Enterprises are constantly reminded that predictive analytics forms the bedrock of fact-based strategizing. Journalists predicting the future of analytics -- or specifically, business intelligence -- still rely on instinct.
That's the impression I have, as bloggers start reading the runes for 2013. (And it's not even the holiday season yet.) The forecasts are not only, for the most part, predictable, but also too generalized.
Most of the analysts I've been reading point to mobile BI as a game-changer. This is not so much going out on a limb as hugging the tree trunk. Vennu Sameta of Business Computing World identifies the need decision-makers have for easy, self-service access to real-time data as the driver for BI on mobile platforms.
Because of screen size and storage, Barry Devlin, founder of 9sight Consulting, sees the tablet, rather than the smartphone, becoming the BI tool of choice. Mike Kotlyar of Sysware takes a nuanced view, noting uncertainty about "which content to deliver on which device," and the skepticism of those who regard mobile BI as no more than "executive eye candy." But, he nevertheless expects the space to show development and improvements over the next year.
Two of our crystal ball-gazers also take the plunge on big-data: It's going to get bigger. Devlin rightly foresees that big-data will impact not just IT, but organizational and operational processes. Kotylar highlights the coming importance of NoSQL tools like Hadoop and Cassandra for handling large volumes of unstructured data. He's on the money: There's great interest in building appliances that package BI with Hadoop.
Other areas of consensus? Both Devlin and Kotlyar emphasize the growing importance of in-memory technology as an alternative to disk-based data management. In-memory systems provide for faster and more reliable querying of databases, and vendors like SAP and Oracle have developed appliances that combine in-memory capabilities with visual analytics.
John Gamble, of Altius Consulting, comes at his predictions from a slightly different angle, that of the BI consultant. He's expecting out-of-the-box systems to challenge bespoke BI -- and among vendors, IBM certainly has a horse in that race, with its PureData System products.
Gamble also anticipates enterprises to become much more comfortable with the user end of analytics, leaving consultants to oversee data quality, integration, and governance.
In my view, none of these analysts are placing bad bets, although the instinctive picking of odds-on favorites is not very challenging. What we're likely to see -- and this makes generalized predictions difficult -- is a widespread use of analytics, tailored to the requirements of different enterprises. A mid-sized regional retail chain, and a multi-national payment processor, are just two examples of businesses with urgent, but quite different, analytics needs. If they're savvy, they'll choose different solutions to meet them.
The obvious is sometimes the most surprising, Kim. When you look back at how we transitioned from predominant mainframes to PC's, it looks obvious, but it was a "big deal" at the time.
I think your points that the widespread availability of data through so many technologies, and the advancement to making it more intuitive, make the use of real facts a defacto standard in decision making. As you also point out, the innovations will continue to come through the wider use.
Companies are going to replace gut feelings for analytics in decision-making. That's about as risky a prediction as predicting the sun will rise tomorrow.
Big-data analytics seems not to date back beyond 2-3 years ago...at least not in the mainstream hyped up sense that it exists currently. At the least then its safe to bet that its only going to get more basic for the existence of companies in 2013. It would help that its going to be cheaper to carry out analytics especially with the cloud analytics providers coming in. We might also see some convergence towards shared resources in terms of companies pooling data together to benefit from analytics done by other companies(or maybe not because of competition...).
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Hospitality is one industrial sector making big strides in deploying analytics to enhance customer experience. We heard about it last week on IE Radio, in discussion with Todd Davis of Choice Hotels. I recently learned from IHG's Director of Revenue Optimization, Dev Koushik, about how analytics can be used to set optimal room prices across 700,000 rooms in nearly 5,000 properties.
The big announcement at the opening keynotes of IBM's 2013 Smarter Commerce Global Summit is that IBM is putting Watson into companies, and companies are putting Watson to work.
A study of US ecommerce trends in the run up to Mother's Day points to what Jay Henderson, Global Strategy Director for IBM Smarter Commerce, called "a pretty seismic shift" in online shopping habits.
The New York Times made a fuss about the obvious this week, as it so often does, pointing out that Hollywood increasingly leverages big-data to select and hone movie scripts.
State and local government agencies would love to get their hands around big-data. All they lack is adequate data storage and computer power, and enough staff.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Big-data has become a big point of emphasis for many businesses. While the technology is available to deploy these applications, the needed personnel often is not. As a result, analytic engineers' salaries have blown past the six-figure mark, and hiring these experts has become a challenge for IT managers.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling of customer behavior to convert more site visitors into leads, says Brian Baron, director of business analytics, in an interview at the Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Companies need to take advantage of new technologies to simplify interfaces, improve capabilities, and enhance back-office processes. But they can't upgrade their Websites too often.
A survey by JD Powers found that customer interest in product features is lessening as phones evolve. Rather than features, price is driving purchases, and that change could have a dramatic impact on how IT departments secure these devices.
Network complexity, cloud-based architectures, the explosion of apps, and the growth of bandwidth needs are among the reasons enterprises need to improve insight into traffic and data.
Linda Descano, President and CEO of Women & Co., and managing director of partnerships and branded content of North America marketing at Citi, explains her firm's marketing opportunities and challenges.
Big-data and analytics tools enable marketers to understand customers as individuals, identifying unmet needs and addressing each customer as a "segment of one," says John Kennedy, VP corporate marketing, IBM.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The IBM Smarter Commerce Global Summit in Monaco kicked into high gear today, and we've already begun to see news emerging from that lovely city-state by the sea.
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