The explosion of social media data has resulted in a lot more marketing data for companies. Some are using it well and some aren't, but in both cases, Steve Jones notes there are more opportunities for data professionals.  Read more...

Data is more important than gut feel, or at least, Steve Jones thinks it should be more important. Today he talks about using data to support decisions.  Read more...

Are you prepared for Big Data? A short piece from Henrico Bekker that talks about what Big Data might mean to many people.  Read more...

Steve Jones notes that our expert systems might not handle every situation well, and the quest to move towards more real time decision making can involve dangers if a human is not in the loop.  Read more...

If you are looking to gain some BI experience or tackle a project that might help your company, Steve Jones suggests you consider doing something for HR.  Read more...

The idea of a skunk works is to build a project that works under the radar, by a small and loosely organized group of people. Used to fuel innovation, this is an idea that you might apply to SQL Server BI projects.  Read more...

Is self service BI a good idea? Some people think so, others don't. Steve Jones talks about one of the issues and why it might actually not be a problem.  Read more...

Someone is trying to build a better query engine for the web, something beyond a search engine. Steve Jones comments on the possible implications for databases if this works.  Read more...

These days more and more systems gather data all the time, but are we using that data? Steve Jones comments on the glut of information and some of the problems that creates.  Read more...

What does global warming have to do with BI? Steve Jones explains.  Read more...

The Surface is Microsoft's tabletop computer that can be controlled with your hands and doesn't require a keyboard. Is there value in this system for DBAs?  Read more...