients, things that we would never think "went together."</span></p> <p><span>William H. Calvin</span><br><span>How Brains Think</span><sup>[1]</sup></p> <blockquote><p><sup>[1]</sup> Calvin, William H., <span>How Brains Think</span>, Perseus Books, 1997. Used by permission.</p></blockquote> </blockquote> <p>In Chapter 1, we learned that Internet Enabled Business Intelligence (IEBI) is a solution. We also noted that each of the elements within a solution is changed by the other. In Chapter 2, we discussed the rise of the Internet and the environment it has created. As part of this examination, we saw how the organization has evolved to compete in this changed world. This is only part of the story, two ingredients in our solution. The third is Business Intelligence (BI).</p> <p>My youngest daughter and I are part of a father and daughter program that entails monthly weekend campouts. In addition to providing some one-on-one time with my daughter , the program gives me the opportunity to spend time with other fathers of young daughters. Typically, once we get all the girls tucked away, the dads sit by the fire and solve the world's most pressing problems. In one of these discussions, one of the dads noted that <span>intelligent</span> people, in his experience, are not always the most successful. He described how intelligent people at his company often lacked common sense. Although they had book learning, they lacked creativity. My friend had never read William Calvin.</p> <p>Many misunderstand the true nature of intelligence. It would be pointless for me to drone on about intelligence unless we first understand the nature of intelligence. We begin this chapter, therefore, by exploring intelligence and examining how intelligence relates to business.</p> <p>Far too often when people hear "BI," they think "data warehouse." The data warehouse is just one part of the information systems that support BI. As the chapter progresses, we will find that the data warehouse and associated information systems really are implementation <span>details</span> of BI. They are not BI in and of themselves .</p> <p>This chapter describes BI as an iterative loop composed of Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) processes, the data warehouse, decision support systems, BI applications, and decision makers . We will examine each component of this loop in detail. Some of you may recognize the discussion on data warehousing from my previous book, <span>Object-Oriented Data Warehouse Design</span>.</p> </td></tr></table> <hr size="1"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"> <tr><td valign="top" height="5"><img src="/books/2/551/1/html/2/images/pixel.gif" width="1" height="5" alt="" border="0"></td></tr> <tr> <td><b><font size="1" color="#0000FF">Team-Fly<img border="0" src="/books/2/551/1/html/2/Fly-Logo.gif" width="81" height="25"></font></b></td> <td valign="top" align="right"> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td valign="top" align="right">Top</td></tr></table> </td></tr></table></td> <td align="center"> </td> </tr> <tr><td colspan="3" align="center" valign="bottom"> <br><table width="100%"><tr><td height="25" valign="middle" colspan="4" align="center"> </td></tr></table> </td></tr> </table> </blockquote>