“Augmented reality is an environment in which elements are supplemented by computer-based sensory input.” This technology has now made a comeback and is gaining popularity in many fields. Its new uses are now being explored in strategy, analytics, retail, marketing etc. as it gives the users an experience of how a real world item may look in a particular situation. Ferrari’s Virtual Showroom application is an example of how AR enhances customer’s experience.

This technology can also be seen as a follow-up of following trends which the world is experiencing:

• Mobile Devices
• Internet of Things
• Cloud Computing

Thus, Augmented Reality is now emerging as a useful tool to connect with customers. To know more, read the following article by Pierre DeBois, Founder and Chief Digital Marketing Strategist, Zimana, at cmswire.com

http://www.cmswire.com/cms/analytics/the-latest-reality-on-augmented-reality-028928.php

In the period of 1997-2000, Internet companies had become the favorites of investors. Despite incurring losses, they were highly valued because of their wide scope. This was the dot-com bubble and it burst on 6 April, 2000 with NASDAQ suffering an over $1 trillion loss in market value.

Now, 15 years later, a similar scenario is forming again. This time, it is not just in US, but also in Asia’s third largest economy, India. Tech investors, all over the world are queuing up to invest in Indian e-commerce firms. At the same time, NASDAQ also climbed above 5000 points for the first time since the Dot-Com boom. Rising valuations, massive losses and ambitious promises of future growth are some of the other similarities that can be drawn.

The following article by Shrutika Verma and Mihir Dalar at livemint.com, talks about the e-commerce frenzy in India today and draws its parallels with the Dot-Com Bubble. This article also cautions that this e-commerce boom should not meet the same fate.

Read more at:

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/PKYPXSiOwle8hOkgUi8mpL/Indias-ecommerce-frenzy.html

Lean Six Sigma eliminates waste of physical resources, time, effort and talent, while assuring quality in production and organizational processes. Research has shown that firms that successfully implement Six Sigma perform better in virtually every business category, including return on sales, return on investment, employment growth, and share price increase.

To know more, read the following article at isixsigma.com, which lists out 8 steps that should be followed to implement “Lean Six Sigma” in an organization:

http://www.isixsigma.com/implementation/success-factors/8-steps-successful-lean-six-sigma-implementation/

In today’s world, data is limitless. But, this Big Data, will help you achieve your targets, if we use it efficiently. Otherwise, you’ll be trapped in a web of data. For this, you need to do a gap analysis i.e. what data you have today and what data would you like to have.

To answer these questions, this article by Mary C. Long, Chief Ghost at Digital Media Ghost, suggests three tracks on which your business can move forward on:

1. Get a handle on your current data
2. Vet potential data sources and set a realistic budget
3. Add ONE new data source to your client insight capabilities

To know more, visit the following link on cmswire.com:

http://www.cmswire.com/cms/customer-experience/dont-let-big-data-keep-you-up-at-night-028895.php

Big data represents a major change in the way businesses and other organizations operate and will require a new mind-set and capabilities. Extracting business value from big data seems to be a complicated task. But, it can be easily accomplished, if done in a planned manner. Following article reports nine steps, given by HCL Technologies CEO, Anant Gupta, in the World Economic Forum’s Information Technology Report, to help organizations overcome the barriers in transition to Big Data and minimize the difficulties that may occur along the way:

http://www.information-age.com/it-management/strategy-and-innovation/123458030/9-steps-realising-benefits-big-datas-promise

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, to date there have been more than 778 million records exposed in thousands of data breaches. 

One of the foremost technology solutions for addressing the financial security concerns is Biometrics. Its application in the Banking and Financial Services industry is projected to increase to $8 billion by year 2020. This is largely due to less reliability of traditional authentication systems. Investing in biometrics is also seen as a lucrative opportunity today as banks and financial institutions all over the world want to implement it in their security systems as soon as possible.

To sum up, Biometrics in banking industry is now quickly evolving into a global standard. Read the following Investopedia article to increase your knowledge about this opportunity:

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/042015/biometric-banking-huge-prospects-tech-profits.asp

“If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person.”

- William J. Clinton

Trial and error are part and parcel of our everyday work. But, learning from mistakes and performing better, is what that makes the difference. In this article, Rachel Sprung, Product Marketing Manager at HubSpot, has shared some of the mistakes in the field of analytics that she had experienced. They are:

• Thinking low numbers are always a bad thing
• Confusing correlation with causation
• Confusing visits with views (and vice versa)
• Equating more time on a page with higher engagement
• Counting internal website visits toward your goal

 To know more and avoid such mistakes, visit the following link:

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-analytics-mistakes

According to the World Economic Outlook Database (WEO), released on April 14, 2015, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a not so good global growth scenario till 2020. Following are few of the highlights of the report:

• US growth has been revised lower- below 3%
• India’s GDP growth will not cross 8% till 2020
• The new normal in world growth - below 4%
• Commodity prices will remain low
• World trade growth will be muted

To know more, read the following article by Manas Chakravarty at livemint.com:

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Z3InMgIqNxSUOkB3Nch9AI/Five-trends-that-define-the-world-economy.html?ref=newsletter

Breach of security has always been an important issue for any organization. Analytics has also provided a solution to this problem in the form of Security Analytics.

According to Eric Ahlm, Research Director at Gartner, "Security analytics platforms endeavor to bring situational awareness to security events by gathering and analyzing a broader set of data, such that the events that pose the greatest harm to an organization are found and prioritized with greater accuracy."

Two important applications of security analytics are:

• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)        
• User Behavior Analytics (UBA)

To sum up, although security industry is still immature in the application of analytics, it still holds huge growth opportunities.

To know more, visit the following link:

http://www.firstpost.com/business/security-analytics-play-major-role-finding-breaches-says-gartner-2199152.html

An important application of analytics is Tax Analytics, which helps organizations, think differently about tax related issues and, thus, facilitates new approaches to improve business outcomes. A new function of tax analytics is to improve the understanding and management of the tax implications associated with short-term business travel. It helps businesses track travel of employees, identify areas of concern in states or countries, address locations of concern, and enhance payroll delivery by analyzing global travel-related data and potential tax implications. This creates a win-win situation for both the parties- the business and the employees traveling on behalf of the organization as it leads to cost reduction for business and satisfaction for employees.

To know more, read this interesting article by Beth Mueller, U.S. Tax Analytics Leader, Deloitte Tax LLP, in The Wall Street Journal:

http://deloitte.wsj.com/cio/2015/04/16/tax-analytics-spotlight-on-business-travelers/

The number of merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions involving insurance brokers and agents have shown a growing trend since last year. It’s important to speed up the post merger integration process for making these M&As successful. This is where the use of analytics technology comes in.

Some important areas where analytics technology is helping to make a difference in post-merger scenario are:

• Driving Efficiency
• Boosting Productivity
• Facilitating Teamwork
• Strengthening External Relationships
• Navigating Logistics
• Reconciling Different Corporate Cultures

To know more, read the following article at insurancejournal.com by Kabir Sayed, CEO of Riskmatch.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2015/04/07/363528.htm

Analytics is seen as a ladder to succeed in today’s world. It reminds everyone of the benefits that one can achieve with its application in business. But is analytics always useful? What people chose to ignore is its downside. In retail sector, although analytics helps to predict demand, but it also helps to predict the employees required to meet the demand. This in turn, leads to less stable work hours for part time workforce. To reduce the harm to real people, retail analytics should be used in a responsible manner.

To know more, read the following Forbes article:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2015/04/15/abusing-the-power-of-retail-analytics/

According to a 2014 survey of more than 2,000 business professionals by MIT Sloan and SAS Institute, 87% respondents share a common restlessness to elevate their organizations to the next level of analytics.

Being data driven, has now become a necessity for all businesses, especially financial institutions. Using predictive data analytics to interpret a wide range of internal and external data on customers helps financial institutions to identify best targets for a particular product and earn more by making timely pitches.

Russ Bunham, in his Forbes article, gives four tips on how financial institutions can use big data analytics to their advantage:

1. Creating a customized, consistent customer experience
2. Dissolving internal silos to have one view of the customer
3. Ensuring data insight flows to the right person to make the pitch
4. Using big data knowledge to enhance customer relationships

To understand them in detail, visit the following link:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/centurylink/2015/04/14/4-ways-financial-institutions-can-bank-on-big-data-in-2015/

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has now taken the first step in its ambitious initiative to provide travel insurance to its users. The railways, in partnership with insurance major, New India Assurance, will now provide insurance which will depend on the length, class, etc, of the journey. In the first phase of this project, insurance will only be provided via IRCTC website. Further, the aim is to reach at least one million customers.

According to a senior railway official, "For the railways, it may be a win-win situation. It anyway ends up paying out of its own pocket a considerable amount as compensation to train accident victims. The travel insurance will only mean that the railways will have a corpus, that too as commuter contribution, to pay insurance for such incidents."

To know more about this project, visit the following link:

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-how-about-railway-insurance-of-rs-10-lakh-for-a-premium-of-rs-25-2077535

Bitcoin (BTC) is the first decentralized peer-to-peer payment network that is powered by its users with no central authority or middlemen. This digital currency, designed by Satoshi Nakamoto, has seen a huge rise in trading volume since 2013. This rise can be attributed to different types of merchants that use Bitcoin like online marketplaces, payment and funding services worldwide, social services, media sources and travel companies. Besides merchants, Wall Street players and investors are also using BTC wallets.

To know more, read the following article by Jamie Tolentino (Digital Marketer at a Global Asset Management firm), which talks about the advantages and disadvantages of using Bitcoin:

http://thenextweb.com/future-of-communications/2015/04/13/how-safe-are-your-bitcoins/

The focus of any news organization is to understand what it is that readers like, what they actually read and what they really should know about. To achieve these goals, The Guardian, is using its in house analytics engine, Ophan, to track page views, median attention time and identify the type of marketing required for each article. It also provides exploratory data for further research. According to Chris Moran, The Guardian’s digital audience editor, “Being informed by the data can actually lead to higher quality journalism.” 

By measuring site data more closely, The Guardian has now become a news powerhouse. To know more, visit the following link:

http://thenextweb.com/media/2015/04/13/how-the-guardians-ophan-analytics-engine-helps-editors-make-better-decisions/

On 8^th April, 2015, Snapdeal announced that it has acquired FreeCharge, an online recharge platform, for an estimated $400 million. This is one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of the internet industry in India and sets up Snapdeal to build the most impactful digital commerce ecosystem in India. According to Snapdeal co-founder and CEO Kunal Bahl, “The joint entity would create the country's largest mobile commerce platform with over 40 million customers.”

To know more about this deal, read the following Times of India article:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Snapdeal-buys-Freecharge-for-400m/articleshow/46857876.cms

Snapdeal (E-commerce online marketer), on 31^st March, 2015, announced its entry into the online financial services segment by acquiring a majority stake in RupeePower, a leading digital financial products distribution platform. Snapdeal will now offer a wide range of financial services like personal loans, educational loans, credit cards (co-brand–B2B & B2C), auto loans, home loans and extended warranties among others.                                                                                                .
To know more, read the following Forbes article:

http://forbesindia.com/article/special/snapdeal-acquires-rupeepower-enters-financial-services-business/39939/1

Over the last two years, Big Data and technological advancement have transformed the way industries operate and compete. Financial Services industry, in particular, has adopted big data analytics to inform better investment decisions with consistent returns. It is widely used by investment banks, asset management firms, insurance firms and stock exchanges, to name a few.

The Investopedia article by Trevir Nath, talks about 3 V’s of Big Data i.e. volume, variety and velocity, how they are applied by financial services industry, algorithmic trading and the challenges faced by this industry in the increasing embrace of big data. In the nutshell, this article explains that despite the challenges, the financial services industry is trending towards Big Data and Automation.

Read more at:

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/040915/how-big-data-has-changed-finance.asp

Big Data Analytics is generally used for building models to periodically optimize processes i.e. After-it-Happens business. But this limits the use of Big Data as there is always a delay in the data-to-action cycle and also, the analytical capabilities are limited at the business’s disposal. A better application of big data analytics is using it for As-it-Happens business. It enables us to leverage the data and models moment by moment to make an impact on business operations in real time.

Steve Wooledge, Vice President of Product Marketing at MapR, gives examples of real life applications that leverage a big data environment that integrates OLTP and analytical databases in his following article:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/teradata/2015/04/09/creating-the-as-it-happens-business-analytics-drives-action/