Blog

Discover a wealth of data innovation and expertise within the Oakland blog hub – equipping you with all the latest industry knowledge to help your business get the most from its data.

Post The Pro’s and Con’s of using Data Lakehouse

The Pro’s and Con’s of using Data Lakehouse

When using your Data Platform to improve your Business Intelligence with useful dashboards, and reports, you’ll more than likely want to use a Data Warehouse. Add on your data science builds and storing your raw data cheaply, plus adding a Data Lake just for good measure, and the costs soon start adding up. Running both…

Post How to align a data governance and data strategy roadmap

How to align a data governance and data strategy roadmap

In this post, we expand on our earlier focus on ‘How to Build a Data Governance Program by Stealth: Introducing the Lighthouse Projects Concept‘ by exploring how to expand the reach and impact of Data Governance through alignment with a robust data strategy. Why the need for Lighthouse Data Governance? In the earlier ‘Data Governance…

Post Why bigger isn’t always better…. Maximising returns through cloud-based proof of concepts:

Why bigger isn’t always better…. Maximising returns through cloud-based proof of concepts:

Part 1 – Starting out and getting over the first hurdle!  So, about ALL of that data you have…  Pushing data into the cloud was once seen as a skill confined to tech companies, who had either started with at least one foot in the door or had the skills readily available to make it happen. However,  it is now much more commonplace for organisations to want to lift and shift their data and operations…

Post The Use Case For Project Analytics

The Use Case For Project Analytics

In this final article of the Project Analytics series, now that we’ve covered how to launch your Project Analytics capability, we explore what each category of users will make of their newly created capabilities now the skills, processes and technology are finally in place.  There are typically four basic use cases that we observe when building out…

Post The Four Phases of a Project Analytics Roadmap

The Four Phases of a Project Analytics Roadmap

In this article, we continue our discussion into the process of building out a complete Project Analytics capability for your major projects initiatives.    Last week, we explored the engineering architecture required for a modern Project Analytics capability. This week, we look at how to create a roadmap from your Project Analytics pilot into a production-ready solution that…

Post How to implement a data engineering strategy for your project analytics initiative

How to implement a data engineering strategy for your project analytics initiative

In this third article of our Project Analytics series, we expand on the team roles we introduced in our last article by explaining how everything comes together to build the data engineering requirements of a Project Analytics initiative.  Getting to grips with the reality of project data  If you’re focused on delivering Project Analytics, sooner or later,…

Post So, another year, another CDO Exchange event in the bag with IPQC

So, another year, another CDO Exchange event in the bag with IPQC

With some new faces, some new organisations represented, and some familiar ‘data friends’ in attendance, what did we learn? Interestingly whilst the number of newly represented organisations was a big plus this year (certainly from our perspective), the mix of challenges for senior data leaders remained strangely familiar. Data leaders are still navigating the technologies…

Post Project Analytics: Getting to know your data.

Project Analytics: Getting to know your data.

Welcome to part 2 of our 5 part series exploring the evolution of Project Analytics and how it’s transforming the performance and outcome of major projects initiatives.   In this article, we explore some use cases and best practices for getting started with project analytics.   Closing the Project Analytics ‘Imagination Gap’   “We need a critical mass of people…

Post The Evolution of Project Analytics

The Evolution of Project Analytics

Welcome to the first in a five-part series examining the fast-changing world of Project Analytics and its vital role in the major projects sector. This first article explores how the major projects sector is responding to a need for more intelligent project analytics. We explore how recent advances are beginning to dramatically improve the decision-making…

Post How to build a Data Governance Program by Stealth: Introducing the Lighthouse Projects Concept

How to build a Data Governance Program by Stealth: Introducing the Lighthouse Projects Concept

Chances are, you’re reading this article because you’ve been asked to launch, or support, some form of data governance initiative. Firstly, congratulations. You’re embarking on a worthy endeavour.  Here at Oakland, our Data Governance Team have trodden a similar path as we guided our clients across multiple data governance implementations. The results have been profoundly…

Post What is a Digital Twin? Definition and examples of next-level performance improvement

What is a Digital Twin? Definition and examples of next-level performance improvement

This article introduces the digital twin concept and its application to operations management through the lens of real-life examples. From operations management to customer experience and beyond, digital twins are transforming the way our clients are delivering products and services. The missing link between performance and data There are several questions clients routinely ask me. Some…

Post 2020’s closing cloud releases – what’s new for tech consumers in 2021?

2020’s closing cloud releases – what’s new for tech consumers in 2021?

Technology is not an entity that stands still, this is evident from the myriad of new releases, both small and large, that can be seen from companies like AWS and Azure, who continuously push the capabilities of what they can offer. However, this constant barrage of incremental gains can seem overwhelming and often will not…