Jim Sinur: Acceleration of Decisions Helped by the Database of Now

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Acceleration of Decisions Helped by the Database of Now

Things were going along nicely until COVID 19 hit, and it was “game on” for rapid decision making. Executives were slammed from operational optimization with known decision/static models while transforming incrementally to digital towards a world of large amounts of decisions made in short time frames. The vast majority of organizations had not planned for this kind of scenario, thus not practiced to handling it. The acceleration to some form of digital and remote workers was instant. Our executives were bombarded with one critical decision opportunity after another, and many were up to the task thankfully. Is the question "Is this a one-off situation"? I would argue that maybe not the exact same scenario, but the beginning of many emergent situations at various corporate performance levels. How does the Database of Now help

Integrated Data to Support the Lateral Thinking in Decision Making

Traditionally decisions have been generated by new management goals and finding "aha" discoveries in data? While this approach will continue, forced innovation will be a necessity driven by these large-scale and emergent scenarios, such as changing markets, customer demands, extreme competition, and the desire for better outcomes. This shift will require more data and new complexities to continue to monitor, decide, and take appropriate actions. Intercepting the changing future will also drive towards adapting to and integrating new data resources, many of which will be cloud resident. The Database of Now supports dynamic and easy integration of new/emergent data sources.

Fast Data for Analytic Assistance, Guided, and Flexible Implementations

Decision-makers will demand assistance in making informed decisions fast and understanding the ultimate impact of their actions in planning and execution modes. The first demand will be for fast data supportive before the actual decision occurs. Lack of speed kills but so does speed without anticipating potential outcomes. Analytics will greatly assist decision-makers in understanding the possible consequences of their impending decisions. Once the decisions are made, the emergent effect will need to be tracked, monitored, and measured during rollout. Once implemented, fast feedback loops will help guide adjustments for better performance while sensing emergent patterns for potential new decisions. The Database of Now is designed for speed.

Smart Data that Leverages Machine Learning and Other Forms of AI

Today, most decision-makers are highly involved with the decision-making process unless they can be easily automated, usually using decision models. Typically these decisions are operational and static in nature, but there is a strong trend towards flexible change and emergent business outcomes are driven by new responses to integrated response scenarios. Either way, forms of AI can speed the decision-making process, starting with machine learning that watches conditions and outcomes. Deep learning can sharpen the focus for even better results. This kind of leverage is often described as smart data commonly used in supervised learning situations. With the advent of emergent and complex conditions driven by expected or unexpected events and emerging patterns, AI will take a more judgmental role in an unsupervised fashion. The Database of Now is ideal for having the most up to data and contextually sensitive data sources necessary for high intelligence.

Net: Net:

The future will require rapid decision making that needs speedy data that traverses many data types, monster data volumes, and growing complexity. There will be quiet periods of optimization that will also benefit from the Database of Now, but get ready for waves of emergent situations potentially never seen before by the modern decision-makers. It may turn decision making on its head changing from only modeling operational decisions into crisp responses also to include emergent decisions dependent on complex, fast, and shifting data sources. Will you be ready for fast and effective decisions for customer needs and operational effectiveness?