7 keys to a successful business intelligence strategy

Business intelligence (BI) is essential for business growth and competitive advantage, yet reaping benefits from BI requires more than implementing the technology that enables it. In fact, deploying the technology is the easiest part of any BI initiative, according to Boris Evelson, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. Getting the personnel and processes…

10 signs your CRM system needs an overhaul

Nothing lasts forever and that includes CRM implementations. At first, your CRM system won praise for increasing productivity. Over time, the story has changed. Complaints from customer service, the sales department and other units have emerged. Through the corporate grapevine, you find out that users are quietly switching to “shadow CRM” arrangements such as using…

10 tips for getting started with machine learning

Machine learning (ML) is fast becoming a litmus test for forward-thinking CIOs. Companies that fail to adopt machine learning for product development or business operations risk falling behind more nimble competitors in the coming decade. That’s according to Dan Olley, who as the CTO of Elsevier, the scientific and health information unit of RELX Group,…

IDG Contributor Network: How Axactor enabled dramatic growth with a bleeding edge strategy

Companies with an aggressive growth strategy require a unique IT strategy. This was the case in December 2015 when two entrepreneurial minded executives with broad experience in the debt collection industry founded Axactor-a debt collection and debt purchase company headquartered in Stockholm and Oslo. I was made aware of Axactor through a mutual friend and spoke…

A practical guide to machine learning in business

Machine learning is transforming business. But even as the technology advances, companies still struggle to take advantage of it, largely because they don’t understand how to strategically implement machine learning in service of business goals. Hype hasn’t helped, sowing confusion over what exactly machine learning is, how well it works and what it can do…

How Mastercard is preparing for contextual commerce

Ed McLaughlin foresees a future of frictionless commerce in which cars pay for gas and parking, video game systems order more games and printers order paper and ink. As Mastercard’s  Ed McLaughlin, president of operations and technology, Mastercard sees it, everyday devices equipped with sensors will increasingly make payments based on their surroundings. “Every one…