Social Networks + Forecasting = Prediction Markets!!

In a recent feature, BusinessWeek has covered the emergence and adoption of prediction markets by enterprises to significantly improve their forecasting ability. Instead of getting a single business manager to do the forecasts in the conventional model, firms have started to create a prediction market, where groups of employees have an opportunity to participate in the market, and hopefully lead to more accurate forecasts on product sales, consumer interest in new offers, etc. The employees get paid in cash or kind as an incentive to get it right, and this puts the power back to the employees who are knolwdge able, but who don't voice their opinion, costing enterprises lost opportunities!

Making Marketing Measurable

Yet another survey - this time by Forrester Consulting - commissioned by Unica - confirms automating brand marketing is a top priority. I wonder if Forrester could have come back and told Unica that there is no market for their products :-) Be that as it may, this is certainly an area that is underserved and needs more management attention.

Analytics - The Future of BI - say Experts

In a recent poll by NetworkWorld on the "The Future of BI", analysts and industry leaders, identified the emergence of analytics as one of the key future trends in business intelligence technology. According to these experts, One key trend to look forward to is the automation of repeatable, operational decisions that are currently in the domain of "gut feel"!

Spreadsheets R Us?

Retailers take a hard look at their internal data management processes so that they have better quality of data that they can rely upon to do advanced analytics, says a recent research study from Aberdeen Group, covered in Intelligent Enterprise.