2009 Year in Review

As we're about to enter 2010, it's a good time to reflect on what happened in 2009 and what it all means.

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times ..." So Dickens begins "A Tale of Two Cities", but it's also a good description of the past year.

The first half of the year was one of the most challenging I've faced in my twenty-three year career in business and technology. The second half of 2009 was better - not without its speed bumps but every month was a little better than the one before it.

The macro-economic climate has been tumultuous at best. But the second half of the year showed enough improvement that Hub Designs' revenue for the year was up 33%. Not bad for a two and a half year old company during the worst economic conditions in 80 years ...

Hidden Costs of Duplicate Customer Data

A client asked me last week about what rate of duplicate data was "normal" in customer master data.

My initial answer was that, among companies that don't have any formal master data management, data governance or data quality initiatives in place, duplication rates of 10%-30% (or more) are not uncommon.

First Look at Oracle Fusion MDM Hub

"All NDAs are lifted" were the magic words uttered by Steve Miranda from Oracle at the Fusion Inner Circle Event at Oracle OpenWorld on October 15th.

Just to make sure, I asked Steve explicitly during the Q&A section of the program if it was okay under the non-disclosure agreement we had all signed to write about Fusion on my blog, and he said "Yes."

Hub Designs was invited back in February to help Oracle's Fusion MDM team with some design review, validation, and testing activities. In return for our assistance, we've gotten to see Fusion MDM inside and out, and we can proudly say that we are one of the very few trusted partners who helped Oracle to design and develop the application.