Health insurance carriers are currently in a dilemma, whether to purchase an analytics platform, assemble a platform and then use it. Lack of proper infrastructure is a big hindrance for analytics in healthcare system, dominated by paper-based transactions and the dearth of their electronic imprints. Since health contracts are based on the payment of money, depending upon the health status of patients, health insurers have an incentive to build an analytics platform. Currently, the healthcare insurance companies, who are willing to purchase analytics platforms, have limited options to choose from. While options are being worked upon, healthcare insurance lags behind property and casualty carriers, who are not restricted by intricate security measures and government hindrance. Read more at :

http://www.insurancetech.com/2015-outlook-analytics-in-health-insurance/d/d-id/1318241?

Sigmaway consultants have worked with clients in benefits solutions workspace providing analytics on healthcare plans. For more details visit

http://www.sigmaway.us/

Advanced analytics is considered as a game changer in all industries today. The benefits received from its application are tremendous. These benefits can also give the user firms – a competitive advantage- which further gives them a lead in their industry. Gavin Seewooruttun, in his article at abc.net, has listed five top applications of advanced analytics, that will prove to be a winning element for its users. They are:

• Gaining the whole customer view
• Customer micro targeting: upselling and cross selling
• Customer micro targeting: acquisition and churn management
• Customer micro targeting: value addition
• Proactive maintenance

To understand them in detail, please visit the following link:

http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2015/06/04/4248646.htm

In this competitive world, relying on one or two marketing channel is not a right decision. If you want to have a competitive advantage, use omni-channel marketing. Omni-channel marketing is about teamwork and using various marketing channels towards a single goal and delivering customer satisfaction. Key to omni-channel marketing success is analytics. Analytics and predictive modelling helps in gathering data, segmentation and provide relevant information. Companies can use internal data assets with external market intelligence to drive a decision. Tying customer's digital information with strong database helps in delivering personalized messages to customers.  Analytics provides metrics which helps in comparing channel performance. Helps in combining 1st party and 3rd party data. Read more at: http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/19/129314.html

A famous chain that oversees the operation of 514 restaurants across the US, has found a way to integrate Big Data with Business Intelligence Services. The system works on data from point-of-sale, marketing, promotions and customer surveys to provide feedback on sales in real time. This not only helps them maintain a competitive edge, but also maximize profits. Big Data was used to select which item to put on the restaurant's menu too. After evaluation of sales, simplicity of preparation, profitability, quality and brand. Only once they met the required target, were they made permanent on the menu of that restaurant. Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/06/02/big-data-at-dickeys-barbecue-pit-how-analytics-drives-restaurant-performance/

According to Scott Langfeldt (Teradata) “Big data is changing the way the world works- By combining with faster processor speeds and innovative analytic tools- helps in detecting fraud, part failure, and churn.”
For implementing big data and analytics into the company- analytical, business and IT departments need to work together. But they usually have differences.
Scott Langfeldt (Teradata) discussed some ways to solve these differences:
• Categorize your business and mission critical process.
• Make sure that flexibility is built into “business critical” process.
• Create a partnership between the IT developers and analytical teams.
• Develop “business solution” specialist on the analytic team.
• Develop “analytical experts.”
To know more about these ways, follow this link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/teradata/2015/06/02/avoiding-the-drift-into-analytics-oblivion-turning-your-business-into-an-analytics-driven-one/

According to Kevin Mahaffey (CTO at a security firm Lookout) "The more ways we make data more convenient, the more risk there is to access the data and access things without your knowledge". Such is the case with Apple watch. It expands the data set freely over the internet. Not only your location can easily be traced, your heart rate and activities can also be monitored by which your mood and choice can easily be deduced. To know more about the new technology, follow: http://www.cmswire.com/cms/mobile-enterprise/is-the-apple-watch-a-security-threat-029105.php

Rolls Royce, a company that is a leader in the manufacture of engines that generate large amount of power in a high-tech industry has begun to look for Big Data solutions to increase profits and reliability. Its engines and machine parts are fit with scores of sensors that monitor their operation and detect change in real time. Royce now employs Big Data in design, manufacture and after-sales crunching of data. With over 3TB data generated per manufacturing component a year, there is no doubt that there is a need for integration of Big Data. Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/06/01/how-big-data-drives-success-at-rolls-royce/

News agencies are venturing into analytics. A news agency also cleans the Internet for news, indexes it, and then allows users to ask questions of that data. It also allows you to extract facts and do trend analysis. Firms are taking data collected by machines or people, and using that data to generate news. Thanks to big data technology, it's becoming more practical to incorporate the field intelligence into the predictive models that executives increasingly rely on to make good, fast decisions.  Read more here: 

http://www.datanami.com/2015/05/29/how-big-data-is-changing-how-businesses-use-the-news/ana

Nowadays, companies are focusing on the best possible answers than asking the right questions to get the minutest details. To get the best details, a set of connect questions has to be answered which requires using a connected set of data sources. This is called unified analytics. It will enable the access and analysis of data from multiple sources on a single interface. But we need to keep certain things in mind like integration of unstructured and structured data which is not an easy process. Also, we need to look beyond traditional sources within firewall and focus the data strategy on customers. Read more at: 

 http://www.analytics-magazine.org/web-first/1266-unified-analytics-a-new-mastery-over-the-data-wave

Companies are recognizing the need of contact center analytics to gain more consumer awareness but problems like cost of hiring new staff and procurement of new equipment are holding back contact centers from investing in analytics. Other factors like funding and prioritization are to be blamed as contact centers are now seen as cost centers but terms like customer experience and customer journey are gaining exposure. Read more at:

 http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/news/4500246053/Contact-center-analytics-still-an-uncharted-frontier

The pursuit of data and analytics is helping companies to venture into new fields, transcending the fine lines between different industries. For example, a well-known sports company has ventured into the market of wearable technology, with the release of its fitness tracker, containing sensors, which automatically collects data regarding one's sleep patterns and the number of steps taken in a day.  Consumers must first download the fitness tracker app in their laptops or mobile devices. So, indirectly the company is also involved in the software business. Since the objective involves collection and analysis of data, to get customer feedback, the company is also involved in the analytics business. Cable and satellite suppliers are also using analytic tools to get deeper insights into viewing trends and ideas about more profitable programming opportunities. Read more at:

http://blogs.teradata.com/bill-franks/big-data-blurring-industry-lines-nike/

Sustainable development is the development of the society, keeping in mind the needs of the present as well as future generations. It is this development that is the ultimate goal of every nation. For this, UN will launch a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2016. These goals will give rise to various important questions such as:

• How will we achieve these goals?
• Who will finance these goals?
• Which countries will need most resources and of what type etc.

For answer to these questions, the decision makers refer to the data provided by various international institutions like UN, IMF, World Bank, etc. But while doing this, they face a big hurdle i.e. Incompatibility of Data in terms of definitions, methodologies and sources.

Now, with the data revolution going on and big data and analytics taking the centre stage, we now have an opportunity to collect and produce high quality data that will provide the right information on the right things at the right time. The need is – its correct implementation.

To know more, please read the following article by Gail Hurley and Jos Verbeek at brookings.edu:

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/future-development/posts/2015/05/26-financing-for-development-hurley%E2%80%8F

Companies are recognizing the need of contact center analytics to gain more consumer awareness but problems like cost of hiring new staff and procurement of new equipment are holding back contact centers from investing in analytics. Other factors like funding and prioritization are to be blamed as contact centers are now seen as cost centers but terms like customer experience and customer journey are gaining exposure. Read more at: 

http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/news/4500246053/Contact-center-analytics-still-an-uncharted-frontier

“Marketers don't like analysis -- they prefer an epiphany."

- Elaine Murphy

Contrary to this view, analytics isn’t that bad for marketers. Rather, if used effectively, it can bring them some realization. So, the question that now arises is that how can marketers use analytics effectively to their advantage? To answer this question, Jonha Revesencio, Brand Marketer, Storyteller and Global Speaker, has listed down various useful analytics tools in her article at huffingtonpost.com. They are:

• Clicktale
• CrazyEgg
• Jotform
• Simply Measured
• Compete
• Google Analytics

To understand how these tools will help you market better, please visit the following link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonha-revesencio/6-effective-analytics-too_b_7421078.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in

Big Data- Knowing what it is and how it can be used is not sufficient. To be successful, the need is to develop a strategy on how to optimize its use for your own advantage.

David A. Kelly, in his article in Q1 2015 issue of TeraData Magazine has compiled the views of three eminent researchers in this field - Vince Dell’Anno, David Stodder and Dan Vesset. They have suggested the following 3 best practices for developing big data strategies:

• View Big Data As A Valued Corporate Asset
• Foster A Culture Of Embracing Data
• Collect Diverse Data, Then Follow Up With Action

To understand them in detail, please visit the following link on forbes.com:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/teradata/2015/05/20/three-best-practices-for-executing-on-big-data-strategy/

•  Big Data enables various capabilities like forensics and the analysis of long-term historical trends. By collecting data and analyzing historical trends, you would be able identify when an attack started, and what were the steps that the attacker took to get a hold of your systems. These techniques could play a key role to detect threats at an early stage. Big Data provides  opportunity to consolidate and analyze logs automatically from multiple sources rather than in isolation. This enhances intrusion detection systems (IDS) and intrusion prevention systems (IPS). Integrating information from physical security systems, such as building access controls and even CCTV, could also enhance IDS and IPS to a point where insider attacks and social engineering are factored in to the detection process. This presents the possibility of significantly more advanced detection of fraud and criminal activities. Big Data could result in far more practical and successful SIEM, IDS and IPS implementations. Read more at-         http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/big-data-analytics/how-big-data-is-changing-the-security-analytics-landscape/

Companies want to have an edge using analytics but struggle due to unavailable technologies, outdated software, cumbersome systems, complex integrations coupled with huge costs in infrastructure and personnel. The cloud has transformed the way organizations look at big data and analytics solutions. It has been predicted that investment in cloud over the next five years will grow threefold. • Open source platforms like Apache Spark provide simple and fast data processing capabilities. These though powerful, due to expensive hardware, long lead times are difficult to deploy. The cloud allows immediate usage of open source platforms without initial investments.
• Cloud -based software are user friendly, simple to grasp and sort in comparison to on premise counterparts and release cycles are shorter.
• Cloud-based analytics provide a platform where hard business problems can be effectively tackled.
• Processing and extracting data are easy from a synced centralized location.
• Better connectivity leads to better productivity, deployment of data pipeline is easy. Read more at:

http://insidebigdata.com/2015/05/08/5-reasons-data-analytics-in-the-cloud-will-take-center-stage-in-2015/

It was found that, 59% of CMO's who use technology strategy, depends on marketing ops for tools, analytics, process and metrics. According to Scott Vaughan (CMO of Integrate), marketing operation (marketing Ops) focuses on customer acquisition. The marketing operations function has emerged due to the need for a more transparent, efficient, and accountable view of marketing. Its growth was driven by the proliferation of marketing technology and increased pressure from the C-suite to prove the value of marketing and contribute to the bottom-line. The Marketing Ops role is increasing in today’s world, so, some tips for Marketing Ops leaders. They are as under:
Tip 1# Lead process change by organizing around the customers: Look at your current marketing plan, technology, process and resources.
Tip 2# Drive decisions based on governed data: Apply data governance to improve quality.
Tip 3# Shape the marketing technology infrastructure: Identifying and applying right technology.
Read more at: http://marketingland.com/marketings-new-customer-nerve-center-marketing-operations-127292

“Data is the new oil”

This comparison of big data with oil has always been there, ever since big data came into limelight. It is considered that like oil, the more you extract from big data, the more you benefit.

Now look at this new statement:

“Data is the new soil”

This statement reflects the growth in the field of big data. From being used only for extracting information, it is now being used to explore new avenues. Big Data is now being used as a raw material from which new ideas can be generated and further processed into new products and services. Many examples of this were given at Sapphire Now, SAP’s annual user conference, where innovators demonstrated various fields in which they have started using big data sets to create unique products. Some of them are:

• Handle the short and medium term challenges that climate change creates
• Help “local spaces” understand what mobile customers want
• Provide shoppers with a contextual in-store experience
• Help companies create solutions and discover things like energy and profit leaks, make predictable promotions based on clustered buyer preferences

Thus, big data is now providing a new range of solutions to make our lives easier as well as better. To know more, read the following article by Virginia Backaitis, Senior Partner at Brilliant Leap, at cmswire.com:

http://www.cmswire.com/cms/big-data/is-data-the-new-soil-sapphirenow-029124.php

The retail industry is B2C industry. In B2C industry, forecasting and planning future demand and supply is a very important function to improve operation's efficiency. But, consumer behavior is very unpredictable. To analyze this unpredictable behavior, retail stores need to analyze big data. In Consumer Goods Analytics Summit in Chicago, suggestions on applying Big Data Analytics in Retail Industry were discussed. Let’s have a look on some of them:

·        By using big data analytics try to find out actual problem and their solution.

·        Apply analytics in every possible way from making sales report to multi-structured data to understand and improve customer service.

·        Always Interpret big data.

·        Recruit persons who understand the value of data analytics. 

To know more about Big Data Analytics in Retail, read the article link “Are retailers organized for Analytics” by Gib Basset, (Consumer Goods and Retail Industry Principal with Oracle Corp) at: http://www.retailwire.com/news-article/18266/are-retailers-organized-for-analytics