SigmaWay Blog

Vendors often focus on showcasing their front-end capabilities, i.e. dashboard reporting and data visualizations, while ignoring the vital aspect of analytics, namely data preparation: cleansing, structuring and integrating data to make it ready for analysis. The typical scenarios include using more than one type of data source, working with large datasets, working with messy, unorganized data. This is where your business intelligence tools come in. These tools are meant to automate or simplify the bulk of the data preparation process by using pre-programmed adapters that connect into different types of data sources, and restructuring the data into a single centralized repository. Here are 3 crucial aspects of data preparation one should be aware of when evaluating business intelligence software: Access to the original data, joining multiple data sources and data management. Choosing the wrong software could skew your initial price estimate when you are forced to allocate technical resources or purchase additional programs to handle data preparation.

Read more at:

http://www.sisense.com/blog/data-preparation-checking-hood-analytics-software/

It's high time to move away from the old adage "Sell in May", because the market is on its way to double its year- to-date returns. Marketing axioms, rules of thumb may be comforting than investing logic but do not show the best path for investment. This concept though statistically proven to be nonsense does not discourage investors. Historical stock market data shows return from May through October might be more than the others on an average. Transaction costs, taxes on profits cannot be avoided by investors as trading volumes in summer months being consistently on the lower side. This leads to fewer trends and influence traders to get out as it is not worth to stay in the market. People believe that market loses from May to November with the worst in October, which is not the truth as research shows. Read more at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-it-gets-to-may-you-might-as-well-stay-2015-05-16?page=1

Pure tag management software/solution has become omnipresent. Every company wants to own one. But it is a feature and not a product segment. So, the future of "tags" is shifting to data management. Most TMS providers are now engaging in unification platforms, by which all the data collected from various channels and devices can connect and interact. These can be utilized by marketers so as to reduce spending, and increase marketing efficiencies. The future of tag management is digital marketing. It gives marketer agility and ownership of their data. To know more about tag management and its benefits and the future challenges it faces, read the article by Contributor Hollis Thomases (veteran of the interactive marketing world) at: http://marketingland.com/future-tag-management-102355

vRad (Virtual Radiologic) released its latest Radiology Patient Care Indices, which will be available for free and unrestricted use.  It is the U.S.A.'s largest telemedicine company and radiology practice. It enables hospitals, health systems and radiology departments to use normalized data for comparing their own usage of CT imaging in the Emergency Department with similar organizations across the U.S. However, using analytics to improve measuring, benchmarking and proving overall healthcare value is not simple. One must know what to measure, how to measure it, and what benchmark goals to opt and a sound knowledge of radiology analytics. Read more at: http://www.vision-systems.com/marketwired/2014/10/14/vrad-continues-empowering-radiology-with-access-to-big-data-analytics-and-insights.html

The National Hockey League (NHL) is focusing on making a substantial investment in analytics to evaluate players' performance. Other than ticket pricing, analytics can be applied in other revenue stream like sponsorship investments by corporate partners. Using analytics in sports sponsorship provides answers to sponsors like why they are getting value by working with a sports organization. It also helps to state issues when a team or athlete is unsuccessful in competition. Thus, a wealth of new data is available to sports organizations. To know more, go through the article by Adam Grossman, Ben Shields, Irving Rein (authors of The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High-Performance Industry) at: http://blog.oup.com/2014/10/advancement-sports-analytics-business/

According to John Sculley (entrepreneur and the former CEO of Pepsi-Cola and Apple) a drastic change is taking place in marketing with the expansion of incredible new technologies like big data, cloud computing and numerous miniature sensors as well as mobile devices, making customers smarter. Nowadays customers value each other's opinion more than the producers'. With the beginning of a big-data marketing era, the prospects for entrepreneurs to disrupt and build companies have improved because technology costs have reduced. Read more at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238363

Auto Trader is an automotive classified website located in the United Kingdom, owned by Trader Media Group. The Auto Trader Group is conveying market insights to motor vehicle dealers who advertise on its website at a high speed with the help of Hadoop and other analytics software. The analytics project, called Audience Hub, has helped transform the website. The company is creating a web portal from which their customers may access data on consumers' interaction with their vehicle listings. To know more, go through the article by CLINT BOULTON (Staff Reporter for CIO Journal) at: http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2014/10/14/how-autotrader-put-analytics-in-the-drivers-seat/

Finding balance between data size and analytical modeling needs can be a problematic process in big data analytics. But it is essential for the success of big data analytics projects. The size of big data sources at social networking companies can obstruct analytics efforts. So, restraining the opportunity of an analysis by using data sampling techniques can be helpful. On the other hand, there are many businesses that lack the data needed to answer key business questions. For those organizations, development of effective analytical models can only take place after new data types are acquired and their analytics infrastructure is built. To know more, go through the article by Ed Burns (site editor of SearchBusinessAnalytics) at: http://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/feature/Balance-required-between-big-data-volume-analytics-needs

The KYC platform launched by eClerx enables both seller and buyer clients to establish and conduct KYC processes. Reduction of regulatory risk and compliance across multiple jurisdictions is ensured under high level of supervision. Clients using eClerx's KYC offering are able to extra proficiently involve in business relationships and decrease the possibility of illegal activities such as money laundering. Organizations, not properly managing their KYC, face risk and reputation. Therefore KYC has come into the regulatory forefront and is an indispensable component of enterprise risk. Read more at: http://www.hedgeweek.com/2014/10/13/211289/eclerx-launches-know-your-customer-solution

According to David Bannister (editor at Banking Technology magazine), there has been a change in retail banking in the UK in recent years. A steady change has been noticed in the type of organizations that provide banking services and the way that both these new and incumbent providers transact with customers. However, change may be driven by the non-financial organizations as well. In many cases, these organizations are well known consumer brands with collections of customer loyalty. One such category is UK supermarkets which enjoy positive perceptions among their customers, thus suggesting that they are providing better customer satisfaction than banks. So, banks must retain focus on improving customer sentiment and make sure that people do not switch. Read more at: http://www.bankingtech.com/248682/the-rise-of-the-challenger-banks/

A lot is at stake in the stock market because average stock valuations are in high-normal range. Most analysts agree that if the average P/E Ratio of S&P 500 is anything greater than 20, it means stocks are in a rather high-priced region. There are several factors however that might create problems. To know more go through the article by Julian Close (business writer, PRA International and the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping) at: http://www.marketintelligencecenter.com/articles/612420

In today's world, agriculture is not enough for farmers to sustain and to move on to the next level. Business-oriented agriculture should be encouraged. Without proper market intelligence, profit making is impractical. Farmers are not aware of the market demand and what consumers want. So, farmers and traders should work together to promote products required in the market and fix prices using technology in farming. A programme focusing on this issue was organized by National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation, Coimbatore, and Department of Horticulture, Madurai, under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture. They are trying to identify the horticultural needs of farmers and bring out solutions. Read more at: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/market-intelligence-is-crucial-for-farmers/article6454553.ece

Today's small businesses are setting their focus on their own unique products and services rather than the best piece of real estate for showcasing. They now cater to local markets and potential customers and are shifting their focus towards local SEO. There are many valid reasons for this. Customers simply choose to spend their hard earned money locally as it gives a feeling of economic stability. To know more about why and how to optimize a small business presence with localized SEO efforts, read the article by David Goehst (Entrepreneur, Expert Blogger, and Search Engine Pro) at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-goehst/how-local-seo-speeds-up-small-business-growth_b_5830646.html

According to Bjorn Cumps (digital banking professor and director of the Centre for Financial Services at Vlerick Business School), retail banks would find it very challenging to increase net bank income because of the recent financial crisis. So, the only way these banks can look for possible future growth is via technology. Retail banks have been testing with new technology like mobile banking apps, prepaid cards, QR-code based payments, digital advisors, social media analytics tools and location-based services etc. The true winners in retail banking will not be the ones who approve new technology but is the one with new financial ecosystem, including tech companies, energy companies, retailers, real estate agents, notaries, lawyers and many other service providers, offering integrated services that create genuine customer value. Read more at: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/oct/07/retail-banks-growth-hopes-technology-value-customer-apple-pay

Businesses are shifting to cloud based systems to boost business intelligence. Small to medium business enterprises are now shifting to cloud based applications to enhance their marketing strategies. However, large firms are using these solutions to expand their market. Cloud business intelligence (BI) provides productivity tools and applications that will benefit organizations. These benefits include the speed of deployment speed and implementation of various business apps, scaling up of web applications and the integration of business intelligence apps to enhance business productivity and cost effectiveness. There are many cloud business intelligence solutions available in the market today. To know more about the best cloud business intelligence solutions that you can find in the market today, read the article by Jason Bowden (contributor to Business 2 Community) at: http://www.business2community.com/cloud-computing/best-cloud-business-intelligence-solutions-marketing-analytics-01006959#4THfUeqShLhspv3m.99

According to some renowned pharmacy technicians, the application of LSS techniques in the inpatient pharmacy department at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals brought in a great deal of improvement. Kaizen ("improvement") events were conducted by the UNC inpatient pharmacy to progress work flow and customer service to patients and nurses. Overall, these improvements have refined work flow and improved employee and customer satisfaction. With LSS as a tool, UNC is constantly striving to promote the culture of continuous quality improvement. To know more read the article by Jami Mann, PharmD, MBA ( PGY1 health system pharmacy administration resident at UNC Healthcare), Allison Dipper, PharmD candidate (pharmacy technician at the Central Inpatient Pharmacy at UNC Healthcare), Erinn Rowe, PharmD, MS (clinical manager at UNC Healthcare)and Chad Hatfield, PharmD, MHA, BCPS (assistant director of operations at UNC Healthcare) at: http://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/health-system-edition/2014/September2014/Lean-Six-Sigma-in-the-Pharmacy-Department

According to Manish Godha (Founder & CEO, Advaiya Solutions), social media seems to be the most attractive media through which a business can interact with an audience. Individuals allow an exceptional view into their thought processes, by leaving traces of their activities - personal, social and professional - on the internet. Social analytics attempts to draw relevant understanding and inferences from them which could be used by different divisions of various brands. It is very difficult to ensure that the analysis is relevant and reliable. The most common use of social media analytics is to mine customer sentiment in order to support marketing and customer service activities. It is important that the models correspond to the business context and the intervening mechanics are accounted for. Read more at: http://www.business-standard.com/article/management/social-listening-for-market-intelligence-114092100688_1.html

A data-centric management culture is as important as the technology investments in a company. Data science i.e. the extraction of useful information and knowledge from data is considered to be within the operational structure of financial technology organizations. For most financial services organizations, 60 to 65 percent of IT budgets are dedicated to maintaining the core transaction processing systems. After general operating and personnel costs are deducted, less than 10 percent of the budget is left for new systems development. To know more about how these companies who are trying to incorporate data analytics processing, go through the article by Don Campbell (Managing Principal & Founder, RightCourse) at: http://www.banktech.com/big-data/the-importance-of-fostering-a-data-centric-management-culture-/a/d-id/1315979?piddl_msgid=261430#msg_261430

According to Darian Shirazi (founder of Radius and a Forbes contributor), marketers measure success based on the dollar value of pipeline they are able to generate in order to increase revenue. The marketers, who can reach their goals, work closely with their sales team who can find appropriate customers. The ones who struggle to reach their goals are not aware of their sales team's ability to close deals. To highlight pipeline, and to find customers, marketers need to understand deeply how to market properly. Hence marketers today, have access to new data sources, superior analytics, and better integrations that allow them to generate high value pipelines. Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/darianshirazi/2014/09/16/marketing-automation-2-0-marketing-intelligence/

According to Pernille Bruun-Jensen (leader in marketing efforts for NetBase) both digital marketing and customer care have moved beyond the Web to social media. Marketers have advanced technologies at their disposal. Social data is providing the higher returns on investment that business leaders are asking for. Similarly, emergencies can be detected and prevented before it is too late. To successfully lead in social media and henceforth in digital marketing, marketers need a strategy based on accuracy and speed using real-time tools. Next-generation social analytics reveals not just who is engaging with your brand and what they are engaging with, but why they are engaging. To know more about what next-generation social analytics can do for a brand go to: http://www.adweek.com/brandshare/next-gen-social-analytics-are-transforming-digital-marketing-160064