@jabailo, altho it was more than evident that you were casting Nordstoms attempt at technology and analytics in a very negative way, my first reaction to it ( and I am not a Nordstrom's customer or shareholder, if they have any ) was positive; what an interesting hands-on somewhat old fashioned way of customer relations and product placement, certainly not anything to run to the exits about.
Certainly it is very tech-correct to be in favor of analytics certainly at Internet Evolution but to actually practice what you preach is an entirely different matter. Would you prefer a bevy of salespeople with tablets or a bevy with sleeve garters and dogeared customer notebooks?
I always go back to my experience at Nordstrom years ago. Back then they were incredibly technology adverse. Their "analytics tool"? Every sales person kept a written customer journal. They memorized names and faces. They surveyed "their store" -- the boutiques within each floor that they managed. They looked at what customers were buying...and rejecting and moved goods around to push those things that were selling.
I recall at one job where I spent a day with the production team. It was eye-opening to work in their department and see what they did. And it really helped me when I got back to my desk because I changed how I did certain things to simplify their workload when they got my files. Everytime you cross-pollinate departments you have that opportunity to open eyes to new ways of doing things. Crossing into new disciplines is even more exciting. Just consider the businesses owned by former ballet dancers, or painters, or pilots, etc. Because they don't come with an MBA background they have a whole different view of how to run a business. Sometimes they fail, but sometimes they don't (just like the MBAs).
Analytics can be just as much a creative art as a...well, analytical or technical one. Non homogeneous, non relational data, can include all that is available for the eye to see and the ear to hear. Rather than trying to "fill a need", I think employers should think about creating jobs that are more an investigative reporter...someone who combines research, data, snooping, maybe even paying off sources...the whole gamut of finding answers.
Far from trying to square peg and optimize, this is great new way to bring more people into the workforce who know how to use all the web and smart phone technologies and have a general desire to find things out, but maybe aren't from a traditional IT background.
We see it in other industries, too. For example, I live near the Kennedy Space Center, and NASA works closely with FIT and other universities' engineering and space programs to help design courses and degrees that closely meet its criteria.
It reduces the risk of colleges turning out graduates with "Analytics" degrees which turn out not to be applicable in the workplace, which meanwhile has moved on. It seems to me vital that the private sector get involved with this kind of vocational education.
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Social media has been with us for a decade -- but employer policies and the law are anything but firm about the most appropriate usage of this powerful tool.
Businesses often struggle to decide which domain to use. When it comes to purchasing a domain name, you have plenty of extensions to choose from, ranging from .com and .net, to .me, and even .mobi. But which one should you pick?
I've been writing about how the next evolution of the Internet might just be an advertising revolution, and how corporate IT can stay involved as the enablers and providers of the technologies that make this possible.
In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
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M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet David Weldon In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M. CLICK FOR MORE
