Episode 62: Taking Technology Fandom to the Next Level

Guest: Christoph Hein

Most of us are ambivalent about the technology we use at work. Ideally, we don’t even want to think about it. We know that technology enables business operations to proceed at a speed and scale that would have been unthinkable just a generation ago. In fact, anytime our work-technology attracts attention to itself, it’s usually not for a good reason.

But sometimes a piece of technology gets a foothold somewhere and becomes the basis for a community of passionate fans whose imaginations are sparked by all the creative possibilities it enables.

Christoph Hein, our guest this week, epitomizes this kind of fandom as an active member of the global community of TM1 adherents. TM1, which is now IBM Planning Analytics, is a multi-dimensional database and modeling platform used for many financial and operational planning and reporting applications in companies of all sizes around the world.

In this conversation, Christoph shares how he went from studying History in University to being the “TM1 Fan Boy” and shares several interesting non-traditional examples of how TM1 is used where he works, at Deutsche Bahn. We also get to hear about the planninganalyticsguide.com website, which Christoph’s passion project in collaboration with BARC, and analyst firm.

Episode 61: ESG and Sustainability Reporting Primer

Guest: Bill Primerano

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and Sustainability Reporting requirements for businesses are well on their way to becoming unavoidable. For some companies it’s another example of costly government overreach that adds to the workloads of an already stretched workforce, while for others it’s an opportunity to drive efficiency, innovation, and long-term business success.

The goal of this episode of the AskQueBIT podcast is to break down the task of ESG and Sustainability Reporting using an Analytics lens, separating requirements definition from data wrangling and reporting. We believe this is useful because requirements definition for ESG and sustainability reporting is difficult and daunting. What is valuable to measure and report on varies greatly between industries, and expectations are still in flux, leaving many companies to figure things out on their own.

Meanwhile data wrangling and reporting, while also difficult and daunting, are familiar activities for any company that has ever done an analytics project, for example implementing a Financial Planning software platform, or a business intelligence solution for Vendor Analysis. Knowing that you may already have experience and tools for this half of the challenge ought to be comforting.

Our guest this week is Bill Primerano who is the World Wide Technical Sales Leader for IBM Business Analytics. Bill recently got back from Europe where sustainability and ESG reporting are top priorities for many of IBM’s major customers. In our conversation Bill tells us about the frameworks that companies are using to get a handle on ESG and Sustainability Reporting requirements, and how some of them are truly embracing the opportunity to re-tool their entire strategies to support a sustainable – and long-term profitable - future.

Episode 59: Analytics Shorts: 3 Stories

Guests: Tyler King, Deepak Kumar, A.G. Tan

This week we are showcasing three of QueBIT’s expert consultants: Tyler King, Deepak Kumar and A.G. Tan. They have so many great stores to tell, but very little spare time, so we came up with this idea of the three-minute-story. Tell us about a favorite project in about three minutes by recording it on your own phone, whenever you have a moment!

It’s a fun format, and you get to hear about a global convenience store company, a retailer and a bank … all in under 15 minutes!

Each of these companies had a different planning and analysis business problem that they solved using analytics technology and a little help from QueBIT. We hope these examples help you imagine the value analytics technology can bring. It goes far beyond merely saving time, reducing manual effort and better governance, important as these all are. What we strive for is to help companies improve the quality of their decision making, by presenting all the relevant information to each individual at the time they need it, and in a form they can readily consume.