A lot of what is being said, written, or done in the information management field by vendors, the trade press and "experts" is increasingly confused, irrelevant, misleading, or outright wrong. The problems are so acute that, claims to the contrary notwithstanding, knowledge, practices and technology are actually regressing!

That is because data management practitioners and users do not possess the foundation knowledge necessary to see through the misleading hype and misinformation in the industry and media, and their costly implications.

This presentation debunks some of the persistent misconceptions prevalent in the information/data management industry and exposes their (im)practical consequences. Test your ability to see through the former and avoid the latter.

Fabian Pascal has a national and international reputation as an independent technology analyst, consultant, author, and instructor of seminars, specializing in data management. He was affiliated with Codd & Date and for 20 years held various analytical and management positions in the private and public sectors, has taught and lectured at the business and academic levels, and advised vendor and user organizations on data management technology, strategy and implementation. Clients included IBM, Census Bureau, CIA, Apple, Borland, Cognos, UCSF, and IRS. He is founder, editor and publisher of DATABASE DEBUNKINGS, a web site dedicated to dispelling persistent fallacies, flaws, myths and misconceptions prevalent in the IT industry. The site publishes his own and C. J. Date’s papers, as well as the recently re-launched PRACTICAL DATABASE FOUNDATIONS series, dedicated to explaining the fundamentals of data management to IT practitioners. Author of three books, he has published extensively, including DM Review, Database Programming and Design, DBMS, Byte, Infoworld and Computerworld. He is author of the contrarian columns Against the Grain, Setting Matters Straight, and Test Your Foundation Knowledge, as well as a column for the Dutch DB/M magazine.