Honest thinking about technology decisions. — Page 27

Captured this Flamingo at the Como Zoo in St Paul MN last week. Captured with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm 5.6 L.

Orangutan at the Como Zoo in St Paul MN Captured this orangutan at the Como Zoo in St Paul MN last week. Captured with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm 5.6 L.

I captured this flamingo at the Tulsa Zoo.  It didn't s eem like she liked having her photo taken.  Captured with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm 5.6 L.

Using modern day interactive analytics systems allows organizations to analyze and visualize their data in a very dynamic manner

I captured this Bison in the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve near Pawhuska OK. Captured with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm 5.6 L handheld.

Another Great Blue Heron. Captured at Lake Sahoma in the Tulsa metroplex. Captured with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm 5.6 L.

Captured this Egret coming in for a landing on the banks of the Arkansas River. Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm 5.6 L handheld.

Big data has given insurance companies the ability to mine social media for all sorts of activities. According to reports, insurance companies are beginning to investigate the use of social media and data analytics to make more informed pricing decisions

Make sure you're OK with doing 'janitor work'. Make sure you're OK spending most of your time working on the unseen pieces of the iceberg.

Captured this Cardinal from our backporch last week. Taken with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm 5.6 L handheld.

You don't have to lose big with big data. Big data is complex and difficult, but with the proper planning and strategic thinking, you can prepare for many of the challenges that you will face in your big data initiatives.

I captured this Great Blue while driving around some back roads close to the house. Captured with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm 5.6 L

If you want to succeed with big data, you have to treat it differently than the data warehouse was treated. You need to think about opening up your data and allow easy, interactive access to every department within the organization.

I captured this over the weekend while out driving backroads around the house. Taken at Lake Sahoma during a cloud afternoon. Captured with an iPhone 5s.

Marketing isn't shortchanging IT. IT has shortchanged IT. Rather than help lead organizations into the digital world, the IT group has faltered in most companies. It is time for the CIO to come out of the data center and start talking about how technology can help driver new and more efficient products, services and solutions to the organization and the organization's client base.