Lots of experiments are going on in using predictive analytics in health care. But, only few succeed. The need is to learn from what has been done and work further.

Jennifer Bresnick, in her article on HealthITAnalytics.com, has summarized some of the ways healthcare organizations have already found success by turning big data into a strategic asset that can help providers react quickly and effectively to the ongoing challenges of quality care delivery. They are:

• Hospital quality and patient safety in the ICU
• Precision medicine, personalized care, and genomics
• Population health management, risk stratification and prevention
• Reducing preventable hospital readmissions

To know more, please visit the following link:

http://healthitanalytics.com/news/four-use-cases-for-healthcare-predictive-analytics-big-data

The hype around the word “big data” is ever increasing. It promises to bring a big revolution in marketing. But, in all this hype, myths also arise, which need to be cleared.

Joerg Niessing,INSEAD Affiliate Professor of Marketing, and James Walker, Partner Demand Analytics, Strategy&, in their article at knowledge.insead.edu, talk about eight commonly heard myths on big data. Some of them are:

• It’s big
• The more granular the data, the better
• Big Data is good data
• Big Data is a magic 8-ball

These myths need to be discarded before putting into use “the real Big Data”. To know more, please visit the following link:

http://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/the-eight-most-common-big-data-myths-3878

According to Sujan Patel (Contributor), companies before analyzing big data, must understand the company's goals and mission. In a survey by Price Waterhouse Cooper, only 44% of companies feel that they have the right talent to capitalize big data. When any company chooses tool for data analytics, focus should be on team needs and solution and the team must know how to use that tool. Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/sujanpatel/2015/04/22/how-fortune-500-companies-are-building-big-data-teams-and-how-startups-can-too/

“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

“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

Punk in Punk Analytics means working fearless and having an approach to ‘do-it-yourself way’. In the last few years with the rise of new technologies, we entered into the era of punk-style analytics. Some characteristics of punk analytics are:

• No barriers for information search, as you can download easily and free of cost.
• Mistakes are part of the process, but we can overcome by using analytics software and by having familiarity with the data.
• Fast and to the point is good.
• Idea should be transparent and it should have less processed time.
• Punk Analytics are basically concentrating on the issues of the moment, as it is the starting point for active exploration.
•   Working collaboratively is important to achieve a common goal.
To know more about punk analytics follow the article link of James Richardson (Business Analytics Strategist at Qlik): http://www.itproportal.com/2015/04/19/rise-punk-analytics/

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/

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/

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/

Predictive analytics is a “business game changer” that will separate the winners from the losers, according to Forrester. The better a company is at predicting what will happen in the future, the better positioned they are to do something about it. While data scientists will do the heaviest analytic-related lifting at big enterprises, the improvements that have been made to predictive analytic (also called advanced analytic) applications enables regular business people and developers to partake of the predictive bounty. With so many companies coming into the foray of analytics services, today the users have more options to choose from keeping the cost-benefit & need-value trade-offs in mind.  RapidMiner offers a “rock solid” enterprise solution with more than 1,500 methods that address all stages of the analytics lifecycle and has among the tightest integration with the cloud, Forrester says. There are also other options like SAS, SPSS, KNIME, sap, oracle to name a few.

To read more, visit:

http://www.datanami.com/2015/04/07/predictive-analytics-now-in-reach-of-the-average-enterprise-forrester-says/

The investment banks are now looking at how they can use big data to do what they do better, faster and more efficiently. Senior executives at the banks want to enhance how they use data to raise profitability, map out markets and company-wide exposures, and ultimately win more deals. Big data is also a fundamental element of risk-profiling for the banks, enabling data analysts to immediately assess the impact of the escalation in geopolitical risk on portfolios and their exposure to specific markets and asset classes. Specifically, banks have now built systems that will map out market-shaping past events in order to identify future patterns. There lies the requirement of big data talent!

The banks are actively recruiting big data and analytics specialists to fill two main, but significantly different roles: big data engineers and data scientists. Data Scientists are responsible for bridging the gap between data analytics and business decision-making, capable of translating complex data into key strategy insight, while Data Engineers typically come from a strong IT development or coding background and are responsible for designing data platforms and applications. The competition between banks and fund managers to hire big data specialists is heating up. Data scientists are expected to have sharp technical and quantitative skills. They are in highest demand and this is where the biggest skill shortage exists.

To read more, visit the link given below:

http://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Investment-banks-recruit-for-the-rise-of-big-data-analytics

Cricket and Analytics are hot topics today. With the help of technology Analytics, the interest quotient of cricket has gone up exponentially. High definition telecasts, data visualisation have really made cricket exciting to watch nowadays. Vijay Sethi, VP and CIO at Hero MotoCorp Ltd, speaks about how he sees his favourite game today that comes with a generous dose of analytics. To read more, visit the following link:

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/analytics-in-cricket-is-a-technological-marvel-hero-motocorp-cio-vijay-sethi/536201-3.html

Google Analytics is one of the best tools one can use for the purpose of analyzing the audience. With the right insights, one can modify the approach, anticipate customer needs, and create a superior user experience. It is also possible to measure a tremendous diversity of data on your web users, and using that data, you’ll be able to make meaningful change to your branding and marketing strategies. The acquisition insights and behavioural insights will help you explore more details and trend understanding. This information is especially useful in determining which of your marketing strategies is the most effective, but it’s also useful for determining what types of people are visiting your site and why. For example, if you find that the majority of your users are finding your site through content you’ve syndicated on social media, you could double your content writing and syndication efforts to attract an even greater number of users.

To read more, please visit the following link:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2015/03/19/how-to-analyze-your-audience-in-google-analytics/

Analytics has now become an integral part of cricket. Before the match begins, there is a series of analysis about the pitch, weather conditions, weather predictions, history of two teams against each other, history of the teams on the particular ground, in the particular country, among others . Similarly, each player of the teams gets analyzed in great details, in terms of his records, his performance against the opponent, on the pitch, his strengths and weaknesses. Each player is also analyzed as a fielder in terms of the history of his catches taken or dropped. Strategies of captain get predicted and its possible impacts are discussed. The list is just endless. Cricket is no longer only the game to be played on the ground. Much of it happens off the ground, using analytical tools.

Satish Pendse, president of Highbar Technologies Ltd, an HCC group company, explains how he sees cricket today with technology impacting the viewing experience. To know more, click on the link below

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/cricketnext/real-cricket-action-happens-off-the-ground-with-analytics-highbar-tech-cio-satish-pendse/533130-78.html 

Customer interaction analytics is gaining popularity nowadays. It provides information about contact center’s customers, workforce, effectiveness of current system and also strengths and weaknesses. Read more about how customer interaction analytics can benefit your contact center at: http://www.contactcenterworld.com/view/contact-center-article/4-reasons-you-need-customer-interaction-analytics.aspx?md=74f65882-a162-41dd-b17a-b0d20f0af75e&iz=3

According to Dermot O'Kelly (Senior Vice President for Oracle UK, Ireland and Israel region) for the past few years the stage is being set for an analytics based future in which large volumes of valuable information can be collected and used to take informed decisions more efficiently. The rise of big data has been rapid. But very little emphasis has been placed on trying to understand exactly how big data can impact and improve our lives. Big data tools help in linking all information together and assess it from various standpoints at once in the hope of detecting new insights, to approach difficult questions from a fresh angle, or to process huge data sets very quickly. They also make the collection and processing of this data exponentially faster than before. Read more at: http://www.in.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/Big-data-in-the-real-world/articleshow/42649169.cms

Information available about consumers on the web is enough to scare marketers. There are large rewards for those who confront and harness big data. Big data can create problem for brands. Information collected from large, complex data sets weblogs, social media, smartphone analytics and even medical records is difficult for brands to manage and process within traditional database systems. According to a report from the McKinsey Global Institute, Big Data is the next big thing for innovation, competitive advantage and productivity. But, some companies are missing this opportunity because of a lack of data management expertise. Retail is one industry that has a great potential for big data. Customer transactions (on & offline), conversations and intentions can all be brought together so that brands can get ideas how to reach potential consumers. Read more at: http://analytics.theiegroup.com/article/53a2f6693723a807f3000029/Big-Data-Embracing-The-Elephant-In-The-Room