The Melbourne Cup and Business Intelligence – Just another Horse Race?

As I shook the cobwebs away, counted my losses (only $35 this year) and reflected on the selections I “should” have made, it was clear that another Melbourne Cup had came and went. For those of you that are reading this from outside Australia, the Melbourne Cup is truly a grand event that has been coined “the race that stops a nation”. For one day in the year, an entire country gets involved in this horse race directly by betting or buying a ticket in sweeps or indirectly by having a statutory holiday and/or watching the replay of the horse race finish again, and again and again in the media. This year’s winning horse was “Shocking” – one of the favourites with a great track record. Sitting at my desk I was thinking about the Melbourne Cup and wondered how gambling could appeal to such a large audience. How much was spent on the Melbourne Cup this year? About the same amount that Gartner predicts will be spent on Business Intelligence software this year - $175 Million AUD - some punters will have turned a profit, but the majority will have parted with their money with no returns.

BI in Horse Racing

In the Melbourne Cup there are 20+ horses, all competing for the glory. There are statics on the Form guide which detail success in the last several racing events, the weight of the jockey, age of the horse, starting price, the trainer and owners are all information that is considered before a serious gambler (or investor) will back a horse. The actual selection, once the information is reviewed, will be based on the best information available and is changing right up to the seconds before they rush out of the starting gate. This is similar to the decisions that are made in businesses every day. Managers require a medium (Form guide) for the business which will give them up-to-the minute information to base decisions upon. Of course it is rarely the occasion that only one manager (punter) will be involved with the decision, but the importance of the information should never be undermined. If even one of these statistics is compromised such as the previous success of the horse, the punters will never trust the betting house again. Similarly, the information within an organisation needs to be water-proof or the most important element of working with other departments/functions will be lost – TRUST.

Picking a Favourite

On the Melbourne Cup day, generally the favourites do well, but 3 times in its 149 year history a 100-1 horse has won the Cup. How does this happen? Maybe the horse wasn’t the strongest, and the statistics didn’t seem to add up, but ultimately the jockey probably read the race and the horses talents resulting in a completely unexpected win. To me, this highlights the importance of management in any situation – especially in business intelligence. Let’s say you have a BI toolset that is considered a “favourite”. Gartner has identified several large players and niche players in the BI space that could be labelled this way. With an industrial strength (favourite) solution in your organisation you are increasing the odds of success. There will be broader skills in the marketplace, more R&D being poured into the suite, and generally a favourite will have more experience. These will all work towards increasing the odds of success, so why don’t we always win with the favourites? There is competition all around you causing distractions including other competing projects (other horses), the BI management team may not be aligned with the organisation (jockey not understanding the horse), a clear execution strategy may not have been defined (understanding when to gallop and when to take the inside rail), or it can happen when there is no executive buy-in (a horse has a failed support team on the day). Looking at it from another angle organisations can be successful with their BI implementations even though the tool-kit isn’t a “favourite”. With the right mix of management, vendor, and strategic execution it can easily take 1st place.

While the Melbourne Cup only occurs for a few minutes each year, business intelligence is used religiously every day in all organisations. Picking a solution and deploying a BI strategy shouldn’t be a gamble, but with the right mix of leadership, training, tools and strategic direction you will be across the finish line ahead of your competitors and enjoy the profits that come with this success. Now excuse me, but I have to do some predictive analytics on which horse will win this week-end in Sydney – who needs to wait for next year ?!