Where are we headed?

So where does that leave us today, and what does this all mean for the future of BI? I think dashboards represent just the first step for the next major phase in BI both from a technology and a methodology perspective. For lack of a better term I will label this next phase the "BI user experience" as represented by user interfaces that information workers and business executives interact with to "experience" their data. Notice how I use the term "experience" versus analyze or view. Think of the difference of looking at a picture of an airplane versus reading a written description of one. In the first instance you have an instantaneous recognition of this visual symbol and its meaning, in the second instance it may take several seconds or more for you to understand what is being represented through written language. Processing of visual imagery leverages a completely different part of the human brain than reading the written word. Unlike the written word, which is processed through our pre-frontal cortex and language centers in a linear fashion, visual images are processed in a much deeper and more powerful part of our brain in parallel. This is an extremely important point and cannot be understated. Take a look at a long column or row of sales numbers in Excel and then look at those same numbers in a bar chart. Your ability to process that information and the inherent relationships within that data is exponentially higher and faster with the bar chart. This is one area where the human brain still far exceeds the power of technology-driven computation in its ability to recognize and process patterns composed of large volumes of information.

As an example of where I see the potential future of BI I would like to draw a parallel to what is becoming a ubiquitous and re-evolutionary product, the iPhone. The iPhone doesn't provide any functionality that dozens of other smart phones weren't offering before it, and in many cases it provides less. But talk to any iPhone user and you will sense an almost evangelistic zeal in their voice when they describe it to you. What the iPhone does amazingly well is take all of that smart phone functionality, which on many other devices is perceived as too complex or burdensome to use, and literally puts it at your fingertips. By creating a feedback loop between two parallel processed sensory mechanisms (vision and touch) combined with a very well-thought out design, Apple has made what was once a complex user interaction incredibly simple and intuitive. I believe the same can be done for business intelligence as well as data analysis, where deep and complex data sets can be presented and interacted with in ways that are tailored to specific business functions and conditions and provide end users powerful and intuitive interfaces. At a minimum, with a little innovation we should be able to take data visualization and user interaction techniques that are being used in other current technologies (such as video games) and combine them in a way that allows us to see the same data we are looking at today in more intuitive and relevant ways.

I see dashboards, especially interactive dashboards, and the technology they are built upon as the first step in this next phase of BI. While we still have many challenges to solve on the back end with the exponential growth in volume, diversity, and distribution of data sources, I see the real innovation occurring on the front end in both user interface design and user experience through innovation of user interaction techniques and business methodologies. I think the sooner the BI industry is able to re-align its focus (a.k.a. revenue streams) on these new areas of innovation instead of clinging to the solutions and methodologies that were designed for conditions and technologies that existed 5, 10, and even 15 years ago the more the BI industry and the business it serves will prosper.

About the Author

Mr. Gonzalez is the founder and Managing Director of BrightPoint Consulting, Inc. Tom's primary role at BrightPoint is leading the design and development of customized business intelligence solutions that incorporate his visionary approach to software design, resulting in immersive, interactive, and intuitive end-user applications.

For over 20 years Tom has followed his passion in developing innovative and value driven software applications both large and small, with proof-of-concept projects lasting days to multi-million dollar, multi-year development efforts. During his career, working for such notable clients as Apple, Adobe, Business Objects, BP-Arco, Kimberly Clark, Northrop-Grumman, Symantec, as well as many others, Tom has developed a multi-disciplinary approach to developing data-centric applications by uniquely combining his experience in software architecture, data warehousing, data visualization, business process, application development, user-centric design, and visual arts. 

Tom graduated with honors from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied a unique combination of Computer Science, Visual Arts, and Economics. He currently resides in Carlsbad, California, with his wife and two sons. 

Copyright (c) 2008 Thomas W. Gonzalez