Doug Henschen

Former Vice President and Principal Analyst Constellation Research

Doug Henschen is former Vice President and Principal Analyst where he focused on data-driven decision making. Henschen’s Data-to-Decisions research examines how organizations employ data analysis to reimagine their business models and gain a deeper understanding of their customers. Henschen's research acknowledges the fact that innovative applications of data analysis requires a multi-disciplinary approach starting with information and orchestration technologies, continuing through business intelligence, data-visualization, and analytics, and moving into NoSQL and big-data analysis, third-party data enrichment, and decision-management technologies. Insight-driven business models are of interest to the entire C-suite, but most particularly chief executive officers, chief digital officers,…...

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MicroStrategy HyperIntelligence surfaces customizable analytics from any browser-based application. CRM and ERP systems and custom apps and portals are just the beginning.

No matter how “easy” or “intuitive” self-service analytics might be, the route to consumption typically sends users off to a separate, analytic interface, be it a report or a dashboard with lots of options for exploration and deeper analysis. But when users have only seconds to make decisions, they don’t have time (and won’t bother) to leave their business application to consult available analytics.

Delivering insights quickly and within everyday applications is the idea behind HyperIntelligence, a new capability of MicroStrategy 2019, that latest release of that vendor’s venerable analytics platform. Available since December, HyperIntelligence got its splashy unveiling at MicroStrategy World 2019 (#Analytics19), held Feb. 4-6 in Phoenix, AZ, where it was one of three highlighted themes, along with Federated Analytics and Transformational Mobility. Here’s a closer look at all three, along with my take on MicroStrategy 2019.

MicroStrategy’s HyperIntelligence technology surfaces and lets you drill down on customizable, analytic “HyperCards” whenever you hover a selected hyperlink.

HyperIntelligence Surfaces Insight In Context

HyperIntelligence is a new embedded analytics approach that automatically hyperlinks customer names, product names, employee names or any other selected word type (think analytical dimension), that shows up on any web-based interface. When a user hovers over a link using their cursor, a customizable “HyperCard” appears. Cards can deliver enough insight to drive decisions on their own, but users can also click and drill down on the data to explore and analyze.

Hyperlinks and cards can be color-coded by type, so employees and related cards might show up in red while customer names and related cards could show up in blue and products in green. Each user has control over which cards they use and when they use them, so their interfaces won’t light up like Christmas trees as HyperCards and linking options proliferate across an organization.

The possibilities for embedding analytics – whether descriptive, diagnostic or predictive -- are limitless, ranging from Salesforce, SAP, Workday, Office 365 or any other web-based interface to home-grown portals and applications. MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor even made a Microsoft Power BI dashboard “smarter” during a keynote demo, adding a link and surfacing a card with data from MicroStrategy that wasn’t available on the dashboard.

MicroStrategy CEO, Michael Saylor, at MicroStrategy World 2019

Cutting-edge flourishes include “HyperVision” augmented-reality overlays that let you surface cards within live images. When a mobile device camera is trained on, for example, a retail shelf, HyperCards can be superimposed with insights on product inventory levels, expected shipments or profitability by product. HyperVoice adds an audible card option that can be personalized and triggered based on user identity, proximity and location.

Federated Analytics Feed an Open Ecosystem

Federation is MicroStrategy’s platform-powered approach to feeding authoritative, well-governed data to an open ecosystem of analytical tools. The list includes not just the vendor’s own Dossiers and MicroStrategy Desktop, but also Microsoft Power BI, Tableau and Qlik. The platform can also deliver analytics embedded into third-party apps through new REST APIs added in MicroStrategy 2019. The latest release also beefs up R- and Python-based data science work through integration of the open source CRAN and PyPI packages. The resulting predictions can be fed back into HyperCards, Dossiers, reports, custom applications and third-party systems.

MicroStrategy makes data accessible through its semantic modeling layer, which has been rechristened as the Enterprise Semantic Graph in MicroStrategy 2019. The Enterprise Semantic Graph is at the heart of new natural language query capabilities and emerging machine-learning and pattern-recognition-based recommendations. For now these smart/augmented analytic capabilities include recommending visualization approaches, data sets, or existing assets based on data selections and user- and role-based behavior patterns. MicroStrategy is also working on spotting correlations, patterns, exceptions and influencers within data sets, and it expects to deliver this functionality by year-end 2019.

Transformational Mobility

MicroStrategy helped pioneer mobile business intelligence starting a decade ago as smart phones and tablets emerged, and it has continued to refine these capabilities. The list of upgrades and tweaks in MicroStrategy 2019 is long. Mobile Dossiers on iOS and Android devices have gained new table-of-contents and filtering features along with new bookmarking, commenting and notification capabilities. The latter make it easier to return to favored analyses, share comments with collaborators and flag updates of interest. New Library features for mobile devices make it easier to search for and find certified, recommended and recently updated Dossiers, apps and other assets.

MicroStrategy’s latest SDKs for iOS and Android devices let you weave analytic content into custom mobile apps using XCode or JavaScript. Improved geospatial services bring better interaction with maps to phones and tablets. A responsive design editor helps developers optimize web and desktop views for mobile consumption.

My Take on MicroStratety 2019

HyperIntelligence was the biggest and newest news in MicroStrategy 2019 and it’s another example of this vendor coming up with something unique in the market. The vendor also announced that it has achieved parity in supporting cloud deployment on Microsoft Azure as well as Amazon Web Services, and important option giving customers flexibility.

I saw the Federated Analytics and Transformational Mobile announcements as refinements of existing MicroStrategy capabilities while the Enterprise Semantic Graph strikes me as something that has yet to reach its full potential as an enabler of smart, augmented analytics. I’m anticipating a richer story on this front at MicroStrategy World 2020.

Customizable HyperCards can be configured to offer details on customers, left, products, right, or suppliers, organizations, employees and so on.

As for the HyperIntelligence announcement, I think it’s promising and ready for broad adoption. Adoption will depend on the cost, which was not disclosed, and certain technical and security considerations. For now HyperIntelligence works with Google Chrome browsers with the aid of a plugin. Chrome accounts for more than half of all Web browsing, so that’s a good start, and MicroStrategy is working on supporting Safari and other browsers. At some firms, the plugins will get scrutiny from chief security officers. I talked to one bank customer who said plugins are frowned upon by security team, but he was excited enough by the promise of HyperIntelligence to explore approval.

MicroStrategy previewed HyperIntelligence more than a year ago, and there were a number of beta customers on hand in Phoenix. During a keynote panel, Jason Pelky, CIO at the Gilbane Building Company, a global construction-management firm, said his firm has develop HyperCards to give salespeople quick insight into prospects when they’re preparing for calls. Their first instinct is to do Google searches, he said, but HyperCards quickly reveal when prospects are actually past customers, surfacing relevant history and project insights.

French energy services giant Engie is using HyperIntelligence to deliver supplier and supply chain insights both inside and outside of its MicroStrategy-powered Procurement Information Center (PIC). The PIC system has more than 500 regular users of its eight core dashboards, according to Arnaud Droissart, Engie’s IS Procurement Manager, who presented on the topic. Droissart said the firm is using HyperIntelligence to surfaces stats, key metrics and other insights on suppliers, product categories and contacts to business users working within the company’s SAP Ariba system and various web-based ERP interfaces.

What’s particularly exciting about HyperIntelligence is that it promises to bring new levels of intelligence to existing interfaces, reports, dashboards, applications and systems without having to replace anything. It’s purely additive rather than being a rip-and-replace proposition. In short, it’s a highly customizable and broadly deployable technology that could redefine expectations for available embedded analytics.

Related Reading:
Salesforce Dreamforce 2018 Spotlights Identity, Integration, AI and Getting More For Less
Microsoft Steps Up Data Platform and AI Ambitions
Qlik Hits Reset Button, Rolls Out New Cloud, AI & Developer Capabilities
MicroStrategy Makes Case for Agile Analytics on its Enterprise Platform

David Chou

CIO Harris Health Systems

Title: About David Chou David Chou is vice president and principal analyst at Constellation Research, covering the intersection of the healthcare systems’ stringent processes and regulations and the transformational power of technology. With nearly 20 years of experience as a senior IT executive across various health systems, David brings a CIO’s practicality to his advisory practice on emerging technologies and disruptive innovation. He offers guidance to healthcare institutions and practitioners navigating digital mega trends and how to strategically apply them to hospital operations to maximize their technology investments. David’s expertise is helping a health system transition toward becoming a digital enterprise in the healthcare setting. He has worked on building a digital…...

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In order to be successful in healthcare, it is essential to restore strategy and technology as a priority and empower the CIO.

The role of a CIO (Chief Information Officer) is a rather new position, being used only in the most recent decades. Despite its newness, the role of a CIO is a core role for healthcare operations. Employing a CIO places someone in the C-suite who remains focused on the long-term strategy and future of the technology advancement.

Though the CIO role is gaining attention, it is not currently being used to its fullest potential when organizations are looking at their strategies. This suggests that companies with CIOs must take time to re-examine the use of the position and the way it adds value to the company. Along with re-examining the way the position is used, companies should also take a close look at the way technology strategy is viewed within the organization. Healthcare organizations are experiencing rapid change and the need for great adaptability. This should be reflected in the way companies view their technology investments.

When companies use CIOs and strategy appropriately, it can be highly effective. While companies using them correctly are in the minority, CIOs offer insights that can be applied to help the company improve.

The Problem

The primary problem identified by CIOs is in the gap between where the position reports to and how it is being utilized in the company. Essentially, most CIOs are not a priority in the company because the majority still do not report to the CEO. As a result, CIOs are stretched quite thin because they are getting pulled in many different areas without alignment to the CEO. This prevents them from being able to focus on a particular aspect of the business and manage it effectively. It also prevents CIOs from being able to develop and drive an effective long-term strategy for the company, since their attention is so divided.

Many CIOs feel they are not being included in the important strategic discussions. When they are involved in these discussions, they are not the kind of conversations that CIOs can use to drive long-term strategy. Instead, they focus on short-term goals or financial planning without addressing major strategic issues that should be addressed before short-term solutions can be implemented. While this may be because CIOs are not utilized appropriately in businesses, it may also be that CIOs must be more vocal about their abilities to add value through strategy to the company.

Utilizing the Full Potential of CIOs

There are a number of ways that companies can utilize CIOs to their fullest potential. Three major methods are:

1. Make digital and technology strategy a priority in executive discussions. By making digital a priority in the business, CIOs will have a front seat at the table. This allows CIOs to voice their opinions and concerns and help guide the organization and decisions in the right direction to facilitate successful long-term strategies for the business. A CIO can get executives thinking in the right direction by getting them to think about what would happen if a new competitor entered the industry and how can the organization uses the technology portfolio as a competitive advantage.

2. Make strategic planning an inclusive process with the CIO. The majority of processes in place in most companies focus on short- and medium-term strategies and goals. However, long-term strategy is overlooked or not dealt with appropriately. To manage this, there are things CIOs can do:

• Remember that every company is a digital company. When developing a strategy, take it apart and look at how the components work independently. Then ensure that the components can then be put back together to form the full strategy with the integration of technology.
• Assist with ideas and solutions to narrow the scope of the strategy to address a few key issues or questions so it doesn't become overwhelming for the organization to handle.
• Be inclusive and active in the strategy by building solutions to assist a wider range of stakeholders.
• Use engagement and communication to make strategy part of the culture of the business rather than an exercise that addresses IT issues.
• Assist with project management by setting milestones that can be achieved and measured to hold the organization accountable for its progress.  The CIO is well equipped and experienced with managing large-scale implementation.  This is a valuable asset to the organization.

3. Be clear about the CIO's responsibilities and priorities. This will ensure that the CIO knows exactly what is expected and can achieve it successfully. Within these responsibilities, a CIO will find multiple roles that must be played. These roles are:

• Challenger, which presents ideas that might not otherwise be considered
• Change agent, which pushes the organization to be dynamic and to support change
• Advantage guardian, which helps differentiate the organization from its competitors with the use of technology
• Facilitator, which provides guidance in implementing a strategy
• Outsource provider, which ensures that the work gets done and problems are solved

The CIO is a position that is not currently being used to its fullest potential. However, if companies recognize the value CIOs can add and allow them to do the work needed, companies can excel and exceed organizational goals and objectives.

David Chou

CIO Harris Health Systems

Title: About David Chou David Chou is vice president and principal analyst at Constellation Research, covering the intersection of the healthcare systems’ stringent processes and regulations and the transformational power of technology. With nearly 20 years of experience as a senior IT executive across various health systems, David brings a CIO’s practicality to his advisory practice on emerging technologies and disruptive innovation. He offers guidance to healthcare institutions and practitioners navigating digital mega trends and how to strategically apply them to hospital operations to maximize their technology investments. David’s expertise is helping a health system transition toward becoming a digital enterprise in the healthcare setting. He has worked on building a digital…...

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Buying another technology company, like an EMR company, is not the ideal method for a technology organization to tap into the healthcare market. There was a lot of buzz recently when Jim Cramer made a comment on his show Mad Money recommending Apple buy the electronic medical record vendor, Epic Systems. While that is one approach to gain the market share, it will not transform the industry.

Instead, Apple or another major technology company must buy a hospital or a small health system to transform operations and take advantage of the latest technology solutions. Buying another healthcare technology company, like Epic Systems, will not have the same impact if the operating model and processes do not change. Here are the benefits of having a technology company operate a hospital.

1. Every hospital is a digital technology company now. One of the highest operating department expenditures in a hospital operation is IT.  A technology company mentality in a hospital will maximize the use of every toolset to drive organizational efficiency. This approach will change the culture by viewing the technology portfolio as a competitive advantage. Technology vendors have all made investments toward agile while hospital systems have invested heavily on the LEAN process. Incorporating agile will complement an organization's LEAN transformation journey to drive the efficiency goal.
2. Opportunity to fast track technology debt. The lack of cutting-edge technology is a problem in every hospital. Historically, technology is viewed as an expense. This mentality prevents the organization from keeping up with the technology trends that result in technology debt. A typical scenario in an organization to save on cost is extending the technology solution beyond the warranty support period. This practice makes it difficult to maintain the latest solution. Having a technology company as the hospital operator will ensure that the organization is technically prepared for the future.
3. Use technology to eliminate waste. Every hospital organization is going through an exercise to decrease their expenses and look for opportunities to improve efficiencies. This is a prime target for using technology as a lever to create automation and promote the usage of robotics to create greater efficiencies. The goal is to allow the workforce to practice at the top of their skillset while shifting the manual work efforts to an automated process.
4. Design thinking for the patients. Hospitals need to do a better job of accommodating the patient's demand as a consumer. The patients expect the same experience as the retail consumer with a personalized experience. This is the prime opportunity for a technology company to incorporate personalized design thinking principles to improve patient engagement. 
5. Address the technical talent gap. Healthcare industries have a talent gap specifically around digital solutions. The future IT workforce must be proficient in cloud, data analytics, mobile first, and social technology. The benefit of having a hospital operated by a technology company will eliminate the talent gap that exists today.

I have highlighted the five benefits of a technology company acquiring a hospital. We need a takeover like this in the market to improve the technology companies' understanding and appreciation for the hospital's operations. Without a massive change in the business operation, we will continue to see healthcare struggle and play catch up. I am a firm believer that for a major transformation to occur, there has to be a willingness to change the entire operating model. In this case, the influence of a major technology company will be a game changer.

Aubrey Coggins

Constellation Research

Aubrey (Levinstone) Coggins manages Constellation's marketing and communications programs and is the producer of DisrupTV, a weekly Web series on innovation and the enterprise.  She previously served as a senior manager of corporate communications at Egnyte and held account roles at Access Communications and The Hoffman Agency. Born and raised in Texas, she received a bachelor's degree in Public Relations from The University of Texas at Austin – Hook ‘em!   ...

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DisrupTV turned three this month! To celebrate, we brought back a few of our heavy-hitting alumni to share their latest innovative projects, learn from their experiences, and talk about the biggest tech trends impacting us as we move further into 2019.

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.” Great commentary from Perry Hewitt, Marketer, Digital Strategist and Board Member.

During Hewitt’s interview, she explained that you can’t just throw something over the wall and check the box anymore. We are in the messy middle, and everyone from marketing, product development and across the entire organization needs to collaborate in new ways. This is especially important when it comes to building new programs or fully transforming an organization.

To help with this culture shift and make real impact, it’s critical to bring diversity and different perspectives to the table. Having “echo” chambers or continuing to build programs based on outdated processes will not make the type of impact needed in today’s business environment. Similarly, to continue to grow as a leader, be sure to evaluate the power of your personal network and look for diversity through age, gender, experience, ethnicity, and location, for example.

Joining the Public and Private Sector to Make Change

Beyond individual organizations, cities are also facing major disruption due to the mass increases in population and changing needs of people in these areas. The days of going it alone are over, and partnerships are needed between the public and private sectors to better serve the people living in the city centers, explained former CTO of New York City and now Executive Vice President, Global Cities at Mastercard Miguel Gamiño Jr.

His interview covered some of the pressing issues facing cities – including major stress on the infrastructure and the difficulties keeping up with the demand. He explained what leaders and organizations need to do to have a better understanding and make real changes in the public sector. It’s not just companies experience digital disruption and transformation.

While technology advancements help in many ways, it’s important to realize that not everyone has access to the technology. We must ensure tech serves people in an inclusive way. Let it follow but not lead the discussion, he explained.

What Tech Trends are Dominating the News and Leadership Discussions?

The show closed out with a very entertaining and blunt discussion with Jon Reed, Co-Founder at Diginomica. He covered Davos, retail and immersive experiences, the skills gap, Facebook, privacy, and more. The segment is worth the time to watch as he dove into some of the biggest themes impacting businesses, communities and maybe even you personally.

This is just a small glimpse at the great advice shared during the show. Please check out the full discussions in the video replay here or the podcast.

Tune in every week for DisrupTV, hosted by Vala Afshar and R “Ray” Wang, on Fridays 11 AM PT/2 PM ET. Bring diversity to your planning team as well as who the end results may impact.

DisrupTV Episode 135, Featuring Perry Hewitt, Miguel Gamino, Jon Reed from Constellation Research on Vimeo.

Steve Wilson

Former Vice President and Principal Analyst Constellation Research

Steve Wilson is former VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, leading the business theme Digital Safety and Privacy. His coverage includes digital identity, data protection, data privacy, cryptography, and trust. His advisory services to CIOs, CISOs, CPOs and IT architects include identity product strategy, security practice benchmarking, Privacy by Design (PbD), privacy engineering and Privacy [or Data Protection] Impact Assessments (PIA, DPIA). Coverage Areas: -  Identity management, frameworks & governance-  Digital identity technologies-  Privacy by Design -  Big Data; “Big Privacy”-  Identity & privacy innovation Previous experience: Wilson has worked in ICT innovation, research, development and analysis for over 25 years. With double…...

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Infosys held the first Asia-Pacifc leg of their regular Confluence partner & customer event recently in Melbourne, over the weekend of the Australian Open.  Confluence APAC was a terrific conference, showcasing Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, real time analytics, learning platforms, and blockchain-as-a-service. There was a great many highly relevant customer stories, novel and truly gripping keynote speeches about Antarctica and the Thai soccer team cave rescue, and tennis. As a major sponsor of the Open, Infosys was able to access behind-the-scenes tours and tickets for all delegates to the women’s and men’s singles finals. It was really superb. 

Yet what struck me the most about Confluence was its formal recognition of Australia’s first peoples, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.  

It’s normal these days for public events in Australia to open with a formal acknowledgement of the original custodians of the local land, calling out the first nation and language group of where the meeting is taking place.  What’s much rarer is the full Welcome to Country.  This ceremony can take 20-30 minutes and must be led by Aboriginal Elders. At Confluence on January 26, we were treated to dancers, the music of the unique didgeridoo, and a beautiful speech by Wurundjeri Elder Uncle Ian Hunter. He told us at length about his local culture, the classic Aboriginal sense of humour, and he touched frankly and calmly on the sensitive issue of Australia Day, a contentious national holiday which fell that very day.  

Now, while a Welcome to Country is rare, what followed was absolutely unique in my thirty years experience in the Australian tech sector. Australia-New Zealand Regional Head Andrew Groth gave his opening address and took time – indeed he took up most of his speech – to celebrate our first peoples.  He called out their care of the land over tens of thousands of years, their innovation and their technology, which they deployed at continental scale.  Groth made special mention of the Brewarrina fish traps which are thought to be the oldest surviving artificial structures anywhere on the planet.

Bravo Infosys! May more of us in technology come to embrace indigenous science and innovation, wherever we’re from, as a mark of respect, and because we all have so much more to learn. 

Aubrey Coggins

Constellation Research

Aubrey (Levinstone) Coggins manages Constellation's marketing and communications programs and is the producer of DisrupTV, a weekly Web series on innovation and the enterprise.  She previously served as a senior manager of corporate communications at Egnyte and held account roles at Access Communications and The Hoffman Agency. Born and raised in Texas, she received a bachelor's degree in Public Relations from The University of Texas at Austin – Hook ‘em!   ...

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We're excited to welcome former healthcare CIO David Chou to the Constellation team. He joins us as vice president and principal analyst to research and advise healthcare institutions and practitioners on how to maximize their technology investments while digitally transforming their operations.

He will focus his analysis on the intersection of the healthcare systems’ stringent processes and regulations and the transformational power of technology. David will initially cover big themes around the new digital enterprise for Healthcare, how to build a playbook for leading innovation at the C-Level, and making an enterprise-wide technology investment and how to avoid common mistakes.

 “We have yet to realize the potential of digital transformation in the healthcare space. The key is understanding how an organization takes the innovation from concept to operation,” said Chou. “Technology has to be at the core of every company. My motivation for joining Constellation is the opportunity to help CXOs and vendors refocus to make an impact together on creating a better healthcare industry.”

With nearly 20 years of experience as a senior IT executive across various health systems, David brings a CIO’s practicality to his advisory practice on emerging technologies and disruptive innovation. He has held executive roles with the Cleveland Clinic, Children's Mercy Hospital, University of Mississippi Medical Center, AHMC Healthcare and Prime Healthcare, and he has advised many academic medical centers and healthcare startups. His expertise is helping a health system transition toward becoming a digital enterprise. He's worked on building a digital hospital from the ground up and also turned financially distressed health systems profitable with the use of technology.

“We’re excited to bring on David Chou to begin coverage for one of the most important industry verticals. David’s expertise as a C-Level practitioner executing in the $3.5T U.S. Healthcare Industry is much needed as this sector represents 17.9% of the U.S. GDP,” said R “Ray” Wang, founder and CEO at Constellation Research. “His broad understanding of how exponential technology can be used to transform existing business models is key as this sector seeks cost savings to fund innovation. David has the industry expertise to bring together the ecosystem of change agents and innovative vendors who seek to craft a patient-centered approach to healthcare.”

Steve Wilson

Former Vice President and Principal Analyst Constellation Research

Steve Wilson is former VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research, leading the business theme Digital Safety and Privacy. His coverage includes digital identity, data protection, data privacy, cryptography, and trust. His advisory services to CIOs, CISOs, CPOs and IT architects include identity product strategy, security practice benchmarking, Privacy by Design (PbD), privacy engineering and Privacy [or Data Protection] Impact Assessments (PIA, DPIA). Coverage Areas: -  Identity management, frameworks & governance-  Digital identity technologies-  Privacy by Design -  Big Data; “Big Privacy”-  Identity & privacy innovation Previous experience: Wilson has worked in ICT innovation, research, development and analysis for over 25 years. With double…...

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There’s a bug in the Apple iPhone in which, during the establishment of a FaceTime session, the caller can activate the receiver’s microphone and camera, without the receiving user knowing. It turns the iPhone at the far end into a old-fashioned bug. Apple will fix this bug quickly, but let’s take time to ask how is such a fault possible, and what does it mean for operating system integrity? 

When Alice’s iPhone A tries to connect to Bob’s iPhone B, it appears that iOS allows a software process running on A to access the microphone and camera services on B, without asking Bob’s permission or even letting him know it’s happening.  Contrast this permissionlessness with the normal Windows experience where PC users are asked constantly to give permission for processes to access their machine.  

As a former real-time systems software engineer, this feels to me like the multi-tasking features of iOS are allowed to run amok.  

Why would one iPhone allow a process running on another iPhone to access the mic & camera without the user's permission? How is that even possible? 

You have to wonder what else can happen, if processes on one iPhone can gain privileged access to another.  Can A load malware onto B? Can A capture the keyboard strokes on B and thus intercept Bob’s PINs and passwords? Can Alice insert herself into the data flows between the camera and the face recognition process on B, to spoof Bob’s biometric? 

Developers and tech company managers love to claim the slogan "Privacy by Design" but if programmers are designing operating systems without any partitioning or permissions, then PbD is just lip service. What are they thinking?

Doug Henschen

Former Vice President and Principal Analyst Constellation Research

Doug Henschen is former Vice President and Principal Analyst where he focused on data-driven decision making. Henschen’s Data-to-Decisions research examines how organizations employ data analysis to reimagine their business models and gain a deeper understanding of their customers. Henschen's research acknowledges the fact that innovative applications of data analysis requires a multi-disciplinary approach starting with information and orchestration technologies, continuing through business intelligence, data-visualization, and analytics, and moving into NoSQL and big-data analysis, third-party data enrichment, and decision-management technologies. Insight-driven business models are of interest to the entire C-suite, but most particularly chief executive officers, chief digital officers,…...

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Shell center of excellence grows data science talent, masters funding and innovation challenges.

Sometimes the value of a case study is in learning about what was achieved, while in other cases it’s all about how it was achieved. I think my latest case study, about the Data Science Center of Excellence (COE) at Royal Dutch Shell (Shell), works on both levels, but the most interesting nuances relate to how Shell’s COE is organized and funded.

If you’ve attended recent Alteryx Inspire or Microsoft Ignite events, you might have heard a bit about Shell’s achievements. I first learned of Shell’s efforts to spread data science capabilities at Alteryx Inspire 2018 in Anaheim, where Deval Pandya, a Shell data scientist, gave an great talk on how the COE is helping to spread the power of advanced analytic methods without hiring armies of hard-to-find data scientists. COE execs work with line-of-business and supporting tech teams for a few days at a time, helping to spearhead innovation projects. They then coach these teams and help to harden the technologies so that can be sustained in production. Pandya cited successes including an inventory optimization project – detailed at great length in my case study – that has since been leveraged globally and is saving Shell millions of dollars annually.

I encountered Shell again at Microsoft Ignite 2018, where keynote attendees heard a bit about Shell’s use of Azure cloud service and advanced capabilities including machine vision and Internet-of-Things-style sensor monitoring. Several of these projects, as well as the associated business benefits, are also detailed in my case study.

It’s always great to hear about innovative tech projects and to see and meet customer executives at vendor events, but for Constellation Research, that’s just the beginning of the conversation. Where vendors tend to highlight just how their products were used, Constellation aims to share holistic insight on every aspect of innovation, including all relevant technologies and how the project – or, in this case, the COE -- was organized.

I’ve written about plenty of centers of excellence, competency centers and innovation centers, but two things struck me as being atypical about the Shell Data Science COE. For one thing, Shell has separated the tasks of data science innovation, which is led by the COE, and that of handling ongoing operational execution of completed data science applications. The latter task is handled by Shell’s Business Service Center. The key point is that innovation is often disruptive, whereas those in the ongoing operational role naturally seek out continuity and proven best practices.

“If you want a group that’s going to stay ahead of the latest trends, you can’t ask them to also operate everything,” observes Daniel Jeavons, general manager of data science at Shell and the key figure quoted throughout my report. “Our role is up front trying to identify the technologies that need to be developed and built out to the point of maturity.”

The second way in which Shell’s COE stands out has helped it avoid budget hardships. Because it’s under Shell’s Technology Group, which is tasked with driving innovation and differentiation, the COE has what Jeavons describes as a healthy mix of research-and-development and project-based funding.

“We need to be a catalyst for change within the organization, but that’s hard if you’re constantly trying to justify your existence with project funding,” he explains. “The business is paying us to run projects that deliver value now or in the near term, but at the same time we have the opportunity to innovate” [because of the funding dedicated to R&D and innovation].

There’s much more to learn in the Shell case study, including insight on its analytics stack and how and why it makes use of two major public clouds. There’s also insight on AI and IoT initiatives that are bearing fruit. But my key takeaway on Shell’s success is that it has found a way to balance stable execution that delivers value and, through the COE, breakthrough innovation that might be disruptive, but that is helping Shell to change its industry and the very foundations of its business.

Aubrey Coggins

Constellation Research

Aubrey (Levinstone) Coggins manages Constellation's marketing and communications programs and is the producer of DisrupTV, a weekly Web series on innovation and the enterprise.  She previously served as a senior manager of corporate communications at Egnyte and held account roles at Access Communications and The Hoffman Agency. Born and raised in Texas, she received a bachelor's degree in Public Relations from The University of Texas at Austin – Hook ‘em!   ...

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“Everyone wants to earn, learn and belong. These are universal human hungers.”

Great comment from Angela Blanchard, President Emerita at BakerRipley & Senior Fellow at Brown University, last week on DisrupTV. The show themed around inclusiveness, not just in business but through every aspect of our lives.

Angela works with displaced individuals brought or forced into new communities (due to natural disasters for example) and helps government entities and other organizations effectively integrate and serve them. She explained that people don’t want handouts; they just want to be part of the story.

As leaders in these types of situations or even in business, the biggest piece is empathy. Clear and simple. Be thoughtful and sensitive to what came before you and understand every new project we take on is also an end to someone else’s story, hard work or livelihood. It’s all about trust in leading through disruption.

She also explained the importance of improvisation and understanding the resources in your arena. What you did last time may not work, so be nimble and work with what you have at hand. This interview is a must-watch; I even got goosebumps!

Digital Inclusiveness

The theme of inclusiveness continued with Tim Springer, Founder & CEO at Level Access. His organization focuses on digital inclusiveness and making technology a profound force in the lives of individuals with disabilities. We have to ask ourselves, “how can WE change the world and outcomes of people’s lives?” Again, empathy and understanding are key to making our products, organizations and world better for everyone.

The term disability seems to mean “worse” or “not normal” in our society. We need to flip the script. It’s not about solving problems but enhancing the skills they bring to the table. While each individual may have a shortcoming, they also have advanced skills that should be empowered with the right tools in place. Leaders should embrace these unique qualities in their workforce and also work with companies like Level Access to ensure their products and offerings are accessible and optimized for everyone. It’s not just the law but also an essential piece for building a stronger, more inclusive world.

Tim also shared some great advice as an entrepreneur on building a business and the process and decisions behind VC funding.

Workplace Inclusiveness

“Leadership comes from all walks of life, not just the C Suite,” explained Dion Hinchcliffe, VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research. Sometimes it comes from outside with change agents or from team members fresh out of school. Be inclusive in your brainstorming, planning, and programs. The traditional hierarchy of companies is not the best way to succeed in today’s environment. With the impact of technology, digital transformation and shifting business models, our environments are changing faster than we realize, and sometimes it’s too late. 

With big change, there’s certainly a high failure rate. Break things down into manageable programs and projects and be ready to shift when the window opens. Get out there quickly with what’s working and cut what’s not. Dion shared some great case studies on effective leadership and programs that are thriving in this new exponential and constantly changing business ecosystem.

This is just a small glimpse at the great advice shared during the show. Please check out the full discussions in the video replay here or the podcast. Special thanks to our guest host this week, Alan Lepofsky, VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research.

Tune in every week for DisrupTV, hosted by Vala Afshar and R “Ray” Wang, on Fridays 11 AM PT/2 PM ET. Ensure inclusiveness is at the center to build a strong, rewarding environment for all of us.  

DisrupTV Episode 134, Featuring Angela Blanchard, Tim Springer, Dion Hinchcliffe from Constellation Research on Vimeo.