Business Intelligence and the Cloud: Strategic Implementation Guide

Foreword

In 1991 ADNET Technologies was cofounded with a vision of bridging the gap between information technology (IT) and business—essentially, making IT real for businesses. Michael Gendron and I first met several years ago when he was working on his book Business Intelligence Applied: Implementing an Effective Information and Communications Technology Infrastructure. He was (and still is) a professor of information systems at Central Connecticut State University. It was immediately apparent that we shared a common vision to bridge the gap between IT and business.

In the past 30 years we have seen the rise and fall of an array of technologies. Are we now in the process of witnessing the fall of the personal computer as tablets and smartphones take over? I will leave that for history to tell, but what is certain is that technology changes at a rapid pace. As the speed of technology changes, so does the speed of business and competition. As technology has become part of the DNA of business, the speed of technological change has naturally affected the rate at which businesses change. The effects have been widespread, including leveling the playing field between large and small companies. If technology is changing at such a rapid pace that even large companies have difficulty staying abreast of the change, how can small companies possibly compete? What chance do they have in this ever-changing world of technology? The answer is the cloud. The book you are reading makes that point. ...