TDWI Spring Meeting: Agile Data Warehousing and Analytics in Practice

Join us for great presentations and discussion around agile data warehousing and analytics in practice. Lunch will be provided.

Agile Methods and Data Warehousing: How to Deliver Faster
Kent Graziano, Snowflake Computing

Most people will agree that data warehousing and business intelligence projects take too long to deliver tangible results. Often by the time a solution is in place, the business needs have changed. With all the talk about Agile development methods like SCRUM and Extreme Programming, the question arises as to how these approaches can be used to deliver data warehouse and business intelligence projects faster. This presentation will look at the 12 principles behind the Agile Manifesto and see how they might be applied in the context of a data warehouse project. The goal is to determine a method or methods to get a more rapid (2-4 weeks) delivery of portions of an enterprise data warehouse architecture. Real world examples with metrics will be discussed.

Analytics in Practice: Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Eric Stephens, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Analytics is playing a more significant role than ever in today’s organizations, due to the awareness of the importance of incorporating data into the decision-making process, the wide availability and ease of use of modern analysis tools, and of course the ever-increasing amount of available data. Following this trend, Vanderbilt University Medical Center established the Strategic and Operations Analytics department in 2014 with the directive to create “actionable analytics to drive frontline decision making”. The team has already had a significant impact on the hospital’s operations, having contributed to several projects both at the service line level and enterprise-wide. The success of the department is due primarily to several factors related to its structure, function, and methods of operation. This presentation will discuss these factors, as well as how it interacts and collaborates with VUMC’s Enterprise Data Warehouse team to effectively accomplish its objectives.

About the Presenters

Kent Graziano, Snowflake Computing
Kent is a Senior Technical Evangelist with Snowflake Computing and the author of The Data Warrior blog (http://kentgraziano.com). He is a certified Data Vault Master (CDVP2), Oracle ACE Director, expert data modeler and architect with over 30 years of experience, including 25 years doing data warehousing with multiple architectures. Kent is an award winning speaker and author having written numerous articles, co-authored four books (available on Amazon.com), and has done over 100 presentations, nationally and internationally. You can follow Kent on his blog and twitter @kentgraziano.

Eric Stephens, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Eric Stephens is a strategic data analyst currently working in the healthcare industry in Nashville, Tennessee. In January 2015, he joined Vanderbilt University Medical Center as an Operations Analyst in the hospital’s newly-formed Strategic and Operations Analytics group. Prior to Vanderbilt, Eric spent 13 years with SESAC, a music copyright organization, most recently holding the position of Associate Director of Research & Analytics. Mr. Stephens is a member of the American Statistical Association, the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS), Leadership Health Care, and Toastmasters International, and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Tennessee Tech University as well as a Graduate Certificate in Applied Statistics from the University of Tennessee. He is a Certified Analytics Professional (CAP®), and is active in the Nashville analytics community through his role as the co-chair of the Nashville Technology Council’s Analytics Peer Network.

In addition to his role at Vanderbilt, Eric is an Adjunct Professor at Lipscomb University in Nashville, where he teaches courses in business analytics and statistical methods for various graduate programs in the College of Computing and Technology. He also serves as a technical presentation consultant to various organizations in the Nashville area.

When not working or teaching, Eric is a part-time professional musician whose primary instruments are bass (both upright and electric) and tuba. He has performed with such varied artists as Dennis DeYoung (former lead singer of Styx), Jimi Jamison (former lead singer of Survivor), Grand Ole Opry star Porter Wagoner, and the Nashville Symphony.