February e-NEWScomp
This year Newcomp will be issuing monthly e-newsletters to keep everyone informed with all that is happening. The idea is to open up dialogue for two-way communication with the hopes that you will give us your feedback and support throughout the year. Newcomp is constantly looking for new trends in technology with regards to Business Analytics and it is our hopes that this newsletter initiative will keep everyone educated with all that we have to offer. Each newsletter will contain upcoming workshops, webinars and events and will provide links for registration forms, support renewals and other useful information. This year we will also be maintaining social media accounts including a LinkedIn profile, Twitter account, a WordPress blog and a YouTube Channel. Please stay connected and take part in our online discussions.
Here is the February 2012 Edition of e-NEWScomp.
Now Trending… IBM Netezza
On last week’s Q4 analyst call, IBM CFO Mark Loughridge announced that IBM actually ran out of their Netezza product during their fourth quarter and that the product saw a 70 per cent growth.
More about Netezza:
IBM Netezza is a market-leader in data warehousing and offers plug-and-play capabilities that optimize the data warehouse for analytics. IBM Netezza easily integrate with your preferred ETL and BI tools.
IBM Netezza is scalable and offers the ability to process extremely large amounts of data. Using Massive Parallel Processing (MPP), IBM Netezza breaks queries into smaller components for optimized parallel processing.
Happy New Year
It is that time of the year again when we are all trying to make resolutions of how we are going to better ourselves, our businesses and our lifestyles in the upcoming year. In the end all that we want is to make the new year the best it possibly can be. Newcomp would like to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous new year. 
Predicting the Holiday Shopping Rush
It’s the holiday season and everyone is out shopping for that perfect gift! We have all been there frantically looking for that one item that is SOLD OUT everywhere. So how do companies prepare for the busy holiday rush? It’s predictive analytics and its changing the way in which stores order and plan their inventory both during the holiday season and otherwise.
Check out this article that discusses how companies can use IBM’s predictive analytics tool to help determine the amount of inventory needed for their stores. The tool can forecast to a very specific level, meaning that not only will they know they should sell “x” number of that new shirt but that they will need “x” number in each size and colour. Think about how this tool can help save companies a lot of time, effort and money.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/357932/The_Art_Science_of_Fashion?taxonomyId=18&pageNumber=1
The article later discusses potential use for the tool. The options are endless and the possibilities extreme. As long as you can dream up what questions you are seeking answers for and find the pertinent data, predictive analytics can take away a lot of the “what if” in life.
Predictive Planning
Imagine how much easier a Marketing Manager’s job would be if they could predict how many people would come to an event they coordinated? They would know how big (or small) a venue to book and how much food and supplies to provide. Well, that’s exactly what the Westchester County in New York did.
They were able to improve the attendance at their public golf courses by taking a quantitative approach to their data. They, “overlaid weather data with attendance figures, and the dates of special promotions and discounts at the golf courses” (Williams, 2008). The data has also helped them to further their planning for attendance for special events. Moreover, the county uses statistical analysis to manage other aspects such as building roads and figuring out where to deploy police officers. Furthermore they were able to predict which highway junctions have higher accident rates so they can deploy more police officers to help reduce car accidents.
The county also used statistical analysis to determine the effectiveness of their drug dependency treatment program for inmates. The result? “The study, which was recently submitted to the American Society of Criminology, found that Westchester County prisoners who participated in the drug program are re-imprisoned 9 percentage points less often than nonparticipants” (Williams, 2008).
The data is there, virtually all organisations store and manage data but are they interpreting it? It’s easy to say, analyze your historic data, but how do we do that? Technologies are advancing to make high-level analysis more accessible and easy to use. Westchester County used IBM SPSS software to handle the analysis and they have one staff person who handles the statistical analysis.
Click below to read the full report:
http://www.govtech.com/pcio/Statistical-Analysis-Improves-Business-Performance-in.html
References:
Williams, M. (June 1, 2008). “Statistical Analysis Improves Business Performance in Westchester County, N.Y.” http://www.govtech.com/pcio/Statistical-Analysis-Improves-Business-Performance-in.html. Accessed December 14, 2011.
Predictive Analytics- Real Life Examples
I came across this article this morning and thought that it was worth mentioning on the blog. It is published at Forbes.com and talks about the use of predictive analytics today. One of the parts that is very interesting is how they use examples from real companies to demonstrate the power of predictive analytics in business today.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/01/analytics-best-buy-technology-data-companies-10-accenture.html
Are you thinking that maybe predictive analytics can help you?
Take five minutes and fill out the questionnaire below which will help guide you and your company with regards to how predictive analytics and statistics can help meet your particular business needs. Once you have filled out the questionnaire send it to us and we can give you a project plan write up that can help you further develop and use your data to its fullest potential. Please return all of your questionnaires to spss@newcomp.com.
Big Data!
With the dawn of the internet, people and companies have seen a major increase in the amount of data that they have at their fingertips. It is essential that we learn how to leverage this “BIG DATA”, make sense of it and learn to use it to its fullest potential.
Check out this article about how data impacts today’s society.
http://www.wbur.org/npr/142893065/the-search-for-analysts-to-make-sense-of-big-data
It is apparent that the way in which data is used, collected and stored is changing. For this reason people as well as companies need to embrace new technology and concepts that can help them make better use of this data. Business Analytics is just that and can help companies learn to collect, store and utilize their data in a way that can help their business both grow and prosper.
Predictive Analytics- Making a Decision Tree
Decision trees are great tools to use when making business decisions. The idea is that they can break down and predict “if a then b” cases. For instance if it rains x number of people will attend the event at the beach. It will also predict if the weather is sunny then x number of people will attend the event. By doing such an analysis companies can prepare for future outcomes, strategize business plans where they will receive the most “bang for their buck” and in turn better their business decision making abilities.
Check out the following video for a demonstration of how IBM SPSS Modeler can help your company create decisions trees.
IBM SPSS Modeler & the Evolution of Statistics
Many of us have been forced into taking a statistics course in school in order to graduate from our program whether it be a basic to a more advanced course. Little did we know that statistics would be playing an important part in how we conduct our business. In this crazy economy, we need to change the way we make our decisions, and take into consideration the long-term effects, not just short-term. Ask yourself, how will implementing a certain strategy affect us in 5 years? 10 years? We need to ensure a sustainable economic environment and prevent major detrimental events from happening such us a recession, low employment levels, to name a few.
This all sounds like a great idea, but how do we jump on the statistics band wagon? With new technologies and training options available, it isn’t as hard as you may think.
IBM has built a dynamic statistical tool, IBM SPSS Modeler. One of the cool features of IBM SPSS Modeler is the ability to automate. Automation with regards to what graphing technique correctly shows the relationship between numerous variables, what relationships exist, and what is the best statistical forecasting model to use to predict sales for example.
Below are a few helpful tips.
The IBM SPSS Modeler Interface: Reading in your data is easy, under the sources tab, you can choose from a variety of sources such as Excel, Cognos, SAS, or a Database (SQL).
Cool Automation Feature #1: The Graphboard Node. Under the Graphs Tab, there is a Graphboard Node that allows you to choose any combination of variables, and a list of applicable graphs is populated that you can choose. Now, I don’t have to guess what format I need my data in, or what is the most appropriate graph (Histogram? Bar? Plot?). I can make a feasible graph and export it to a variety of formats.
Cool Automation Feature #2: What variables have the strongest links? Under the graph tab, there is a web node that allows you to visually see which variables have the strongest links.
Cool Automation Feature #3: What statistical distribution to use? The Auto Numeric Node located under the Modeling tab allows you to select what you want to predict (Sales for instance), and what you want to use to predict (Gender and Education for instance). Hitting RUN, the program runs applicable model types and ranks the top 3 for you.
So, clicking on any of these models will show you a forecast of what you can expect in terms of Sales figures based on Gender, HHI, Education, and Marital Status.
If you have any questions regarding IBM SPSS Modeler or training for your business, please contact us at spss@newcomp.com.
