Over the years, we have performed dozens of datawarehousing assessments. During these assessments, clients are routinely asked how much they spend annually on data warehousing. Most cannot accurately estimate what they actually spend. In order to manage these and any other costly IT initiatives, it is critical to measure each one, but it is impossible to measure them when most companies do not understand them. This is where IT portfolio management enters the picture.

There have been a number of data warehouse projects that any outside expert observer would have labeled as successful. Within the organization, however, the projects were considered failures. They were considered failures because management and users had much higher expectations than what was actually achieved. There is nothing more critical to the success of a data warehouse than managing the expectations of users and management.

Recently the World Trade Organization heard testimony from the European Union that the Boeing Company “receives lavish government subsidies that give it an unfair competitive advantage over rival Airbus SAS.” It also heard testimony from the United States complaining about aid granted to Airbus. Each side has accused the other of supplying inaccurate data. The commission says the U.S. "grossly inflates the numbers'' when it comes to Airbus support, while the U.S. argues that the EU unfairly counts as government grants $10.4 billion Boeing got from NASA for research services. The heated exchanges center on the understanding of what constitutes government aid to a private organization.

Readers of EIMInsight magazine (this publication), and others I have written for can tell that I am an avid reader; one of my favorite subjects is history. Over the years, I have read many books and written reviews of some that attracted my attention for various reasons. Recently, I discovered a book series that uses historical events and key persons to illustrate concepts and initiatives that could apply to business. The series, Lessons from History, is the creation of a consultant, Mark Kozak-Holland, and the intention of the series is to examine complex business problems by applying lessons from history. He uses historical case studies to demonstrate how challenges were overcome, offering a unique view for business and technology management to apply the lessons of history to their situations.

Most healthcare providers are active building, installing, or enhancing data capture systems. Many are focused on developing, implementing, or revising an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) that can be a composite repository of much of the data accumulated for any individual patient. At the same time, most organizations are starving for access to information that they can use to improve their business, processes, or techniques.