International Institute for Analytics

The press and blogosphere are full of references to “The Internet of Things” (TIoT) or even “The Internet of Everything.” It’s great to connect inanimate objects to the Internet, of course. But that’s only a first step in terms of doing something useful with all those connected devices. “The Analytics of Things” are just as important, if not more so.

Written by Andrew Fast, Ph.D. and John F. Elder, IV, Ph.D.

Many estimates claim that over 80% of the world’s data is stored as unstructured text. Whatever the exact proportion, there is no denying that a significant amount of valuable information is stored within free-text documents such as reports, memorandums, and correspondence. Text is also stored as “notes” or “free-text” fields within an otherwise structured database. While some of the results presented in a report may also be available as structured data, the most important insights – such as expert opinions or final conclusions - are almost always only available as free text. This also holds for call center notes, electronic medical records, and claims notes.

Many organizations are focused on driving analytics as a foundation for competitive advantage. Often overlooked in this discussion is the importance of establishing a foundation for analytics through the process of data readiness and data cleansing.

An IIA ERS Client asks if IIA has a framework for choosing the right analytics projects and if so, what are the characteristics to look for when selecting the project and if there are red flags that should dissuade an individual from starting a new project.

Improving an organization’s knowledge about their customers, adding value to each point of contact with customers, and measuring the effectiveness of these efforts to find more business opportunity are all important ingredients for cross sell analytics or next best offer. In this client phone briefing, IIA Faculty member, Robin Way, CEO of Corios, explains how organizations can utilize data and analytics to find opportunities with existing customers across all industries.

Person Centered Analytics for Health sets a new course for health analytics that focuses on the outcomes that matter most to people, a long and healthy life, and it provides the navigation and tools to get there. This emerging trend has resulted from the fusion of five converging realities: The American way of producing health is failing, people are the drivers for making it happen, converging trends demand it, everyday behavior changes are the interventions that matter, and analytics provide new insights to catalyze it.

Bill Franks, an IIA faculty member and Chief Analytics Officer for Teradata, was recently featured in a webinar discussing approaches to making big data more actionable and profitable by utilizing data visualization tools and strategies. The talk highlighted the important opportunities and level of insight that big data and analytics can provide organizations and shared how visualization tools can better support decision making and lead to discovery of new insights.

The organizational design of data science teams is a very common challenge for IIA clients. IIA has multiple written and verbal research pieces on the topic of analytical talent covering a range of topics such as obtaining and retaining talent, characteristics of talent, and organizational models.

Pursuing innovative analytics through a portfolio funding model isn’t about removing accountability or financial discipline. It is about applying accountability and financial discipline in a way that accounts for the realities of the situation. It is also about providing leeway to the analysts tasked with discovery and innovation to truly try new approaches to improving a business through analytics.

An IIA ERS Client asks about organizing an analytics team, and what roles and responsibilities need to be included and budgeted for in order to create a successful team.