I received an email from a company asking me to write training manuals for them, and it got me thinking. If I were to create materials, who would I find to publish them? The publishing series I most admire is Head First by O'Reilly Media. Unfortunately, I don't see many recent titles, so I'm guessing that the dissemination of courses and material has diminished the demand for traditional books. Still, a book provides a breadth on a topic you don't get from focused tutorials.
Even professionally, I struggle with the minutia of technology and my overall desire to discuss the evolution of the Data Warehouse as technology has changed. New technologies have necessitated new techniques, but the fundamental principles of data analysis are based on understanding the real world. Unfortunately, many engineering teams don't understand this and focus instead on the technologies, failing to address the overarching data analytics need.
However, I understand there is a chicken and the egg relationship between technology and data warehousing analytics. New technologies will make doing analytics cheaper, faster, and more accessible. In addition, new technologies can hide the complexity of sophisticated algorithms and allow more people to do advanced data science.
Back to the notion of publishing. I received an offer to develop courses for a company they would own. Unfortunately, I didn't recognize the name, so I'm guessing they are a newcomer in the sector.
Thinking about who is active in this area. Here are some experts worth following:
Krish Krishnan - Founder of Sixth Sense Advisors
Wayne Eckerson - Founder of the Eckerson Group
Worth thinking about as I consider writing, as the most critical foundation of any article is a healthy bibliography.
Additionally, here are some lean startup blogs and links mentioned in Eric Ries's book, "The Lean Startup."
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