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The On-Line Executive Journal for Data-Intensive Decision Support
*** June 23, 1998: Vol. 2, No. 25 ***
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IN THIS ISSUE:

ASSESSING ACADEMIC POTENTIAL WITH DM TECHNOLOGY: PART II
BY MIRIAM MASULLO
HOW TO THINK ABOUT METADATA: PART II
BY ROBERT SEINER
SCORN FROM THOSE THAT HAVE GONE BEFORE US
BY JOHN THOMPSON

ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

GOLDEN MEANS: DISCOVERING THE ACADEMIC POTENTIAL OF OUR CHILDREN PART II
by Miriam J. Masullo, guest columnist

This week, executive editor at large Dr. Inderpal Bhandari presents the concluding portion of a two-part commentary by guest columnist Miriam J. Masullo. Dr. Masullo is Director, Educational Technology at the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering -- NACME. Dr. Masullo is an expert in educational technology having received her Ph.D. from the City University of New York for her interdisciplinary work with the departments of computer science and educational psychology. She has been a leading force in the application of artificial intelligence, digital libraries and telecommunications infrastructure to K-12 education. Her current work focuses on equity access and equal education opportunity for all Americans. You can reach Dr. Masullo by email as mmasullo@nacme.org

Masullo writes: "Data mining holds the promise of discovering the academic potential of students, but only if the attributes for human potential are present in the data examined. The discovery of knowledge about student potential without this data could not take place easily. Data warehouses of new classes of student data must be built."

The first part of this commentary may be retrieved as D S * article 100205

META DATA IS THE ANSWER; NOW WHAT WAS THE QUESTION? PART II
by Robert S. Seiner -- Spectrum Technology Group

Robert S. Seiner is a Senior Consultant for Spectrum Technology Group, Inc. Spectrum is a Data Management consulting company based in Somerville, New Jersey. Bob is recognized for his knowledge of meta data management, repository implementation and information stewardship, and he speaks often at major conferences and user group meetings. Bob is also the publisher and editor of The Data Administration Newsletter (TDAN) located on the internet at http://www.tdan.com Bob can be reached at rseiner@tdan.com

In the second installment of a three-part series Seiner observes: "There are several reasons why companies initiate data quality efforts. The driving reason may be poor quality data discovered during the integration of several legacy systems into packaged solutions such as SAP, PeopleSoft, or Oracle Financials. Another reason may include the same discovery during the development of a decision support environment. One more reason may include known and documented faults in operational data that are causing business problems such as delayed and/or rejected transactions. These are all legitimate reasons for focused efforts on improving data quality."

Part I of this article may be retrieved as: 100206

SCORN FROM THOSE THAT HAVE GONE BEFORE US
by John K. Thompson

John K. Thompson is the Vice President of Marketing for Magnify, Inc. Thompson has over 15 years experience spanning all major technology management functions for software organizations. In his current role, as Vice President of Marketing, Thompson formulates and executes the strategic direction for Magnify, Inc. and the PATTERN product line. His technology expertise includes knowledge discovery, decision support, data warehousing, and database systems. Prior to joining Magnify, Inc., he held a number of senior technology and marketing positions at PLATINUM technology, IBM, and Metaphor Computer Systems. Thompson has consulted in Latin America, Europe, and Asia regarding the issues around building world class data warehouses and decision support systems. Thompson holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ferris State University and a MBA in Marketing from DePaul University.

Thompson observes: "I like to talk, always have and probably always will. I like to talk to all sorts of people, but mostly I like to talk to people who are smarter than I am. Yes, I can envision, and almost here, the snickers and wisecracks from the peanut gallery, but it's true, talking to people who are very bright is invigorating, at least it is for me. I had two conversations this week that have stuck with me. In this article, I'll explain the interactions, the participants and what I drew from them."

ACTION ITEMS

StorageTek Debuts New Data Warehousing Storage Solutions Group at SuperComm `98
StorageTek (Storage Technology Corp.), a provider of network computing storage, announced its new data warehousing initiative from its Solutions Business Group at SuperComm '98. StorageTek's two initial offerings, the Atomic Data Store and the Data Warehousing Performance Scorecard, deliver data warehouse customers increased overall performance and better return on investment by delivering a more cost-effective and efficient data storage management system.

AMS Forms Strategic Alliance with SAS Institute
American Management Systems (AMS), an international business and information technology consulting firm, announced that it has signed a strategic alliance agreement with SAS Institute in Cary, NC. AMS and SAS Institute will collaborate on providing technology-based customer data analysis solutions for their clients across several industries, both in the U.S. and globally. This collaboration will particularly focus on the use of data warehousing, data mining, and decision support software to enable businesses to establish the operational environments required to better manage their customer relationships.

Red Brick Announces Red Brick Data Mine for Compaq AlphaServer Systems
Red Brick Systems, Inc. has announced the availability of Red Brick Data Mine on Compaq Computer Corporation's AlphaServer platforms running Compaq's 64-bit Digital UNIX and Microsoft Windows NT. Red Brick Data Mine, a component of Red Brick DecisionScape, is Red Brick's server-integrated data mining solution designed to help information systems staff and business analysts predict and understand the impact of decisions on their customers, businesses and markets.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Data Mining tools need to mature and mature quickly."

• John K. Thompson

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