Andrew WhiteWell I had a busy day – even though this was day 3. I had a number of client inquiries and 1-1’s on site, and I also presented on MDM just after lunch. Then I had another client call and had to dash to the airport.
Overall the event was really good. There were a lot of end users focused on BI and how to get more value from the technology for the business. Almost all client interactions were focused on this. Clearly BI has broad appeal, but that link between business perceived realized value and investment remain remains a challenge. The other Gartner analysts were rushed off their feet – as they tend to be at Gartner summits. These smaller events, compared to our Symposia, are always more focused on specific topic and so the depth and quality of interaction is always greater – and all the more tiring for it though also more exhilarating (for me at least).
From an MDM perspective, this was a strange event. I missed the 2008 Gartner BI Summit but had presented on MDM and Performance Management at the 2007 Gartner BI Summit. Back then MDM was very hot and a lot of attendees wanted to know what MDM was, what it meant to BI and themselves, and how MDM would change or improve or alter BI; for sure, there was not a lot of active MDM work. I would have assumed that this year, in 2009, with MDM being more widely recognized, that more BI oriented attendees would be “into MDM” more. However, the majority of clients I spoke with that the event were a) aware of MDM, but b) not active currently, and (more importantly) c), trying to figure out when and where to get started. So I would assume this means that MDM is more widespread as a topic now, and so a greater audience is looking at it. But as the prospective audience gets larger, so it becomes clearer that there are many more users who need to “get on board”. With the very entry level or basic dialog I saw in the user community, it is very important we recognize that though leaders and pioneers might be far ahead in their understanding and use of MDM, the majority of users are not there yet – by a long way.
Off home now – to try to get 3 days of your life back…
Comments Off
Category: Analytical MDM Business Intelligence Tags: Analytical MDM, Business Intelligence
