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Instead of building data mining applications with no clear goal, companies are setting priorities up front to maximize ROI

Larry Stevens writes in InternetWeek (InDepth, Data Management, July 31, 2001)

Many companies have built data warehouses and data mining operations with no clear goal in mind. They've developed systems to stockpile information, much of which will never be used. The result has been a lackluster return on investment.

With businesses struggling to remain profitable in a down economy, such an approach is obviously doomed. "If you don't get the information to the right person at the right time, why do it?" says Jack Noonan, president of SPSS Inc. in Chicago, which makes data mining software.

By setting clear priorities up front, IT managers will be in a stronger position to launch successful data mining projects. These systems can be deployed to improve executive decision-making, performance of automated systems, or virtual decision-makers, and databases used in automated marketing programs.

See full article with successful case studies from Bank of Montreal using IBM's DB2 Intelligent Miner, Proflowers.com in San Diego using HitBox, EBags in Denver using Kana, Carrier Corp using WebMiner

and more at http://www.internetweek.com/indepth01/indepth073101.htm