SigmaWay Blog

Video Analytics identifies events or patterns of behaviour through video analysis of monitored environments. It monitors video streams in real-time and automatically creates current security alerts and analyses historical data to identify specific incidents and patterns. It helps agencies to organize, analyse and share the insight gained from data to make smarter decisions and enable enhanced coordination.

Using a combination of algorithms, video analytics analyses captured video in real time and presents alerts about whatever the application is programmed to identify. Today's video analytics applications are able to do much more than just identify motion, and false alarms have been reduced to negligible rates as they can automatically filter out motion caused by wind, snow, rain and change of lighting. Some applications now also have the ability to detect tampering, and can automatically adjust the visual parameters of enabled video cameras according to individual scene characteristics to ensure optimal brightness and contrast for video viewing and recording. To read more about the evolution of video analytics read here: http://www.sourcesecurity.com/news/articles/co-2173-ga.2504.html 

Sampling error can cause problems if they are not taken care of. Errors in judgment about sample size can be fixed easily and sample sizes must be considered seriously if big data is being used for predictive analysis. A leader trying to use big data in predictive analysis should always consult the data scientist. The way to understand whether enough data has been collected or not for the purpose of prediction involves understanding the tolerance of the risk associated to accept the assumptions drawn from the sample size characteristics. There are two types of risk: the risk that you're going to take some action when you shouldn't and the risk that you are not going to take some action when you should. Also enough information should be available about the sample variation and precision of measurement to know whether enough data has been collected to make prediction. To know more about importance of sample size in predictive analytics, go to John Weathington (President and CEO of Excellent Management Systems, Inc.)'s link: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/big-data-analytics/why-samples-sizes-are-key-to-predictive-data-analytics/ 

Unlike other retailers, Nordstrom (a fashion speciality retailer), wanted to learn more about its customers like how many came through the doors, how many were repeat visitors. The company started testing new technology that allowed it to track customers' movements by following the Wi-Fi signals from their smart phones. Nordstrom's experiment is part of a movement by retailers to gather data about in-store shoppers' behavior and moods, using video surveillance and signals from their cell phones and apps to get information as varied as their gender, how many minutes they spend in the candy aisle and how long they look at merchandise before buying it. If a consumer looks for Wi-Fi network, a store that offers Wi-Fi can pinpoint where that particular shopper can go and get Wi-Fi connection within a 10-foot radius. Stores can also recognize returning shoppers as mobile devices send unique identification codes when they search for networks. This means stores can now tell how repeat customers behave and the average time between visits. Read more at-http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/business/attention-shopper-stores-are-tracking-your-cell.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0/

This article elaborates on the sentiment analysis from tweets using data mining techniques. Instead of using SQL, it shows how to conduct such analysis using a more sophisticated software called RapidMiner. It explains how one can extract Twitter data into Google Docs spread sheet and then transfer it into a local environment utilizing two different methods. The emphasis is on how to amass a decent pool of tweets in two different ways using a service called Zapier, Google Docs and a tool called GDocBackUpCMD, along with SSIS and a little bit of C#. Zapier is used to extract Twitter feeds into Google Docs spread sheet and then copy the data across to local environment to mine it for sentiment trends. Next, it is shown how this data can be analyzed for sentiments i.e. whether a concrete Twitter feed can be considered as negative or positive. For this purpose, RapidMiner as well as two separate data sets of already pre-relegated tweets for model learning and Microsoft SQL Server for some data polishing and storage engine. Read more at:http://bicortex.com/twitter-sentiment-analysis-mining-twitter-data-using-rapidminer-part-1/

Nowadays, social media customer care represents a tremendous growing opportunity for businesses to foster strong customer relationships. According to Bianca Buckridee (presently the vice president of social media operations) JP Morgan's twitter page enables customers to see the individual with whom they are talking which in turn restores some of the intimacy and comfort that is lost in a phone conversation.   Katy Phillips, a senior analyst for American Airlines, identifies social space as an important factor which has helped them build customer loyalty and brand reputation and will continue to create some "wow'' moments for customers. In spite of such boons of social media customer care, not many businesses have exploited it. Evolve24-a Maritz Research company, found in 2011 that approximately 70% of customer service complaints made on Twitter were unanswered. The panelists at the recent Wharton Social Media Best Practices Conference believe that the percentage has not changed significantly. Read more at: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/ignored-side-social-media-customer-service/

Construction managers are looking for increasing efficiency and reducing costs. In a construction company there is a need for good project management software for contractors to cut costs on some areas and make products affordable. But, there are so many packages that it is difficult to choose. In this article, Jenifer Whitmire (a professional web content writer) writes how to choose good project management software for contractors. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.manufacturing.net/articles/2012/04/wrongly-doing-design-for-six-sigma

To transform the customer experience from traditional methods to better and newer methods, business authorities are relying on agile technology development. When Capital One started using agile development in 2011, Rudy Wolfs, Senior VP of Card IT at Capital One said, it amounted to only 1% of software that was delivered. Today, 85% of softwares are delivered by the agile development method. Also with agile, Capital One now also releases approximately 400 products a month, which has reduced the delivery times to three to six months while "cutting costs significantly," and finds 95% of products meet expectations on the first release. Presently, Capital One has more than 3,000 developers and business users trained on the agile methodology to get a better product. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.banktech.com/channels/capital-one-delivers-85-of-software-thro/240166887?_mc=MP_IW_EDT_STUB

To transform the customer experience from traditional methods to better and newer methods, business authorities are relying on agile technology development. When Capital One started using agile development in 2011, Rudy Wolfs, Senior VP of Card IT at Capital One said, it amounted to only 1% of software that was delivered. Today, 85% of software’s are delivered by the agile development method. Also with agile, Capital One now also releases approximately 400 products a month, which has reduced the delivery times to three to six months while "cutting costs significantly," and finds 95% of products meet expectations on the first release. Presently, Capital One has more than 3,000 developers and business users trained on the agile methodology to get a better product. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.banktech.com/channels/capital-one-delivers-85-of-software-thro/240166887?_mc=MP_IW_EDT_STUB

A recent research report shows that Medicare ACOs are facing difficulty to control and manage patient care because most beneficiaries have unrestricted choice over choosing healthcare providers. Much of the specialty care received was provided outside the patients' assigned ACO. The potential challenges in outpatient care are: the proportion of patients assigned to an ACO in 1 year who remained assigned the next year

• The proportion of office visits outside a patient's contracting organization

• The proportion of Medicare outpatient spending billed by a contracting organization that is devoted to assigned patients.

For more details please visit Mark Crane’s article in this link: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/823951

Maintaining the quality of a project is a cumbersome job because while maintaining the quality we must also take into account cost and time consumed for it. Proper planning at the beginning of a project is an absolute necessity. Well established and distinct communication system is also crucial for quality management of the project.  Please go through the link for more details: http://www.pmhut.com/five-steps-to-quality-management-of-your-project

To successfully complete a project, a line must be drawn reaching which a project can be declared as complete. All obligations and requirements from the client must be checked and taken care of. Most importantly every project makes a contribution to the project management team as a lesson; good or bad. The team must take some positive feedbacks from every project and move on to the next one. Please go through the link for more details: http://www.pmhut.com/5-ways-to-end-projects-well

Validating assumptions for a project is an important criteria which should be done carefully and upgraded timely. New assumptions are also very important during various phases of a project. Tracking and defending assumptions during implementation of a project is extremely crucial for a project to see the light of success. To know more, kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.drharoldkerzner.com/the-need-to-validate-project-assumptions/

Sometimes certain phrases spoken by senior executives or managers/team leaders can create confusions among employees of the company. Hence, managers/senior executives should be highly cautious about what they are saying because their words can be a reason of dissatisfaction or sending a wrong message to employees. To know more, kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.drharoldkerzner.com/nine-often-misused-cliches/

Managing an event as vast and big as olympics is a complex and huge job. But from a management perspective, the success of an event does not mean that it was a successful project. In olympics, providing real time data to the spectators and broadcasters’ requires a huge software and hardware setup and also preparation and testing of data flow to avoid any glitches during execution of the games. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.drharoldkerzner.com/lessons-learned-in-program-management-the-olympics/

Metric Management or dashboard implementation is a useful and a systematic way of providing data, only if it is properly implemented. Making unnecessary rush or incomplete information can lead to disastrous results which can lead to lose faith in the Metric Management system completely. It is also important to track whether people accessing the data from dashboard are correctly interpreting them or not. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.drharoldkerzner.com/five-ways-that-metrics-management-can-fail/

The chances of getting into trouble are always there in any project. Project management can be very affective when the project managers were not pressurized in any decision making and also project sponsor assist time to time whenever problem appears. To know more about project governance and other various reasons of project slowdown, please go through the link: http://www.business2community.com/strategy/project-management-warning-signs-project-may-trouble-0642386?tru=RKQB4#gT1e3qKb5Wk2eQ6S.99

Not always does every project get completed within the targeted date. But, when the dates are determined and announced by the top management, very little things are consulted from project managers about the constraints and time frame required for the development of the project. Mostly political and promoter’s convenience is looked after, but when the blame game starts, the top executives quietly distances them from the negativity of the project and starts denying any involvement with the project. This article also talks about few typical scenarios that may occur throughout IT projects. To know more kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.drharoldkerzner.com/beware-of-the-dark-side-the-force-will-not-be-with-you2/

Satisfying the social needs of employees is directly proportional to the productivity of employees. Companies often take initiatives like arranging dinner parties and outings, but sometimes, these initiatives may fall flat. Companies must ensure that the benefits or facilities provided interest everyone and is not against the likes of some people. For example, couples dinner parties might upset the bachelors. It has been found that people who associate well outside the office also work better in the office as a team and has higher productivity. To know more, kindly refer to the below mentioned link: http://www.drharoldkerzner.com/satisfying-social-needs/

Insight, a free healthcare analytics software tool launched by Practice Fusion uses real time data from healthcare industry to show patterns against various diagnoses and prescriptions against diseases across seasonality, age, gender and other parameters.

Membership can be taken where more details such as patient and doctor details etc. are available. This software can also be useful for pharmaceutical companies to change their strategies. To know more kindly visit:

http://www.informationweek.com/healthcare/analytics/practice-fusion-releases-free-healthcare-analytics-tool/d/d-id/1268917

With the advent of healthcare industry, the flow of data has increased by leaps and bounds. Now with the presence of analytics, huge number of unstructured data can be easily analysed to find out patterns and behaviours which in turn helps the companies associated with healthcare to take more sound and logical decisions.

To know more kindly visit:-

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/healthcare-data-goes-big-great