Enterprise hits and misses - "Quiet Quitting" gets a debate, DataOps gets scrutinized, and Microsoft Exchange gets hacked (again)

Lead story - From DataOps to Decision Intelligence - are we any closer to better decision-making?

The promise of modern data science is to bring us closer to better decisions - at enterprise scale. But obstacles persist. Neil looks at one potential way forward in Distributed data sources are everywhere - can DataOps save us from cloud data complexity? 

Cloud data was supposed to enable AI at scale and democratize data. But how do we cope with the new complexities of distributed data? The emerging discipline of DataOps may help us here - along with concepts like "Data in mind, data in hand." Neil:

The whole point of DataOps is to provide an” intent-driven design.” The reality is that data movement in a world of unfathomable data volumes is highly complex. However, simplifying the abstraction layer is still valuable, especially in democratizing the data experience.

Neil contrasts the potential of DataOps with the obstacles:

While DataOps promises to streamline analytics, it comes at a cost.The architecture to materialize this has many components and is complex. For the data scientist, “The Data in Mind, Data in Hand” concept demands that all of this complexity is not hidden but rather exposed in such a way that all of the capabilities of the DataOps architecture are there for them to exploit.

I really like Neil's emphasis on "revealed complexity" in user experience design - that's just as relevant for analytics users. Too often, modern design is a simplicity force feed, eliminating powerful configuration options out of fear of complex UIs. But revealed complexity abstracts and hides that complexity, without losing it - a must-have for enterprise decision making, which requires a slew of data sources.

What should all this lead? I hope "decision intelligence" is on that list. Chris explore that in a feature on a decision intelligence pioneer: Decision Intelligence - closing the gap between data and leadership. Chris quotes Professor Lorien Pratt, co-founder and Chief Scientist of decision intelligence software provider Quantellia:

I assumed that the bigger and weightier the decision, the more rigor would be applied to it, and the more formal data would be used to back it up. So, I was really surprised to learn that the opposite is true.

It's good to see a "groundswell" in interest, and the demand for DI talent. As Chris laments:

If only more organizations – including governments – only crashed the economy in simulations then took alternative decisions, rather than hitting the ‘Believe!’ button and just seeing what happens.

Does decision intelligence mean the end of "maverick" decision making? Not exactly. I regularly mock the "data-driven" mantra, in favor of data-informed. As Chris puts it:

Sometimes a maverick idea can be a good one, even if there is no data to support. Be prepared, though, to accept you might be completely wrong. Ploughing on regardless as counter evidence piles up isn’t good leadership.

Diginomica picks - my top stories on diginomica this week

• Kroger - what was learned from COVID and how to retain the best in the Vaccine Economy - Stuart boils down Kroger's tough retail lessons. Here's one Vaccine Economy edge to build on: "Kroger benefitted from its stores being, on average, within two miles of its customers, enabling it to use these physical outlets as digital fulfilment hubs."
• Quiet quitting - it’s probably not a real thing, but can we really blame young people for liking the idea? - Derek takes on an overheated-but-highly-relevant topic: "I don’t think any amount of collaboration software, free gym memberships, or work from home policies will shake the ‘quiet quitting’ appeal." Dear employers: if your workplace isn't a toxic slog employees see an energizing career path in front of them, you won't hear a thing about "quiet quitting" in your organization.

Vendor analysis, diginomica style. Here's my top choices from our vendor coverage:

• SuccessConnect - Dynamic teams, skills ontology and lots of HR feet on the ground - Brian unfurls part one of a two-part epic on SAP SuccessConnect. Pull quote on how HR vendors are changing/must change: "It's not enough to just have a transaction-processing HR system. The business problems post-pandemic are very different."
• SAP S/4 HANA upgrades are about process optimization - how CENIBRA used ARIS to map a successful global project - I enjoyed digging into this major S/4HANA use: "I believe customers need a full business case to ensure a good S/4HANA result, not just end-of-maintenance. Good news - Ribeiro's team clearly had that."

SuiteWorld '22 - Oracle's SuiteWorld brought NetSuite's cloud ERP moves onto center stage - including workflow automation, Analytics Warehouse enhancements and geographical expansion. Highlights from our team coverage so far:

• Oracle NetSuite announces automation and data updates to ‘help businesses run better’ - Derek
• SuiteWorld 2022 - Studio McGee overcomes supply chain surprises with NetSuite - Madeline
• SuiteWorld 2022 - Thread turns to NetSuite ERP and analytics to support brick-and-mortar expansion - Madeline

Dreamforce '22 - rounding it up: we've got a couple more tasty bits for you from our full-on Dreamforce coverage, with plenty more in our Dreamforce 2022 event hub.

• Genie, the new data layer in the Salesforce platform that makes application silos disappear - Phil
• Human storytelling - bringing trailblazing content to life at Dreamforce - Barb

Jon's grab bag - GDPR changed data privacy, but how much real-world teeth does it have? We may be about to find out: UK data protection watchdog takes action against organizations failing to comply with GDPR personal data access requests (Derek). Neil issues a scorching critique in Stop blaming humans for bias in AI? Who else should we blame?  Finally, Chris interviews the CEO in a next-gen UK space startup: In-Space everyone can hear you dream - CEO interview. Beam me up Chris...

Best of the enterprise web

My top seven

• Microsoft: Two New 0-Day Flaws in Exchange Server – Another week, another vulnerability - or, as one Krebs on Security commenter put it, "Another day, another Exchange zero day." Pass the snark.... Krebs on Security also provided patching info; impacted customers should get asap.
• Two thirds of BPO customers want to pay for achieving business outcomes… only a third for butts-on-seats - Phil Fersht's writeup points to a drastically different BPO market than I once knew, and that's a good thing. Yes, outcome-based services models need a lot more proof points, but that's the direction I am rooting for.
• When the Rubber Hits the Road - Lora Cecere continues a colossal streak of must-read supply chain posts: "We find that three factors mattered: organizational alignment, descriptive analytics, and inventory management."
• Sub-Optimal - "The Optimus demo turned out to be a bit of a dud." Gary Marcus explains why.
• Conversation on toxic workplace behavior with Tessa West - There are three obstacles to truly modern HR. One is integration, particularly with cloud financials. The next is workplace surveillance/trust, and how digital HR cuts both ways. The third obstacle is the toxic workplace/bad manager problem. This McKinsey interview sheds light - and tactics.
• Identifying the Top 20 Emerging Vendors in 2022 Provides Guidelines to Where the Market is Headed - useful research summary from Digital Enterprise Journal on emerging vendors - and the trends driving them.
• How to Reach Software Engineers through Social Media - RedMonk's Kate Holterhoff issued a definitive post on reaching software engineers online. On Hacker News: ""Good luck trying to reach this discerning audience with anything other than the most well considered and truly newsworthy posts."

Whiffs

So Tesla's time-to-prototype deserves respect, but still - the Optimus unveiling opened Tesla to social skewering, and delightful recollections of high school science fair vanity projects retro robots:

I'm trying to decide what's the bigger whiff - TikTok's loose approach to data privacy or the reporting on it:

Shouldn't we just assume all "free" social apps are tracking us all over creation? The real news would be to find a social media app that isn't stalking us. Speaking of toxic workplaces, how about this Florida CEO who asked her employees to buck up and work through Hurricane Ian, because the storm was a "nothingburger" and, you know, quarterly numbers and no excuses blah blah (she later apologized).

Finally, I've been seeing a lot of blowback on various LinkedIn snafus lately. I'll go with this one:

If you find an #ensw piece that qualifies for hits and misses - in a good or bad way - let me know in the comments as Clive (almost) always does. Most Enterprise hits and misses articles are selected from my curated @jonerpnewsfeed.