Industry-changing dynamics like mobility, smart products, social media and embedded computing put a premium on big data and the insights you can gain from organizational data. As a result, the opportunity to be disruptive with analytics has never been greater. Yet, when it comes to making analytics work, not all organizations
In the first two posts in this series, Seeing the Light: How SMBs are Using Data and Insights to Get Ahead, I shared the motivations that prompted three SMBs to replace spreadsheets and intuition with a more sophisticated, analytics-driven approach to run their businesses. In the second, I discussed the
Did you know that more than 30,000 Americans die in traffic accidents every year? Interestingly, the U.S. import of mangoes from Brazil is found to be highly correlated with this fatality rate, as shown in the graph below. But are mango imports a good indicator of the future traffic fatality
My wife rescued a dog a couple of years ago from a rural North Carolina rest stop . We named her "DOTi" in honor of the Department of Transportation. It took a while for us to get into the swing of being responsible owners; sometimes the first to leave for
Netflix has made a big splash in the news with its use of big data. By analyzing millions of data points about the viewing habits of its customers, the movie delivery giant used the insight it gained to devise the "perfect show". One of the defining characteristics of the show,
The increasing use of predictive analytics in mission-critical business decisions and operations brings new challenges to the forefront for many of our customers. Throughout the last year I spoke to many customers about their use of predictive analytics and where they see areas of improvement to achieve even more success
Watching our nation approach the "fiscal cliff", and the dire predictions if we truly drive off it like the last scene in Thelma and Louise, has sharpened my view of the potential risks that huge gaps of fraud and abuse present to all of us. One of the key lessons
Several years ago my mom, bless her heart, bought a cell phone. Now, my mom is not what one would call “tech-savvy”. She has had the same car forever, same furniture for 25 years (well, she did get it reupholstered), even the same pots and pans that came as wedding
If you haven’t heard of an APCD, it’s one of those acronyms you need to know. All-Payer Claims Databases are simply databases that consist of claims data from all health care payers in a given state. This includes private payers such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, and public payers such
Did you ever experience a time where you hear or see the same thing over and over again? Whether you chalk it up to coincidence, immersion or saturation, you clearly start seeing the same ideas or topics discussed in multiple places. Lately, I have been hearing about the topic of
My sleep patterns are erratic (and somewhat torturous) – they range from sleeping solidly for eight hours a clip to me wandering aimlessly about the house at 3am. Unfortunately, the latter was the reality during the wee hours of Friday, July 20; I was up watching ESPN (my typical late
Fraud detection presents myriad analytical challenges: gathering sufficient known cases to make typical modeling techniques possible, gathering inputs from disparate data sources, and combining expert knowledge from investigators with findings to be gleaned from the data in an efficient way. Of course, analysts can fall into the trap of thinking
Water and wastewater treatment plants are among the most complex facilities built and maintained by utility companies, whether public or private. Each facility contains thousands of pieces of equipment worth millions of dollars that must operate in concert for the many complex treatment processes to function effectively. The consequences of these assets
Are you always looking for that inside perspective? Most of us are! As we all know, customers are the primary – perhaps exclusive – source of cash flow for many organizations. Knowing which ones are most profitable is critical to maximizing future economic value. To help today's marketing and business leaders learn
For all of you who have ever been to Heidelberg, location of the headquarters of SAS Germany and the place where I live, you might know that a town called Mannheim is nearby. Some might even know that Mannheim is the place where a genius German engineer called Carl Benz
A recent post on the International Institute for Analytics (IIA) site, Analytics Conferences Gone Wild!, is*not* about how statisticians are sexy. Yes, I'm recalling that memorable quote in the August 2009 NY Times story, "For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics,” which included the following quote: “I keep saying that
Dr. Yachen Lin, Chief Risk Officer of China Guangfa Bank Credit Card Center (CGB), was interviewed while at the 2011 Premier Business Leadership Series in Singapore. He discussed the analytics culture at CGB - explaining how CGB uses analytics to know its customers and manage risk. There are only 14
There is a lot of talk hither and yon about a “double-dip” recession. Not at all uncommon when you consider past recessions. Let’s take a look at some data from the June 2011 survey of senior financial executives from the Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI to dig into the double dip theories. MAPI
Last year Jim Goodnight shared the stage with Bill Green (the then CEO of Accenture) and talked about what it takes to build an analytical organization. This year Dr. Goodnight was with Pierre Nanterme, the current CEO of Accenture and they talked about what it means to lead an analytical
Tapan and I had the chance to talk with Karen Washburn, Manager for the SAS Business Knowledge Series, a SAS Education Division program, who is joining us at Predictive Analytics World this week! Karen will be participating in the conference and seeking out new partners to join the Business Knowledge
Tapan Patel and I recently caught up with Dean Abbott, President, Abbott Analytics for a Q&A session on Predictive Analytics World that takes place during Data Driven Busines Week March 14-15 in San Francisco. Question: Any thoughts you would like to share for upcoming Predictive Analytics World 2011 Conference? What
Anne Milley and I recently had the chance to catch up with Eric Siegel, Chair of Predictive Analytics World for some Q&A regarding the upcoming conference that takes place during Data Driven Busines Week March 14-15 in San Francisco. Question: What a great line-up we see shaping up for Predictive
Last month I attended the Predictive Analytics World conference in Washington DC. It attracted more attendees from last year with broad representation from multiple industries. The conference was kicked off by Eric Siegel’s keynote focusing on Five ways predictive analytics cuts enterprise risk. The gist of his presentation was to
Anne Milley: Congratulations on the success of the now two-year-old and growing Predictive Analytics World (PAW) conferences! What's the best way to learn about the conference? Eric Siegel: Thanks! Well, there are overviews of Predictive Analytics World DC (Oct 19-20) and Predictive Analytics World London (Nov 15-16), but in fact
Improving campaign close rates is just one of many benefits quoted by Verizon in this quarter’s sascom magazine. But a 250 percent improvement is pretty significant. • How did they do it? • What were the other benefits? • How will they continue to deliver improvement over time? The short
Plans are underway for a day of getting dirty with data! My SAS colleagues, Tapan Patel and Wayne Thompson, along with workshop host Dean Abbott, President of Abbott Analytics, are hosting a Hands-On Predictive Analytics Workshop on October 18th. This session is one of several workshops that kick off the
Earlier this week UK chancellor George Osborne announced his first budget as “tough but fair”. His action on debt echoed austerity measures being taken across other parts of the world. As I write this blog, President Obama and the G20 are assembling in Toronto. Opinions are mixed with Europe pushing
A lot of technology conferences are celebratory in nature. They showcase new products, highlight customer successes and provide a platform for authors, analysts and industry experts to praise these accomplishments. To be sure, there was plenty to celebrate at the SAS Global Forum Executive Conference. But this year’s conference -
From posterous photos of Opening Session to the New York Times Bits Blog, the first blog posts about SAS Global Forum are starting to show up online. Writing on the Bits Blog, Steve Lohr says: Analysts who have looked at the new offering – and tried it out – are
In a recent Datamation article, "Business Intelligence Software and Predictive Analytics," Jeff Vance asks, "What exactly is predictive analytics?" His answer, in part: "Take traditional business intelligence, combine it with data mining and add on statistical analysis and you have predictive analytics. Math geeks will squabble over the nuances, say,
