OpenSSL is a popular cryptographic library used to digitally scramble sensitive data as it passes to and from computer servers so that only the service provider and the intended recipients can make sense of it. If an organisation employs OpenSSL, users see a padlock icon in their web browser - although this can also be triggered by rival products. Google Security and Codenomicon - a Finnish security company - revealed on Monday that a flaw had existed in OpenSSL for more than two years that could be used to expose the secret keys that identify service providers employing the code. They said that if attackers made copies of these keys they could steal the names and passwords of people using the services, as well as take copies of their data and set up spoof sites that would appear legitimate because they used the stolen credentials. This vulnerability allows anyone on the internet to read the memory of the system protected by the bug-affected code. In this way, they can get the keys needed to decode and read the data, according security researchers at the Finnish firm Codenomicon who discovered it. The bug is independently discovered recently by Codenomicon and Google Security researcher Neel Mehta. The official name for the vulnerability is CVE-2014-0160.

To read more, visit:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/heartbleed-web-security-bug-what-you-need-to-know-1.2603988

According to a recent EY (formerly Ernst & Young) survey, very few Indian companies use ‘forensic data analytics’. Seventy-two per cent of the 500-odd companies surveyed believe Big Data has the potential to mitigate frauds. However, only seven per cent are aware of specific Big Data technologies and only two per cent are using such technologies. There are 2 basic reasons behind the sceptical mindset among Indian companies about using big data to detect frauds. First is shortage of big data skilled workers & second is their reluctance to invest in these technologies.

To know more, visit the following link:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/smartbuy/why-we-arent-using-data-analytics-to-detect-fraud/article5897189.ece

A pilot project using predictive analytics and applied natural language processing identified 8,500 patients of Carilion Clinic who are at risk of congestive heart failure. Discrete data points, such as weight and medications, can be found in structured EMR (electronic medical record) fields. Unstructured data includes physicians' notes that are typed or read into a patient's EMR or discharge papers.  The natural language processing technology searched for key words or phrases within the unstructured data as well as in structured data. In all, 20 million documents were analyzed. Because approximately half of all patients who develop heart failure die within five years, according to the “Centre for Disease Control and Prevention”, early identification is essential. About 3,500 of the 8,500 patients Carilion identified as at-risk would not have been found if the project had analyzed only the structured data, according to Steve Morgan, MD and chief medical information officer at Carilion Clinic.

To know more, please visit famous author & reporter Maggie O'Neill’s article by clicking on the following link:

http://www.baselinemag.com/analytics-big-data/analytics-ids-patients-at-risk-for-heart-failure.html/

In the circuit-based telephony world, watching the status of a few thousand network nodes was a satisfactory answer to assuring network health. But today, the number of alarm points to monitor has scaled to the millions. No operator has the money to constantly monitor the performance issues of individual smart phone users. It is time for operators to get real and invest more in proactive analytics than in reactive alarms. What’s more, the gap between network planning and assurance has to be shortened. Why? Because the cause of today’s customer-experience problem is yesterday’s lack of good data for capacity planning.

During a recent conversation with columnist Dan Baker, big data architect Kelvin Hall, reveals about his firsthand experiences of the problems faced by network operations and big opportunities that await them through a greater mastery of analytics techniques. To read more, visit the following link:

http://www.billingworld.com/blogs/baker/2014/04/from-alarms-to-analytics-the-paradigm-shift-in-se.aspx

The world’s music habits were once relatively private. Record companies were aware about which radio station played their songs and where their CDs were popular, but that information painted an incomplete picture at best in reality. Who knew what music people were sharing on tapes and CDs burnt in the privacy of their own bedrooms? The sales figure notifies companies about the number of records or CDs sold, but no information can be tracked after that. With the time, the music industry is changing, thinking is changing, market is changing. The explosion of data from sources like torrents, music streaming sites and social media platforms has offered the music industry a huge opportunity to track sales, monitor post selling behaviour, understand their fans and spot upcoming artists like never before. Music analytics is now worth an estimated £ 1.8 billion per year. While internet is taking power away from record labels, it is also giving them the ability to predict future hits. Universal Music UK’s director of digital, Paul Smernicki, thinks that ultimately the music industry will always be focused on content, no matter what analytical tools are available. According to him,“It’s important to remember that it's just a set of tools to help inform us. The data doesn't make the decisions, that's an un-replicable part of what we do.” But with robots replacing humans in every sphere of work, who knows how long it will be before music- the most successful talent scout in the industry is defined by an algorithm!

To read more, visit: 

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/09/music-analytics-is-helping-the-music-industry-see-into-the-future

Electronic Health Records are critical to succeed in healthcare service, but they are not enough.From a healthcare provider’s perspective, after spending a lot of money and time on EHR, reluctance to evaluate other solutions for population health management or “accountable care” can be understood. So, healthcare providers are choosing to wait for their EHR to evolve in order to address new demands associated with taking on and managing risk. But according to industry analysts this can be a long wait as wide range of functions are going far beyond what EHRs were built to do. Here analytics tools and solutions come to the rescue. Performing analytics using clinical and claims data, organizations can gain deep insight into patients, population, and performance, predict outcomes and rapidly identify the actions needed for improvement. This insight can be gained through a wide range of analytics solutions that deliver retrospective views of activity, ongoing surveillance of current activity, predictive modelling of future activity, as well as root-cause analysis.

To read more, visit the following link:

http://ehrintelligence.com/2014/04/09/why-moving-beyond-the-ehr-is-needed-for-population-health/

The 25-bed critical access Monadnock Community Hospital faced a huge deficit as a direct result of an unexpected ice-storm that hit the state of New Hampshire in December 2008, causing a two-week power outage. The hospital was in deep financial trouble.Fortunately for the hospital and the region, the hospital management had decided to look into various options to bail the hospital out of this crisis. The hospital's lab department had some success following a lean Six Sigma model, so the hospital authority pursued the strategy hospital-wide. Mr. Peter L. Gosline, president and CEO of Monadnock Community Hospital, had highlighted the success of the hospital's five-year "lean" journey during the American College of Healthcare Executive's 2014 Congress in Chicago, a model that he estimates has saved the organization $1 million a year!

To read more, visit the link address given below:

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/how-lean-strategies-saved-nh-critical-access-hospital-financial-ruin/2014-04-07

Tired of hearing about Big Data? Accept it or not, you have to get used to it. Hundreds of companies are ready to offer impressive remuneration to hire people with quantitative skills. Ms. Linda Burtch, with her 3 decades of experience in recruitment, has tracked the rising demand for workers who can understand and manipulate data. In a recent interview, Chicago-based Ms. Burch talked about what companies want, how midcareer professionals can compete and why workers who are left behind could face a "permanent pink slip."

To read more, visit the following link:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304819004579489541746990638?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304819004579489541746990638.html

Most retail companies today operate in the master franchisee model where master franchisee manages the operations of the different stores of the brand. In such cases, it is important to understand the difference between what the company sells to its franchise stores and what the stores in-turn sell to the consumer. This metric is where the insights are hidden. Hence it is very important that companies track &understand this metric to optimally manage stocks and avoid costly stock-out or over-stock situations. Important decisions like the number of new stores that should be opened, best location & size of each store in different cities are not a straightforward choice! Data analytics usage in this space has proved to solve this dilemma. It helps companies to decide the optimal size of each new store they open, while ensuring that these decisions takes into account key parameters like real estate rental costs, catchment area, average incomes in the geographical area, presence of competition etc. Therefore, data analytics is simplifying complex business problems.

Arvind Nagpal wrote about this aspect in his recent article. To read more, please visit the following link:

http://www.informationweek.in/informationweek/perspective/288161/analytics-helping-retail-outlets-critical-decision

According to a new survey conducted by Deloitte, it is found that as complexity in global supply chain networks continues to increase, less than one-third (26 percent) of business executives are using data analytics tools and processes to help manage third party relationship risks.Thirteen percent of those surveyed are still learning how to use analytics software and 22 percent use no data analytics at all. Few market leading companies leverage advanced data analytics tools and forensic accounting to identify anomalies in their transactional data & getting astonishing benefits while rest are lagging far behind in this issue. Nearly one-third (31 percent) of business executives surveyed, said that their organization has faced supply chain fraud, waste or abuse in the past 12 months.

Mark Pearson, principal, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, speaks about why organizations need data analytics to tackle supply chain fraud. To read more, please visit the following link:

http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=16641

The visual data discovery (VDD) approach increases the probability that business managers will find the information they need in time to make effective decisions. This is the main reason behind VDD’s rapidly growing fan base. While traditional BI solutions can be invaluable, they do have limitations. Dashboards come in handy in few cases, but there is still a fundamental problem – the dashboard designer must have anticipated the need for that line of questioning or train of thought when the dashboard was originally built.  So, if unexpected questions arise, business managers end up making decisions without data, operating on gut feel alone.  And that means they end up operating without real answers at all! So, here’s the key question:  Do you ever get questions in your logistics operations that are unexpected and hard to answer? This is where visual data discovery tools excel.Visual data discovery tools provide a rich, visual environment that enables business users to easily interact with, and manipulate, information directly, hands-on.  They provide a compelling solution to help business managers explore data, without the assistance of skilled IT staff.

To know more, visit David White’s article by clicking on the following link:

http://logisticsviewpoints.com/2014/04/07/new-approaches-analytics-revolutionize-logistics/

Lean Six Sigma is a managerial concept combining Lean and Six Sigma that results in the elimination of eight kinds of wastes / muda (classified as Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Non-Utilized Talent, Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Extra-Processing) and an improved capability of performance. The term Six Sigma is statistically based on the provision of goods and service at a rate of 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO). A mnemonic for the wastes is "DOWNTIME”.

Over the years, this methodology has helped many firms to achieve process & output improvement. However, how about implementing lean six sigma concept to improve operating a city? That’s interesting! That was beyond our imagination. However, Tyler, a city located in Texas, United States, implemented Lean Six Sigma concepts to manage various projects and of course, with a saving of 5 Million US dollars, it can be said that the result was in its favour! Tyler Senior Public Relations Specialist Serena Butcher said the idea behind Lean Six Sigma is to identify waste and variation, so the city can save time and money and overall be more efficient. Mayor Barbara Bass also addressed attendees in a recent gathering to celebrate their success, saying, “In five short years, we’ve changed the culture of how we look at our jobs at city hall.”

To read more about how implementing Lean Six Sigma concepts actually worked for the City of Tyler, visit the following link address:

http://www.tylerpaper.com/TP-News+Local/197509/lean-six-sigma-city-of-tyler-celebrates-over-5-million-in-savings-with-program#.U0I6iqhgXgw

A recent research by Fast Company revealed that 93% of marketers use social media to promote their business.  It is the number one daily activity among Americans. Social media sites, email providers and the Google are eating up the largest chunk of the time spent over the internet. Social media is reaching beyond our traditional perception; it’s getting bigger and bigger with time. From a marketer’s Point of view, if you are not marketing on it, you are likely missing a large chunk of your target consumers. As a product of the Mark Zuckerberg generation, it is easy to understand why people are so obsessed with social media. For marketers, the potential to grow their business via these networks is endless. The following base strategies will help you take control of your social channels and give them a much needed facelift.

·         Create a game plan & stick to it.

·         Treat each channel as an individual entity.

·         Go above & beyond in Customer Service.

·         Embrace any kind of mishaps.

·         Track & talk.

·         Stay active on Google+.

To read more, see Margot da Cunha’s blog by visiting the following link address:

http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/01/09/social-media-marketing-strategies

The trend towards larger data sets is due to the additional information that can be derived from analysis of a single large set of related data, as compared to separate smaller sets with the same total amount of data. This is allowing better correlations to be found to spot business trends, determine the quality of research, prevent diseases, link legal citations, combat crime, and determines real-time roadway traffic conditions. Today, the applicability of Big Data analytics is not limited to only organizations. Big Data wings have established a longer reach beyond that sphere. Many apps are already in place to help people find the cheapest flights, improve their diets, even suggests how to become better drivers! From travel to shopping to health to civic life, big data got a role to play. Embracing Big Data analytics has already started paying dividends to the consumers. With more explorations, Big Data analytics is going to help each and every curve of consumer lifestyle in not so distant future!

A recent article posted in wall street journal by famous author Lora Kolodny, gives a detailed view on this subject. To read, click on the following link:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303369904579423383203100794

Six Sigma is not just a toolbox. It is a way of thinking about business, about processes and about cause-and-effect relationships. To ensure success, the application of Six Sigma relies on traditional scientific methods to examine processes, remove undesirable causes and their effects. Six Sigma also seeks to innovate through the discovery of truth with refined, rational cognitive skills and the objective analysis of empirical data. It is a collection of tools. It is a methodology. It is a thought process that dissects the large picture into smaller parts and reassembles it into a more efficient configuration.

Many of the tools used for Six Sigma also proved useful in conjunction with TQM and other process improvement methodologies. While some of the tools are new to process improvement activities, it is important to note that Six Sigma also provides a new way to use existing tools. This leads to a debate about whether Six Sigma is something new or a new way to employ existing tools!

An article by Robert Tripp, Scot Shank and Mike Carnell, emphasizes on this debate and speaks about DMAIC phases of six sigma methodology. Visit the following link to access the article:

http://www.isixsigma.com/new-to-six-sigma/dmaic/six-sigma-toolbox/

The benefits of cloud-based ERP systems are well known. These solutions involve far less upfront investment, can be implemented in weeks instead of months or years & can be treated as operating expenditure rather than capital expenditure. Scalability is another advantage of cloud based ERP systems. However, if cloud based ERP solutions had no snags, then premise-based solutions would have disappeared years ago. As this is not the case, it’s worth examining the drawbacks of the SaaS model in ERP, which translate to the strengths of the premise-based model.

For a detailed view on this debate, please visit Tracey Schelmetic’s article link as given below:

http://www.thomasnet.com/journals/techtrends/articles/enterprise-resource-planning-better-on-premise-or-cloud-based

Robust demand for continuous improvement talent remains concentrated on lean skill sets, but Six Sigma shows renewed strength in a new study. A survey conducted by the Avery Point Group on 7097 internet job postings revealed the changing demands landscape for lean and Six Sigma talent.

To read more, visit the following link:

http://www.industryweek.com/lean-six-sigma/demand-six-sigma-talent-staging-comeback

Organizations have implemented various software solutions to manage many processes, from ERP to power consumption to supply chain management. But when it comes to the most critical component of supply chain management – “Human Capital”, many companies are still playing catch-up. However, nowadays more organizations are turning to labour optimization solutions. These solutions not only keep track of operations, but also use predictive models and algorithms to determine future labour needs. Labour optimization software also analyze orders and resources to predict warehouse throughput. Then it automatically schedules the right balance of full-time, part-time, and temporary workers to meet demand. Managers receive alerts when labour levels don’t meet requirements. Optimization solutions have been used successfully for years in operations such as call centres, which needs to examine historical call patterns to predict future call volumes and ensure that they have the right people with the right skills in the right channels. Such intelligent technology has enormous potential in a manufacturing setting, helping companies do more with less.

To read more about this aspect, please visit Tracey Schelmetic’s article link as given below:

http://www.thomasnet.com/journals/techtrends/articles/labor-optimization-solutions-make-best-use-of-human-capital

Research firm Gartner has predicted that half of the large organizations will have internal Facebook-like social networks by 2016, and that 30 percent of these will be considered as essential as email and telephones are today. It also noted that 80 percent of social business efforts will not achieve the intended benefits due to inadequate leadership. A report on “unified communication and collaboration” (UCC), by another research firm, Frost & Sullivan, pointed out that employees have become accustomed in recent years to simple and user-friendly interfaces of free online communications tools, such as Gmail and Facebook, which allow them to collaborate in only a few clicks.

To know more about this talk-of-the-town topic, read Author Al Bredenberg’s article by visiting the following link:

http://www.thomasnet.com/journals/techtrends/articles/companies-want-to-get-social-in-their-enterprise-collaboration

Inventory optimization (IO) solutions are meant to help managers match supply volume to customer demand over a large number of stock keeping units or SKUs. One significant drawback of single-echelon solution is that safety stock can only be managed at the individual facility level, which can result in excessive inventory if a company operates in multiple functions. Multi-echelon solutions allow safety stock to be managed and optimized over the entire network & are required for complex situations in which facilities are considered as parts of a network. With the time, business houses had realized the value of inventory optimization for improving gross margin. The potential benefits are substantial, albeit many managers had conveyed that cutting back too much on inventory can cause delays in order fulfilment and hence, there is a high chance of increased customer attrition. However, a recent survey revealed that best-in-class firms actually improve service levels and financial performance through their use of inventory optimization solutions. Hence, balancing inventory and service levels doesn’t have to be a win/lose exercise.

Author Al Bredenberg had given a detailed view on this aspect in his recent article. To read, visit the following link:

http://www.thomasnet.com/journals/techtrends/articles/inventory-optimization-helps-straddle-the-line-between-shortage-and-excess