So, you've heard the Hadoop hype and you are looking – or have already invested – into Hadoop. Maybe you have also realized some benefits from the Hadoop ecosystem. But now you want to maximize those benefits by using advanced analytics, or you might have heard about algorithms or machine learning libraries available
Would you build a house without a proper foundation? Most of us wouldn’t dare, but that’s exactly what many retail businesses are doing today. When building a house, if you don’t get the foundation right, paint, wallpaper and fixtures won’t matter much. It’s no different in the retail industry. Success
Whether it’s to reduce churn in competitive markets or to elevate customer satisfaction rankings in regulated markets, customer analytics is hot right now in utilities. However, the complexity that utilities have built into their processes and technologies over the past decades makes customer analytics a more challenging issue to tackle
In the world of IT, very few new technologies emerge that are not built on what came before, combined with a new, emerging need or idea. The history of Hadoop is no exception. To understand how Hadoop came to be, we therefore need to understand what went before Hadoop that led to its creation. To understand
In guest lectures I give at universities, I often refer to the Harvard Business Review report which states that being a Data Scientist is the sexiest job of the 21st century. Naturally, this always seems to capture the students’ attention, and drives their enthusiasm to sit up and listen carefully.
People often talk about the customer experience and the engagement model. This is an easier task when a business has regular interactions with its customers like banks and retailers. However, for insurers, this is a challenge. First of all, insurers have infrequent interactions with their customers. When there is interaction,
It’s a great time to be a sports fan – and an even better time to be a sports and data fan as these two worlds continue to meld together. For the last couple of years nearly every conversation about sports, analytics or both had to have at least one
The U.S. health care market has always had practices in place to try and manage, or at least limit, aberrant behavior, which includes activities that are often described as cost containment, payment integrity and affordability. In the past, many organizations have appeared satisfied with their efforts in this area
The rumors, flying for many moons now, have turned out to be true. Followed by U2's new album release, Apple announced the launch of the Apple Watch for early 2015. Apple has finally unveiled its first foray into wearable technology. The Apple Watch (yep, not the iWatch), is an Apple
Stress testing is not new to the risk world but has been a major focus since the GFC (Global Financial Crisis). For a number of years now, stress testing has helped analytical specialists quantify various aspects of potential loss. What is new is the introduction of regulatory stress tests which
