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 »

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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 »

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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 »

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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 »

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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 »

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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 »
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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 »

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BIG news from the NRF BIG Show

Anne Lindsay Beall
Anne Lindsay Beall|January 16, 2012

SAS' BIG booth at the NRF BIG show


What brings more than 20,000 retailers to NYC in mid-January? I can promise you, it’s not the balmy 15 degree temperatures --  it’s the 101st NRF BIG SHOW, where SAS is a platinum sponsor. This is my first year attending this event – and it’s a bit overwhelming, so here’s a quick summary of BIG news from the conference floor: Read More »

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How will analytics rock your world in 2012?

Malene Haxholdt
Malene Haxholdt|January 13, 2012

It's true. "Big data" can be a problem and an opportunity. Many organizations have struggled to manage, much less profit from, the deluge.

In 2012, look for big data to spur demand for big data analytics. New developments in high-performance computing as well as increased demand for visualization and text analytics will drive markets, and industry leaders will look for new ways to expand analytics bandwidth. Read on for more detail on how I think these four areas will rock the world in 2012. Read More »

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This week in SAS blogs: Happy New Year!

Alison Bolen
Alison Bolen|January 6, 2012

Many of our SAS bloggers are ringing in the new year with advice and ideas for 2012, including:

What are you planning, prioritizing or predicting for 2012? I'm making plans to further promote and encourage our great team of bloggers. Will you help me by sharing and commenting on your favorite posts?

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