SigmaWay Blog

Rapidly changing consumer demands are becoming one of the major concerns of the financial institutions. Analytics is the technology which can be adopted to address this need. With evolving customer expectations, analytics solutions, too, have adapted, but the question under consideration is whether the banks are prepared to adopt and benefit from the next-generation analytics solution. As viewed by Thomas H. Davenport, evolution of analytics is a three-stage process of which Analytics version 3 is the latest generation which merges qualities of previous technologies and focuses on prescriptive analytics. Based on the data collected, Analytics 3.0 will enable the financial institutions can create tailor made services for customers. However, to fully reap the benefits, the institutions have to make sure that the right technologies and practices are in place. Read More at: http://internationalbanker.com/banking/are-banks-ready-for-next-generation-analytics/

In recent years over the span of the last two decades, industries have been disrupted by internet competitors. People are becoming more and more interested in online or virtual shopping than to go outdoors. From newspapers to travel agencies, there are numerous sectors which have faced the heat due to e-business expansion of their counterparts. Despite this, it seemed that some business like telecom, television media etc.  were immune to this digital onslaught, but not anymore. A second wave of internet disruption threatens not only electronic and telecom business, but also industries like taxi services, banking and cosmetics. This leaves no other alternative for existing sellers other than to switch into online trading for survival. To know more read: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/7688.html

Responsible for the largest and most complicated science experiment, the LHC, CERN has tried to uncover the secrets of the universe. Its major experiments are all in the domain of Big Data. How? Well the LHC single handed generates 30 Petabytes yearly. They use effective data warehousing and Big Data Analytics tools to make sense of such large amounts of raw data. Crunching all the data collected from the 600 million particle collisions per second requires enormous processing power. Distributed computing gives them access to enough processing power and storage capacity otherwise far too costly to build into one data center. The data can be accessed at greater speed by researchers wherever they are in the world now. Read more at:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-data-uncovering-secrets-our-universe-cern-bernard-marr

The film Moneyball based on a 2003 book, talks about the Oakland Athletics baseball team whose focus is on the team's analytical, evidence-based approach to improve the baseball team despite its poor revenue system. This film made the plot for professional sport associations to spend big on analytics. Analyzing data points captured by video cameras around the stadium uncover patterns that coaches and players might miss. Data can also be collected by wearable devices to help prevent injury by measuring its likelihood. So, companies need to follow get up and move up to the major leagues of Big Data. But predictive analytics can decrease efficiency as supporting analytics platform records, analyzes and visualizes trends. Read more about this article at: http://www.tibco.com/blog/2015/05/26/how-big-data-analytics-are-transforming-sports/

With increasing number of data breaches, companies should now take necessary steps to combat it. Phishing, though a fairly old method, is the most common method of attacking companies. Emails which contain phishing methods should be identified, filtered and prevented from hitting inboxes. Spam filters are already doing this task to a great extent, but creating flagging system that can filter out the necessary emails through human logging works better. Systems should be upgraded to prevent from being vulnerable to malware and malicious cyber-attacks. Misuse of system and human error should be prevented to prevent hacking. The most important way of protecting system from attacks is by educating people who use it in the best ways to protect it. Read more at: https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/data-breaches-aren-t-changing-but-you-should

Businesses have made use of data for operations management, for decades now. Data being used for operations management involve continuous flows of information and mining of data. Such data are handled and untangled using advanced and unique storage, management, analysis and visualization techniques. Big data analytics is usually dependent on extensive storage capacity and quick processing power. Insightful data can be gathered from various sources like web, social media etc. Big data is now being used to predict customer purchase decisions. Big data when linked with production applications and timely operational processes enables continuous improvements. Organizations are now realizing that data can bring value through continuous improvement in their operations. Thus, data needs to be collected, filtered and analyzed. Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/big-data/crunching-big-data-operations-management-01255094

Development of an agile culture is the key to company's success. It helps in employee engagement and faster completion of the projects. The advantages of agile methodology is that it helps to move fast and iterate, and hence this approach is preferable. Jacob Shriar (Growth Manager of Officevibe, an employee engagement platform) in his article in business2community.com, discussed about the benefits of having an agile company culture which are:

1. First-mover advantage.

2. Motivates the team.

3. Involves your customers.

  However, he further pointed out the steps for a company to be more agile and they are as follows:

• Give Employees Autonomy.
• Lead By Example.
• Create Focus For Your Team.
• Understand The Value.
• Get Rid Of Fear.

To know more about this study, please follow the link: http://www.business2community.com/human-resources/the-advantages-of-an-agile-company-culture-01251209

Facebook app has not only emerged as a news-reading function for many people these days but also various renowned publishers post articles on the social networks "News Feed" function. This has gained importance for a number of different news outlets, although most of them being negative. The modern era of digital publishing focuses on how self-publishing can evolve such that e-books are placed in front of their readers. In the next phase of digital publishing, the capability of a digital publisher to make a book more visible will be of crucial significance. In other words self-publishing plays a significant role in digital publishing.

Read more at: https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/the-future-of-digital-publishing

Healthcare as an industry faces serious challenges in the context of improving patient care and safety of their staffs and patients, besides managing costs. Bryan Warren, the director of corporate security at Carolines Healthcare, said that the video surveillance and analytics had helped to increase productivity both within and outside of the security function. Video analytics helps to set checks in order to ensure that patient satisfaction remains high. In Europe, it affects audit scores and government funding. Video analytics can also be used for efficient staffing levels or better handling of the emergency procedure. Video surveillance plays a crucial role in the provision of evidence whenever a problem occurs and in traditional security.

 To know more, please follow the link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/avigilon/2015/06/11/healthcare-meeting-future-challenges-today-with-video-analytics/

Analytics are now being deployed by sports clubs to buy new players. With the huge amount of data being generated, selling clubs are now looking for ways to increase the chance of their players being bought for more money and buying clubs are looking for ways to assess the potential of new players. Analytics comes into play here. Clubs are now using data to assess the potential of new players, with efforts being devoted to developing data programmes to accomplish this task. There are several companies who offer this kind of service, but a significant number of clubs have outdone, these companies with their hiring process by carrying out deeper analysis and using metrics. Read more at: https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/data-in-player-transfers-in-the-premier-league

Big data can be best understood using graph theory. Several open-source graph databases have come up and are used by several organizations. These databases are becoming popular as graphs are the best way for storing and querying huge amount of data. Graphs are being used by several domains of the industry as it provides competitive advantage. Social media uses graphs to provide accurate and personal recommendations to users. It is being used by a major online shopping company to compute fast and provide localized door-to-door delivery of goods. Graph databases store data safely and make querying it fast and easy. According to Dr. Marsten, creating and analyzing graphs will lead us to answers. Read more at: https://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/7132-the-key-to-understanding-big-data-lies-with-the-graph

The concept of agile marketing is taken from software development. The goals are to improve the speed, predictability, transparency and adaptability in the marketing functions. Tim Matthews (VP of marketing @Incapsula_com and author of The Professional Marketer) in his article in business2community.com mentioned about the six lessons he learned while managing agile marketing teams at two companies. They are as follows:

1.  Set the right cadence.

2. Take a break.

3. Insist on metrics.

4. Prioritize realistically.

5. Don't allow overly aggressive goals.

 6. Set the work volume competition.

Read more at: http://www.business2community.com/marketing/six-lessons-learned-managing-agile-marketing-teams-01250732

Companies are mostly using Big Data solutions for log management. Sam Heywood (director of the Cloudera Security Centre of Excellence of Cloudera) said that "log data, intrusion alerts and other types of security-related information is a perfect fit for Big Data systems". Unlike the traditional approaches to collect the information, Big Data offers a platform which is scalable in order to collect the data and hence also cost-effective. It also provides the tools for long-term analysis which remains unaffected by the rules-based approaches. The necessary steps taken by the companies’ leads to an increase in security because they want to make sure that they are operating Big Data system in a safe and secure environment.

Read more at:http://www.cio.com/article/2935940/data-analytics/log-management-is-leading-use-case-for-big-data.html

The use of electronic cash is gaining popularity. Particularly the use of electronic cash transfer through cellular services is increasing rapidly in the developing world. It is estimated that electronic currency system will improve lives of more than 2 billion people, who live on less than 2 dollars per day. Use of electronic transaction system will facilitate more secure, accessible, and reliable ways to store and transfer money than are currently available. The most important thing in this context is the role of agents conducting cash for electronic value and vice-versa. By developing such a network a robust and efficient banking system can be developed. To know more read: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2549171

Big data and big data analytics has been a trend setter in recent years. Unlike the traditional cause-effect analysis, big data analytics generate predictions based on huge volumes of data, using statistical tools and advanced computing techniques. An interesting case study on the use of big-data analytics was the prediction of a flu pandemic in the United States by simply analyzing Google search data. The spread of the disease was detected before any medical organization or national agency, simply on the basis of people frequently searching Google for the symptoms and remedy of flu. Big data analytics enables us to generate reliable analyses, even in the absence of clear links or causes. To know more read:http://www.forbes.com/sites/huawei/2015/02/24/how-do-big-data-analytics-enhance-network-security/

“Radio, television and internet-enables computers in the 20th century created an increase in option of media channels for brands.”- Christopher Heine (Digital Editor for Adweek)
Disruption and fragmentation are causing cracks between those who make platforms and those who hold the purse strings to ad budgets. Five statements from major industry players that help them to build a good marketing strategy:
• People, let's be real here.
• More native may mean more friction.
• The pace of change nowadays can be insane for creatives.
• The good news is that progress is being made.
• Everyone’s bottom line depends on this working out.
Read more at: http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/5-intriguing-takes-advertising-and-technologys-relationship-status-165409

According to David Loshin (Knowledge Integrity Inc.)," big data and analytics is helping organizations to gather and analyze data in search of valuable business information and insights that can help them improve their products and services." Cost, Simplicity and Performance are the three factors helps to lower the barrier of entry for analytics and motivate organizations to adopt a big data analytics. The organizations which are planning to integrate analytics tools into their organizations need to have a data driven culture, recognize the potential of information. Key stakeholders are aware of the benefits of big data analytics and include agility in making decisions for adopting the technology. Types of big data to analyze:

• Transaction Data
• Human-generated Data
• Mobile Data
• Machine and Sensor Data.

Big data analytics tools help you in managing all these data with a reasonable investment. Helps you in analyzing these applications:
• Customer Analytics
• Sales and Marketing Analytics
• Social Media Analytics
• Cybersecurity
• Plant and facility management
• Pipeline Management
• Supply chain and channel analytics
• Prize optimization
• Fraud Detection

Read more at: http://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/feature/How-to-determine-if-big-data-analytics-tools-are-right-for-you

The emergence of analytics in business has also contributed extensively in the field of talent management. Talent analytics has become an important area in both consulting firms and corporations. Not only it helps in acquiring and attracting new talent but also helps in talent utilization and maximization of organizational performance. In earlier days talent management was done by managers who trust their “intuition” or “common sense”, which led to bias and wrong decisions. But thanks to the development of information technology and availability of expertise in the field of data analytics, talent management is following a scientific path and a better system of workforce management.To know more read:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardlawler/2015/05/20/talent-analytics-old-wine-in-new-bottles/

Growing social networks have caused rapid development of tools for understanding the interactions between members of the network. The Department of Computer Engineering, at TOBB University, in Ankara, Turkey used Social Network Analysis (SNA) tools to identify the biomarkers present in patient genomic data. Genomic databases comprise of about 20000 genes. Such an approach dramatically decreased the features that need to be analyzed to find useful biomarkers. The team demonstrated their proof of principle with three types of cancer: lymphoma, colon cancer and leukemia. They combined clustering and classification to help in detecting the links between the various genes to validate the outcome. Now they shall extend it with a view to improve diagnostics and tailoring therapy for individual patients based on their personal Biological Network Analysis. Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-06-social-networking-analysis-cancer-biomarkers.html

Marketing automation a newly developed idea in marketing industry, deals with concepts of data tracking for lead, automate personal marketing activities and generate detailed reports for marketing activities. It embraces three major approaches namely lead tracking, automated execution and closed-loop reporting. At initial stages, foremost entity to consider in marketing automation is to show its value to the people dealing with checks in your company. With its involvement, few beneficiary impacts that it had generated includes, more lead output with same budget, empowered marketers to build and promote cross-channel online campaigns for user satisfaction, helped in financial justification of tracking and reports on ROI leading to no further complications in qualification or handling them onto sales, thus a smoother approach to marketing solutions.

To know more about marketing automation, please follow the link:http://www.business2community.com/marketing-automation/what-is-marketing-automation-01247668