Choosing the right technology often comes down to cost – the time and money required Total cost of ownership (TCO) is as ancient as enterprise software itself. While TCO has been a mainstay for decades, there’s another cost that’s perhaps more onerous and far less discussed – total opportunity cost of ownership. As new technologies … [Read more…]
“What is a recovering data scientist?” This question arrives in my LinkedIn messages at least once a week. It’s easy to see why, since my LinkedIn title says “recovering data scientist”. While “recovering data scientist” is admittedly a bit clickbaity, there’s also considerable truth to the moniker. The “recovering data scientist” schtick started several years … [Read more…]
What a funny place LinkedIn can be. Since I dropped most social media, I’ve met quite a few cool data people from all over the globe on LinkedIn. I met a group of fellow “data heretics” from places like Australia, Singapore, and Montana. We all have contrarian views on data science, and decided to film … [Read more…]
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate is currently one of the most popular IT certifications. I usually avoid certifications, as a lot of the exams don’t test hands-on skills and knowledge. The AWS exams are different. The AWS exams are the real deal and have a nasty reputation for exposing your weaknesses. The pass … [Read more…]
“How much effort are you willing to put in to correcting your past sins and atoning for those before you move up the sophistication ladder. I would argue it would be a good practice to do especially if you’re going to start marrying your business data with any unstructured data that you’re going to be … [Read more…]
Your company wants to “do data science” ** or “become a data company”. These are definitely noble and well intentioned goals. Not trying to be negative, but I’m going to bet that your company probably isn’t ready for data science. And that’s perfectly OK. For the past several years, I’ve led data initiatives for companies … [Read more…]
Tech burnout is real, and a lot of my friends working in tech are currently experiencing burnout in a major way. Friends of all personality dispositions, ages, technical skill sets, titles, and disciplines are all simultaneously burning out. Top caliber people and totally burned out. I think there’s something particular with tech burnout. The tech … [Read more…]
“AWS cloud is a fad”. At least that’s the gist of what I heard when a friend told me about somebody leaving a company due to a critical initiative to move IT and data resources to the cloud. The cloud happens to be on AWS. I sat there stunned for a moment, mostly because I … [Read more…]
Since I’m currently visiting Asia, here are some of my personal observations on Asian technology use. Not comprehensive or scientific, but just some things I’ve noticed on several visits over the years, across several countries. Mobile is king. I very rarely see desktop computers. The notion that Asia leapfrogged the desktop is very obvious. Everyone … [Read more…]
Building a solid data foundation is prerequisite to becoming data-driven or intelligence-driven. In a previous post, I outlined the progression to grow into an intelligence-driven company. Many companies will have a hard enough time becoming data-driven, let alone intelligence-driven. I will mainly focus on how to become data-driven. Becoming data-driven is a major long-term commitment, … [Read more…]