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Analytics

Find out how analytics, from data mining to cognitive computing, is changing the way we do business

Analytics | Data Management

Mark TroesterOctober 14, 2011 0

The compliance box: an intelligent data trap

At our latest Power Series event in Manhattan, one of the teams took a futuristic approach to addressing data challenges. They described the need for a “compliance box” that front ends the data management process that integrates, cleanses and ensure data integrity across a number of different, typically silo’d data

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Analytics

Tom DavenportOctober 13, 2011 0

Analytics are everywhere

We had the third episode of the SAS Power Series in New York last night. The event was very well attended—including a few meeting crashers who apparently had nothing to do with analytics, but fortunately they left early. Jim Davis, the CMO of SAS, started the evening with a definition

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Analytics

Attaching microphones to YouSee, preparing

Anna BrownOctober 6, 2011 0

Behind the scenes with SAS customer YouSee

I want to share highlights from a different kind of day I recently had at SAS that was spent with a customer, YouSee, and thought leader James Taylor, CEO of Decision Management Solutions. We all shared a "Deep Dive Day" at SAS Headquarters here in Cary, North Carolina. Read on

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Analytics

Robert PowellSeptember 27, 2011 0

Thoughts on software procurement from a former state controller

Private sector vendors/suppliers seeking to conduct business with government often find frustration with the maze of policy and legislative hurdles encountered during the procurement process. As difficult as the experience may have been from the private sector perspective, take a moment to look at the other side of the procurement

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Analytics

Rachel Alt-SimmonsSeptember 26, 2011 0

Holy analytics, Stat-Man!

Tomorrow I was going to go visit one of our insurance clients. I was really looking forward to the meeting – a chance to share experiences with a strategic analytic team. Unfortunately, I got an e-mail from the team’s administrative assistant: “I’m sorry, but so-and-so needs to cancel. An important

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Analytics

Bill ColemanSeptember 23, 2011 0

BI software may be most painful local government purchase

Over my 32 year career in local government as a city and county manager I was faced with many difficult decisions during budget deliberations. Setting tax and utility rates, adding head count, determining compensation and benefits, calculating the appropriate mix of debt and cash for funding capital projects…these were all

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Analytics

Mike NemecekSeptember 22, 2011 0

Analytics gone wild?

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

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Analytics

Dan ZaratsianSeptember 21, 2011 0

Analytics is a field of dreams

Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical. -Yogi Berra As Moneyball hits theaters on September 23, I know awareness and appreciation for analytics will spike. The thought of the little guy being able to outmaneuver their stronger, better equipped opponent resonates with many people and relates

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Analytics

Rachel Alt-SimmonsSeptember 20, 2011 0

The intelligent business analyst

Sometimes when you change a couple of words around, you can end up with an entirely new concept. In a conversation with a co-worker around analytic roles and responsibilities, she noted that we shouldn’t be talking about “business intelligence analysts,” but discussing ways to create “intelligent business analysts.” Brilliant!! One

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Analytics

Melissa SavageSeptember 20, 2011 0

Crumbling U.S. infrastructure not just about roads, but economic survival

In 2009, SAFETEA-LU—the legislation that outlines federal transportation funding for the states—expired. Since then, members of Congress have been kicking the can down the road, passing funding extensions instead of passing legislation. The major impact of this failure to act is that the U.S. continues to slip further and further

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Analytics | Data Management

Kristine VickSeptember 19, 2011 0

The "perfect fit" for a specialty retailer's data management needs

A women’s specialty retailer operating more than 1,000 boutiques, Chico’s FAS, Inc. was faced with a significant challenge: reducing the number of markdowns while more effectively targeting its middle- to high-income clientele. To achieve these goals, the company needed to optimize its prices and more effectively target its most valuable customers,

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Analytics

Waynette TubbsSeptember 15, 2011 0

Emerging trends in fraud

One of the hottest topics on today's agenda for financial institutions is FFIEC's recently released guidance supplement calling for layered fraud secuity and authentication. So, during the recent Terrorism Financing and Money Laundering Forum in Cary, North Carolina, a panel discussion on fraud was developed to discuss emerging trends in fraud -

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Analytics

Tom DavenportSeptember 13, 2011 0

Is Silicon Valley becoming more analytical?

The SAS Power Series Tour had its most recent stop in the heart of Silicon Valley, San Jose. This gave me another chance to test my hypothesis that firms in the Valley are not big users of analytics. My theory goes that high-tech firms are much more focused on creating

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Analytics

Bill ColemanSeptember 12, 2011 0

New local government charge: Do Less with Less

The downturn in the economy beginning in 2008 and continuing even to now has put tremendous pressure on local governments to do “less with less”. In the past when economic downturns caused service level cut backs the cry was to do “more with less”. The idea was to identify ways

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Analytics

Waynette TubbsSeptember 12, 2011 0

Why big data analytics now?

A current media hype phrase used to describe the ever-growing volume and size of corporate information is "big data." SAS hosts an annual series of business leadership conferences that bring together industry thought leaders, innovators, world leaders, challengers and inspirational speakers to discuss the dynamics needed for a competitive future.

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Analytics

Rachel Alt-SimmonsSeptember 9, 2011 0

Business & IT: Making decisions together - in Canada!

I’ve been hanging out in Canada again, eh? Just last week, I snuck over the border to meet with some of our insurance customers in the Greater Toronto Area (affectionately known as “GTA”). This was my fifth trip this year and I’m pleased to say that not only have I

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Analytics

Rachel Alt-SimmonsSeptember 9, 2011 0

Turn that frown upside down!

Summer has almost come to a close – and thank goodness! Up here in the Northeast, we’ve been subjected to tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. I’ve been waiting for the locusts to descend! And outside of dodging hail and charging my laptop with my car’s cigarette lighter when we lost

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Analytics

Vincent TalucciSeptember 7, 2011 0

In law enforcement, it's all about context

‘Context’ defined (as cited from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary): 1: the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning; and, 2: the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs: environment, setting. While context is clearly important, today it is consistently

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Analytics

Beverly BrownSeptember 1, 2011 0

Analytics-powered companies finish best

I jotted down the following fact from a session yesterday at the Disney Analytics & Optimization Summit: Organizations that invest in analytics perform better in the market. That's quite an assertion. Tweetable for sure. But it was a late-afternoon presentation and I was hungry for supper. So I forgot about

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Analytics

Chuck EllstromSeptember 1, 2011 0

Irene recovery is opportunity for economic growth

Hurricane Irene impacted 20% of the US population and will cost billions in recovery dollars. Now that the water has begun to subside, the real long term work begins. And it is this work that can be another disaster, or, a real economic benefit to a state. How so? FEMA

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Analytics

Kathy LangeSeptember 1, 2011 0

So many questions: Analytic centers of excellence provide answers

August was a busy month for our SAS Text Analytics team, but I was very pleased to get the invite to attend this year’s CIO 100 Conference hosted by Maryfran Johnson, Editor-in-Chief of CIO Magazine. As Master of Ceremonies, she inspired lively discussions and shared insights on IT leadership, technology

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Analytics

Gary FuquayAugust 31, 2011 0

HHS agencies embracing holistic views of citizens

I recently attended the Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) Conference in Austin, Texas. The MMIS conference is an annual event for federal and state HHS agencies to share programmatic and technology initiatives in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP). While I have attended numerous MMIS conferences in the past, I

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Analytics

Waynette TubbsAugust 31, 2011 0

China Guangfa Bank answers the big data call

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

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Analytics

Beverly BrownAugust 29, 2011 0

Analytics advocate: don't be "that" guy

Nobody wants to rub people the wrong way. We've all done it, even if word never got back to us that it happened. Having ample first-hand experience with this, I deeply appreciated the opening keynote by MIT's Michael Schrage at the 2011 Disney Analytics & Optimization Summit. Schrage, research fellow

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Analytics

Waynette TubbsAugust 26, 2011 0

Volvo Trucks: Quality and customer satisfaction are standard

Bengt Persson, the Senior Vice President of Quality and Tech Support, presented a session about driving quality across the globe during the 2011 Premier Business Leadership Series in Singapore. Persson told the story of how Volvo Trucks uses analytics and data flow to standardize and optimize warranty claims across Volvo’s

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Analytics

Michael NewkirkAugust 26, 2011 0

Are we going into another recession?

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

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Analytics

Don Cooper-WilliamsAugust 25, 2011 0

The Premier Business Leadership Series: an event where SAS is in its element

Notwithstanding the need to differentiate their value proposition in today’s highly competitive world, companies are sometimes forced to plagiarize even when it comes to public events. For attendees, it is generally the same ole, same ole agenda and faces, staffers drained of passion and exhibitors looking out of place while searching for a

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Analytics

Greg WoodAugust 25, 2011 0

Lessons learnt from the Premier Business Leadership Series, Singapore

After a couple of solid days speaking to business leaders, listening to some of the world’s thought leaders and leading a panel discussion with the analytics leaders from DBS Bank, Allianz and Volvo Trucks, what have I learned about business analytics and what it takes to succeed? The first clue

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Analytics

Robert PowellAugust 24, 2011 0

Back to basics of state budgets

The recent budget debate between President Obama and Congress reminded me of many of the discussions I observed during my years as State Controller and Deputy State Budget Officer in North Carolina. These discussions are related specifically to principles adhered to in budget development and budget deliberations by elected officials.

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Analytics

Melissa SavageAugust 23, 2011 0

Happy birthday, US Interstates. Now what?

The highway system traversing the United States quietly hit a milestone last month with the 55th anniversary of the Federal Aid Highway Act. In 1956 President Eisenhower had a vision for our nation’s infrastructure; he knew that building an interstate highway system was vital, and expressed that “Together, the united

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