Four keys to building an analytical workforce

Russ Cobb
Russ Cobb|February 3, 2012

Organizations often struggle to build a culture that supports data-driven decisions and embed the right leadership and skills at all levels, despite the benefits of doing so.  A recent research study conducted by the Accenture SAS Analytics Group indicated that investment in business analytics and analytical talent will rise in 2012, but organizations still have their work cut out for them when it comes to making initiatives effective and instilling the right analytical culture and skills. This research shows that companies are beginning to recognize the importance of instilling such an analytical culture, which is a key mission for the Accenture SAS Analytics Group.

According to the survey results, executive respondents highlighted three leading areas for investment: Read More »

Post a Comment

Resolutions for the UK insurance industry in 2012

Martyn Kyle
Martyn Kyle|January 31, 2012

After all the Christmas parties and new year dinners are over, many would like to forget embarrassing behavior or over-indulgences of the season. By way of putting all that behind, it’s not uncommon for most to start the year by embracing a sober regime, diet and even a few New Year resolutions. Perhaps this year, for similar reasons, the insurance industry will be better disposed to regulators than ever before.  We all want to put embarrassing behaviour behind us. Those of us, who have almost forgotten about mis-sold, low-cost endowments and pensions, do not want to be reminded of the more recent Payment Protection Insurance debacle, or of mis-selling bonds to the elderly. Certainly there will be cleaner air to breathe when there is absolute transparency around fees related to investment products as Retail Distribution Review (RDR) kicks in. Who wants to hear any more about the motor insurance premiums rising on the back of a frictional cost created by referrals fees? So perhaps this is the year that the UK insurance industry offers a reluctant and somewhat awkward hug to its regulator with a view to putting all that “stuff” behind.

Read More »

Post a Comment

The growing shortage of analytical talent and where to find it

Geoffrey Taylor
Geoffrey Taylor|January 30, 2012

That there is a growing shortage of analytical talent in most of the economies of the world is clear. In a May 2011 report, the McKinsey Global Institute put some numbers on the demand: “By 2018, the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions.”

When organisations, both large and small, invest in analytical software, a key consideration has to be building a team to use analytics to find the insight in their data and  maximise the software investment. Especially in the brave new world of "big data," large firms will need teams of analysts to bring together the expertise needed to understand their data, think up innovative ways to analyse it, select the hardware and software and write the programs to get the information that business users need to make better decisions. All too often, however, this process is minimised. Read More »

Post a Comment

Olivia Parr-Rud on predictive analytics

Kristine Vick
Kristine Vick|January 25, 2012

I've recently had the chance to work with Olivia Parr-Rud, an internationally recognized expert and thought leader in predictive analytics and innovative leadership. Her pioneering techniques in predictive modeling led to the writing of her first book, Data Mining Cookbook, Modeling for Acquisition, Risk and Customer Relationship Management (Wiley 2001). Olivia's passion for finding successful solutions for her clients inspired her research into the organizational dynamics and innovative leadership that support a culture of analytics. Her insights and observations are detailed in her second book, Business Intelligence Success Factors, Aligning for Success in a Global Economy (Wiley/SAS, 2009).

Olivia will be joining host, Eric Siegel, Ph.D. Program Chair, Predictive Analytics World for a live webinar on January 26.   "Drive Your Business with Predictive Analytics"  is based on findings from a recent paper Olivia has been working on with TechTarget and my colleagues at SAS.  We all know, as global competition continues to shrink profit margins, organizations are seeking ways to increase revenue and reduce expenses. At the same time, businesses are being deluged with data from every action, operation and touch point. While this exponential increase in information is presenting challenges for many organizations, others are leveraging it to drive their business to higher profits. When times get tough, smart companies use predictive analytics to turn data into knowledge and gain a competitive advantage. Read More »

Post a Comment

Human ingenuity is still the magic

Alison Bolen
Alison Bolen|January 23, 2012

The tools for analytics are getting more sophisticated as data becomes more voluminous, says Jim Sterne, President of Target Marketing, in the video below.

The real magic still comes from human ingenuity, explains Sterne, but it helps to give analysts the tools they need to make that magic happen. Hear more below, or visit the Business Analytics Knowledge Exchange to view six perspectives on big data. Read More »

Post a Comment

Good news travels fast - Why #ilovesas

Alison Bolen
Alison Bolen|January 20, 2012

You might have already heard the big news this week: SAS reported record revenues and SAS was ranked #3 on FORTUNE's annual list of Best Companies to Work For. If you're following along on Twitter, you'll have noticed that we've been spreading the word with the hashtag #ilovesas. Please feel free to add your thoughts to that twitter stream by tweeting your thoughts about SAS and adding the hashtag #ilovesas.

Since yesterday, a lot of the SAS bloggers have told stories on their blogs about why they love SAS: Read More »

Post a Comment

Good advice from Northern Tool

Anne Lindsay Beall
Anne Lindsay Beall|January 18, 2012

Chuck Albrecht, President and COO, Northern Tool

At the NRF BIG Show, I had the opportunity to sit down with Chuck Albrecht, President and COO, Northern Tool and Equipment Company to ask him the best advice he’s ever been given (more on that later), his thoughts on the craziest innovations he saw at the show, and Northern Tool’s plans for the future.

“We’re currently exploring a new POS [point of sale] system for our retail stores,” said Chuck. “We have catalogs, e-commerce and retail stores that are on different platforms.  Our customers can order online and take delivery at the store, or order at the store and take delivery at home, and so on, but our systems don’t talk to each other, so it’s not easy for the customer to a product in-store that they ordered online.”  Read More »

Post a Comment

How the Chinese zodiac relates to business forecasting

Franklin So
Franklin So|January 18, 2012

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a prosperous and joyful 2012!

The joyful festive atmosphere continues to pervade most Chinese families in Asia in the coming week, as we will be celebrating Lunar New Year (Spring Festival) on Jan 23rd . This date is determined by the lunisolar Chinese calendar. Alongside the 12-year cycle of the animal zodiac, 2012 is Year of the Dragon. In ancient China, the dragon represented an emperor and power, as well as being a creature of myth and legend.

While Western readers may find it hard to believe, many women in the world’s most populous nation are expected to time their pregnancies to occur in the Dragon year, since the Chinese zodiac calendar associates it with wealth and power. Once again it is forecasted that there will be a baby boom this year, since during the previous one in 2000, 5 percent more babies were born, which is typical in a dragon year.

How does this relate to business forecasting? Researchers from financial investment firms claim that demand for infant products such as baby formula, diapers, and clothes in China’s market will grow during this Year of the Dragon. This obviously can give us hints on how we manage our investment portfolio this year. Read more about how The Year of the Dragon affects the economy in BusinessWeek. Read More »

Post a Comment

The art and science of pricing

Anne Lindsay Beall
Anne Lindsay Beall|January 17, 2012

Winn-Dixie VP Chris Vukich presenting at the NRF 2012 BIG Show

A standing room only crowd gathered at the NRF BIG Show on Monday afternoon in New York to hear Winn-Dixie VP Chris Vukich share how this $7 billion regional grocer has achieved a successful pricing strategy that allows them to:

  • See the impact of each price change.
  • Create what-if scenarios.
  • Model prices and pricing changes at a store level.
  • Automate the re-model process
  • Gain insight into cross-effects.  “As an example, we could see the impact of a promotional price on steak, and identify that as a basket builder. People could come in for the steak, but they could also buy the steak sauce, the charcoal, the lighter fluid, and we could price accordingly. Read More »
Post a Comment

Markdowns: Don't lose your shirt

Anne Lindsay Beall
Anne Lindsay Beall|January 16, 2012

At the NRF BIG Show in NYC this week, one of the hottest topics is what retailers can do with high-performance computing.  One major retailer has been able to determine optimal prices for as many as 270 million items each week, from 30 to two hours, run advanced markdown optimization scenarios 22 times faster than before, and save 70 percent in hardware costs.

What can you do? Here's a fun look at how SAS High-Performance  Markdown Optimization could keep you from losing your shirt (click to enlarge). Read More »

Post a Comment