EPM Conversations — Episode No. 6, A Conversation With Mike Nader, EPM’s Very Own Data Analytics Polymath

EPM doesn’t get a lot of polymaths, does it. Yet Mike is exactly one of those.

A polymath is, “a person of great and varied learning” although Mike is too modest to agree with that description. If you but listen to this conversation, you (and he) will see that it is a fair characterization.

NB – The above graphic isn’t for n00bs but instead for veteran EPM practitioners who recognize the graphical genius of the long-gone and much-lamented Arbor Software’s training decks. Mike has several ties to this as you’ll hear.

But wait, there’s more

In addition to Yr. Obt. Svt., this conversation also has Natalie Delemar as our guest host and regular John Booth. This varying cast of characters is what I hope is the (or at least a) future of EPM Conversations. Tim, Celvin, John, and I are wonderful (ahem) hosts but there’s much, much, much more to EPM than us, cf. our guests and Natalie.

I’ve known (at least I was at the same conference although as I really and truly worked 100 hours that week in addition to presenting and working a booth so if I did meet Mike I have no recollection of it) Mike since Kscope 2009 in Carmel.

What I didn’t know was how much Mike has done: Atari 600xl owner, COMPUTE! magazine subscriber, English school teacher, roofing product computer operator/developer, operations management, Hyperion course writer, Essbase consultant, Planning consultant, Essbase PM, Big 4 consultant, startup analytics evangelist, Big 4 (but a different one) leader, and I’m sure a few more roles I’ve missed. What is crucial to understand and what is central to what Mike does and cares about is making sense of data, i.e. analytics.

Hear the conversation

  • Start – 2:55 Introduction
  • 02:55 – 14:56 How Mike Started with Analytics and EPM
  • 14:56 – 25:41 EPM vs Analytics
  • 25:41 – 28:05 Adoption of Tools in Different Organizational Functions
  • 28:05 – 36:04 Tools That Can Merge Financial and Operational Datasets
  • 36:04 – 43:44 What EPM Technologists Should Know About Analytics
  • 43:44 – 53:30 The Medium Term Future of Analytics
  • 53:30 – End Outroduction

We hope you like the episode as much as we do. If you do enjoy it, please give us a good rating on the provider of your choice as it both bathes our ever-needy egos and also – and rather more importantly – allows listeners to more easily find us.

Join us, won’t you?

 

EPM Conversations – Episode 5, A Conversation (no, a rap!) With Chris Turner Explicit

Different? You want different? Music? Humor? Freestyle Rapping? Maybe something related to EPM?

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Maybe. Actually, yes, quite a bit really.

Chris Turner is his name

You read that right: EPM Conversations has a number of firsts in this podcast:

  1. A conversation with the artist and performer Chris Turner.
  2. A freestyle rap about EPM. Really. We have the best and simultaneously the only rap on this subject extant. I look forward to others contributing to this genre. And then a rap battle. It’s the obvious move.
  3. A podcast where your hosts are largely unable to form coherent sentences or at least keep up with the guest. We tried but we’re not that facile with language as you’ll hear when Chris covers EPM in all of its glory as well as the episode itself.

A note before we get into the content of this conversation: if you are of a timid and retiring nature, easily offended at adult language and commentary, then I fear this isn’t for you. However, I think the number of 11 year olds who listen to EPM Conversations rounds down to zero and you are all grown up so I merely warn that if you are one of the few in our little industry who is in an office during The Plague, this is a podcast (and other related media) best consumed at home or at least through earbuds. Oh yes, you also need to have a sense of humor – it’s all very funny stuff but adult. There, I think I’ve given fair warning to the faint of heart which is surely not you, Gentle Listener.

And just who is Chris Turner?

This is absolutely a case of letting one’s work speak for itself. Check out his YouTube channel as a first stop.

And yes, he’s English. Do yourself a favor and watch the rap-battle-that-I-hope-will-one-day-come-to-EPM-may-that-day-be-soon between Chris and Thomas Toles. Poor Canadians – they’re even practically British but that doesn’t help them much. Funny stuff, especially the bit at the end that drives home what makes the Special Relationship well, special.

Done? Something else, eh? How much time did you not do your job? Guilty as charged I imagine. That’s what art does – and wordplay and music are most definitely art.

How did guys as deeply uncool as EPM Conversations’ hosts end up with a freestyle rapper?

All blame credit is due John. How on earth he came up with the idea is beyond Yr. Obt. Svt., I’m merely glad he did and I think you will be as well.

Just how do geeks engage a rapper and even more importantly have a conversation with him?

One can’t say that Chris doesn’t get This Modern World:

We did exactly none of this. Of course. Instead John reached out to Chris via his web site: https://www.christurnercomedy.com/ See, we are creative or at least not very good at following more obvious routes.

After John worked his magic, he and I had a call with Chris about how all of this works. Beyond the more obvious live performances, he quite often does videos as he does for EPM Conversations for all sorts of audiences, even podcasts which given their non-visual form is quite the feat.

The finished products(s)

After that came the reason you listen to EPM Conversations – a conversation with all of your hosts and Chris. Chris has a very different take on data and how he crafts his product. Yes, quite outside of the typical EPM topic but there is that grain of what we do in what he does. Look for more of this in future episodes.

How to consume this multimedia podcast? Listen or watch? Or listen while watching? Or listen first and then watch? Or the other way round? You decide. No matter what, we think you’ll enjoy it. We did.

Want to watch Chris directly? This is like having dessert before the Meat and Two Veg you’re supposed to have first but no matter. NB – oh dear, a double entendre. The first definition in that explanatory link, please. And after the below, do listen to the podcast as there’s much more going on than just this most excellent freestyle rap.

We hope you like the episode as much as we do. If you do enjoy it, please give us a good rating on the provider of your choice as it both bathes our ever-needy egos and also – and rather more importantly – allows listeners to more easily find us.

Join us, won’t you?

EPM Conversations – Episode No. 4, a conversation with John Booth

What could be better than the Three EPM Conversations Cohosts?

What whole number is greater than three? Four, totes obvs. And here we are, with Yr. Obt. Svt., Celvin Kattookaran, Tim German, and now John Booth.

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John and I did the very first EPM-in-the-cloud presentation at Kscope11: EPM 11.1.2.something-or-other running on AWS. John did all of the heavy lifting and I did…something. No matter, he still talks to me as you will gather below if you but listen.

John has been a writer in the Developing Essbase Applications books, is an ACE Director alumni, a contributor to the late and lamented Essbase Network54 message board, a frequent conference presenter, and always has a provocative and interesting viewpoint on the state of the industry, the value of performance management applications, and where on earth the Earth is heading. Heady stuff, no?

That’s quite an introduction and one that is well deserved. I am very happy to share that John will be a regular cohost on EPM Conversations.

With that, this episode’s précis:

  • Start – 8:10 Introductions
  • 8:10 – 11:00 Running Hyperion on Lesser-Used Operating Systems
  • 11:00 – 13:15 Whatever Happened To Exalytics?
  • 13:15 – 22:55 Specialization in Infrastructure
  • 22:55 – 25:20 Is Software Supporting Fewer Operating Systems A Problem?
  • 25:20 – 28:00 Is On-Premises Software Going Away Altogether?
  • 28:00 – 31:00 Whatever Happened To Infrastructure Consultants?
  • 31:00 – 37:15 Industry Diversification in Tools (especially Integration)
  • 37:15 – 45:00 Does Toolset Diversification Call for More Technically Adept Practitioners?
  • 45:00 – 50:45 Doing Integration with “Real” Programming Languages
  • 50:45 – 52:30 John’s Future in EPM Consulting
  • 52:30 – 63:30 How are People Forming Professional Connections in COVID Times?
  • 63:30 – 66:45 Virtual Conference Structures
  • 66:45 – End Outroduction

Yes, long, but lots of goodness are contained within and it will give you a taste of the ever-evolving aka we-cannot-make-up-our-minds direction of the podcast.

We hope you like the episode as much as we do. If you do enjoy it, please give us a good rating on the provider of your choice as it both bathes our ever-needy egos and also – and rather more importantly – allows listeners to more easily find us.

Join us, won’t you?

EPM Conversation – A Conversation With Abhi Nerurkar, Co-Founder of EPMware

One out of three ain’t bad

We were lucky enough to land Abhi Nerurkar, one of the three co-founders of EPMware, a software company specializing in Master Data Management (MDM) and Workflow, for our very first vendor conversation.

A note: we didn’t speak with Abhi’s partners, Tony Kiratsous and Deven Shah, as we’re simply not set up/not experienced enough to manage a six way conversation. We have to work on that but I hope that Deven and Tony understand/are deeply appreciative of not being bored to death/annoyed beyond endurance by the chaos I fear such a large group would produce.

Just what don’t you know about software development? Well, if you’re like us: everything.

We – you, me, Tim, Celvin, The Man in the Moon (probably not) == we all use software as part of our job, else why listen to this podcast? But do we know anything about writing, managing, and selling-software on a commercial basis? Unless you work for a vendor and are at the coal face at that, I can answer this one for you: no, not at all. It’s fascinating. Listen for the term “wireframe” and be as astonished as Abhi was when he first came across the term. It isn’t what you think.

More than just software: people

A market opportunity, a gamble, and a result: empty words without the human context behind it. I don’t think any of us (Celvin, Tim, or Yr. Obt. Svt.) have the guts (well, at least I don’t) to make that leap. Abhi and his partners did. It’s a fascinating and informative conversation.

Join us, won’t you?

EPM Conversation – Episode No. 2, Part 2, A Conversation With Essbase Lady, Natalie Delemar

Intro and outro, part 2

Short and sweet? Yep, that’s the way it is on the ever-busy www.epmconversations.com. Let us give thanks. That’s okey, ‘cos we’re going to let the conversation speak for itself.

This is the second and (alas) last episode with our very special guest, Natalie Delemar. Here’s the agenda:

  • 00:45 – 06:40 The Changing State of the EPM (Vendor) Market
  • 06:40 – 17:20 What’s the technical profile of people getting into the various EPM tools now? Developers, Administrators and Groovy.
  • 17:20 – 22:32 Why has Oracle incorporated so much customisability via Groovy? History of Groovy in Oracle EPM.
  • 22:32 – 34:25 How long will Essbase stay the Engine for Oracle Planning?
  • 34:25 – 40:26 ODTUG Board Experience and Growth from the Professional Community
  • 40:26 – End Summary / Conclusion

It’s all Good Stuff.

We hope you like the episode as much as we do. If you do enjoy it, please give us a good rating on the provider of your choice as it both bathes our ever-needy egos and also – and rather more importantly – allows listeners to more easily find us.

As always, you can listen on 

Join us, won’t you?

EPM Conversation – Episode No. 2, Part 1, A Conversation With Essbase Lady, Natalie Delemar

Intro and outro

For once your author aka Yr. Obt. Svt. is keeping it short and sweet. Enjoy it, as its brevity may be akin to Halley’s Comet and happen again in 2061.

Natalie Delemar, Essbase Lady, Madame President (emerita) of ODTUG, dynamic personality, and friend to all of us in the EPM space (but especially to me), is our guest. There was so much history, so much interest, so much conversation that we simply couldn’t do it all in one episode. Also, one wonders if a two hour podcast would actually be listened to.

There’s a lot of good content, hence the splitting of into two episodes. Natalie has strong opinions and a forthright way of putting them in the best of all possible ways. Would you want a simpering milquetoast of a guest? Why? Natalie is funny, warm, and kind – all of that comes through in the podcast. Please join us in welcoming her.

Here’s the agenda:

0:00 – 5:20 – preamble, how we all met
5:20 – 8:25 – drive and why Natalie Does What She Does
8:25 – 14:40 – WIT and advice to women in tech, being an African American woman in tech, mentorship, and the importance of a professional network
14:40 – 16:30 – Advice on career progression
16:30 – 22:10 – Working for Big Four firms
22:10 – 26:50 – Advice for people who want to get involved in community without employer incentives
26:50 – 28:55 – Relationships between boutique firms and the Big Four and where technical work actually gets done
28:55 – 36:10 – Changes in the consulting market recently: layoffs, mergers, and new software vendors
36:10 – 39:25 – Selling the value of EPM, especially on “insight”
39:25 – End – Predictive analytics and adoption in different areas of business and reluctance in Finance/FP&A

Join us, won’t you?

Episode No. 1: Introduction with Tim German, Celvin Kattookaran, and Cameron Lackpour

Introduction

We (Tim, Celvin, and Yr. Obt. Svt.) are thrilled to announce our new endeavor: EPM Conversations. If you’ve made it to this page you are about to experience the joy that is the three of us – and many more of our fellows in the EPM/CPM world.

What

What is EPM Conversations? It’s a forum for you to hear your peers as they discuss why, what, and how they exist and thrive in our little corner of the software world.

You will hear opinion, advocacy, a fair amount of skepticism when it’s deserved, and always a keen curiosity. What you will not hear is any negativity from the interviewers or the interviewees. This isn’t gotcha journalism but a collegial place to share ideas. NB – every guest has final say over content to preclude personal embarrassment/potential unemployment/likely lawsuits.

You are not going to hear one of us (Tim and I personally think this will be Celvin and we will do our utmost to dissuade him from reading Groovy or VB.NET or MDX aloud) go on and on about detailed code and (beyond the basics) techniques but we will always cover the considerations, approaches, and philosophy that make us who we are in the EPM world.

Who

Who will you hear? People just like you: customers, consultants, software companies, and even people who just might drive you in a new professional direction (never fear, this is not NSFW and definitely all about W). We currently have 12 guests who were foolish gracious enough to agree to be our guests.

Why

Why will you listen to EPM Conversations? You’ll listen and care because we’re going to bring the human – the connection, really – that a blog or a book or an article can never really convey. Think about why technical conferences are so valuable: yes, of course, technical content is key but so are the people you meet, people that you’d never even hear of within your formal job. EPM Conversations will bring home to you the person behind the name, the presentations, the message boards.

When

When will you hear new podcasts? Look for new content every three weeks or so.

Where

Well, right here. We’re also on Apple Podcasts and Google Play.

Join us, won’t you?

The very first episode

That was all prelude – let’s get on with the show.

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