The Better Pathway to a Successful Business Intelligence Implementation. Like Raw Chicken, Raw Data is NOT usually good for you: More and more companies are jumping on the Big Data, Data Analytics, Data Mining, Data Science, Data-Driven bandwagon(s). Nothing like stating the obvious, but I made reference to the first five "Data" buzzwords I hear throughout the course of any given day. Why only five? After all, there are plenty more "Data" buzzwords out there... and lets not forget "Analytics"!    The point is, that it's no secret that businesses recognize what they need to stay in business; Data! Actually it is my belief that data in an unto itself is not inherently good. Consuming raw data, much like consuming raw chicken is not all that good for you. In fact trying to consume it raw is likely to produce sick behavior at best and could lead to the death of your business.  Business Intelligence is a mind-set: As companies go, I hav...

How to create a Histogram with BIRT You'll find my example and post on the Actuate Developer Forum .

Working while traveling?   So, I've been referring to myself as a sort of Digital Gypsy for a few years now. Until this past year, this was not a completely accurate statement. I had a condo, home base, paid property taxes; what ever would constitute as "normal everyday American" typical living. Enter, moving onto the sailboat and just leaving the rented condo behind for someone else to worry about, and taking off! So how do you maintain enough stability, without loosing freedom? To maintain a place to receive paychecks, paper correspondence, and simply ensure that you have the things necessary to provide a prospective client that you're not a vagabond, get a mail service. We use St. Brendan's Isle mail service (http://sbimailservice.com) another service if you'd like to comparison shop, is Mail Forwarding Services in Oregon (http://www.mailforwardingservices.com). Having these services even if you have a permanent home address is wonderful for anyone wh...

Never Confuse Selling with Implementing I just heard these words said for the second time in as many weeks.I've recently been involved in my first sales / POC engagement, and it was an eye opener. I think we all have some responsibility to "sell" our product, skills, ideas, etc... No matter if we're the technical help, or the sales professionals. The issue as I've seen it comes in when a techical person is asked to perform in a sales capacity. Sales by nature, doesn't seem to focus on the technical aspect of anything outside the "FAB" talk. "FAB" "Features, Advantage, and Benefit" are usually decided upon by marketing and the talking points are well established. This is why it is probably a little easier to "Sell" an idea or product this way. As a technical resource, the only selling and marketing information we are privy too or care to study are the standard set of specs. Then we're off to try and figure the "t...

So you've been on a project for three weeks, and it becomes apparent that things are not going well. What should you do? As an implementation specialist, developer, or integrator do you have any more responsibility than to "just do your job"? Though some if not most projects are full of political motives and egos. Trying to point out flaws is almost never met with a welcoming attitude. You have perhaps a very few set of options, but options none the less; so, what are you to do? Plug along, and let the project manager blame you for being slow or ill prepared. This option does nothing for anyone involved, you look bad, your project manager is stressed, and the client is loosing faith all the way around. Point a finger, and highlight the flaws in the plan. This option will surely make your project manager defensive at best and down-right hostile at worst. In either case the client might get what they want, but depending on how highlight the flaws you might alienate your PM....

So you're going to upgrade your Actuate iServer implementation. After you read this, you might consider moving to the 'Cloud' with your deployment. Then again, it really isn't to difficult to do but you'll need to know how to apply version specific jar files and recompile. On the topic of moving your reporting enterprize to the 'Cloud' check this article, where Actuate's CEO talks about being architected to 'move from the warehouse to the cloud'. http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2273651/actuate-birt-open-source Now the secret to upgrading the iServer RSSE... Really it is a matter of first simply extracting your iServer installation and deploying the iServer. Then you will have a folder named /acrsse/. Here you'll find a few example Security Extensions. Pick the one that you have implemented for your custom RSSE, then pull all the bin/jars out and use those in your RSSE project. Compiling against those, and changing the version number in your conf...