Aiman Zeid has helped numerous organizations on four continents evaluate their organizational maturity and readiness to deploy business analytics. His focus on enterprise-wide approaches has made him a sought after consultant for starting Business Analytics Centers of Excellence. His new book, Business Transformation: A Roadmap for Maximizing Organizational Insights, shares a structured approach for organizations to achieve maximum value from their data. Zeid has 29 years of experience in information management, business consulting and technical implementation of business analytics and performance management solutions. He holds an MBA and a BS in engineering (computer science diploma) from George Washington University. Prior to joining SAS he worked as a consultant for Battelle Institute and the Hay Group.
In traveling and speaking at SAS events in South America this summer -- at SAS Forum Chile in Santiago and at events in Buenos Aries, Argentina and Lima, Peru -- I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with local customers and learn about their progressive organizational approaches. In talking with these
No matter where I go in the world, I’m constantly amazed by the similarities in business challenges facing organizations around the globe. One of the most common is getting business users to actually adopt and use the insights gained from the great work performed by analytics teams and IT organizations.
I wrote “Business Transformation” to guide leaders through a journey to transform their organizations. I included methodologies and examples gathered throughout my 29-year consulting career to assist them. Every executive and leader focuses on how to use resources to produce value. Of course, value can be defined in many terms
Like many people around the world, Americans have caught World Cup fever. The early success of the USA national team has contributed greatly to this spike in interest, but so too have the high level of competition, the intense passion of the teams and their fans, the drama of pressure-filled
A new global study -- “The Analytics Mandate” -- from MIT Sloan Management Review and SAS revealed that culture is the most important factor in achieving success with analytics. The research also points out that the talents that organizations acquire contribute to and shape internal culture. The managers surveyed in
All Analytics spoke with several leaders at the recent SAS Global Forum Executive Conference on what it means to build an analytics culture. Here’s a video of those conversations. The video features several sections related to building an analytics culture: Kim Nevala, Director of Business Strategy for the SAS Best
I led an analytical culture track at the SAS Global Forum Executive Conference last month in Washington, DC. I talked with leaders in fields as diverse as healthcare, chemical manufacturing and government. Although these organizations have very different operating models, their challenges, comments and questions were similar. They all recognized
When the Apple Macintosh hit the market, analysts were not impressed. But Steve Jobs’ vision ended up transforming our lives. Apple is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and has become a global household name. Jobs’ ability to direct his organization to develop easy to use products not only met
Valentine’s Day is one of those make-or-break holidays for gift retailers. They are selling "nice to have" items, not necessities. Many use some type of analytics to segment customers for personalized messages. It's not as straightforward as it sounds, especially if the organization hasn't committed to an enterprise-wide approach to
When the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl, they didn’t do it because of just one factor – a great quarterback or an amazing running back. It was widely considered a team effort, helmed by a visionary coach who worked on developing a strong culture, cultivating the right players and
