Interview on Big Data and Analytics for MidMarket

Friend Paul Gillin runs a Big Data Google Plus Hangout on the use of Big Data methods for Midmarket and beyond.  The 37 minute stream brings together current users of these ideas.    As a practitioner myself it has always been intriguing to see how this is now playing out at all levels of use.  In the past it was companies like Procter & Gamble and IBM, who could make these solutions work, now the possibilities have increased considerably.

The interview brings together three practitioners  of the use of analytics for improving business. Two areas of often mid market applications are discussed.  Biometric data in hospitals and marketing data to improve sales operations.

I mostly deal with is commonly called advanced analytics, so it was good to see the examples discussed here that use relatively simple, often just visual methods to get to solutions.   And emphasize the understanding of how companies make decisions.   Again I emphasize starting with the most simple methods.

Another topic discussed was how the Internet of Things is starting to create large amounts of data, in particular in health systems, and leading to big and complex data to be mined and leveraged.  In the case of hospital systems, the Internet of Things can include patients, monitors and diagnostic devices and a complex array of data types including imagery and quantitative measures.   Part of this system would be unstructured data such as text, such as doctor's observations that need to be assembled and attached to more structural data.

Once the data has been captured and simply presented  you can start to consider specific mining techniques to look for deeper points of value.  Every business has value opportunities.

In the final part emphasis is made of getting away from the need for data specialists.   Instead using tailored systems for particular industries, and then selling the analysis as a service.  Even suggesting that intelligence systems like Watson could drive the analysis,

Good piece to listen to to see what is happening in the field today that is important to the small and mid market company.  With pointers to the future.    This blog also covers the topic.

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.  #MidsizeIBM

Open Innovation: Heart of Small Business

In Free Enterprise: John Mason GM of IBM's Midmarket Business writes:

" ... The drive to innovate is alive and well within the hearts of small businesses. But as most successful small business leaders know, it's not enough to have a great idea.   In fact, half of all new small businesses fail because they can't turn their promising concepts into a profitable business reality, according to the Small Business Administration. For the most part, the survival of these smaller firms relies on factors that remain unrecognized until it is too late. Markets shift, pushing customers to find new places to spend their money. Technologies shift, enabling the latest products to be offered through other channels. Even demographics shift, with one group’s position of “favorite brand” losing its appeal and seemingly overnight becoming “has-been”. ... " \

As part of my role in our innovation centers I often had to work with small businesses that had new ideas in retail.    These varied in size from very small businesses to very large. We worked with them to define, develop and deliver their new innovations in our simulated retail environments ad demonstrate them to retailers.    These innovations were delivered under the umbrella of open innovation.   One thing I saw more than and other was the need to adapt to agile environments.

In addition companies were often closer to the retail environment than we were, and had to be able to changes as their market changed.    Most of what we did was before social technologies were widely available to consumers, but the new realm of the social, mobile and local connections make this form of innovation more agile even more important.

" ... The small business often has the advantage of proximity to their customers, but this proximity also means that it may be difficult to "see the wood for the trees". Yet thanks to new social, mobile and connected technologies, there is much a small business can do to identify new areas of value in their products and services. Open innovation is fast becoming the heart and soul of a new, more dynamic small and midsized enterprise. The opportunity is greater now than ever for smaller competitors quickly to develop actionable insights, collaborate with others to turn innovative ideas into real business opportunities and be a truly disruptive force in their market ..." \

John Mason is the GM of IBM's Midmarket Business.
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Going Global Faster with Cloud and Mobile

I have been in the midst of looking at how companies use mobile, focused data, cloud and ultimately analytical support.  So have developed interest in how all these elements work together.

An article by IBM Midmarket General Manager John Mason recently published “When Small Businesses Use Cloud and Mobile to Go Global” on IBM’s Smarter Planet Blog was pointed out to me.  It suggests that the Cloud and Mobile were causing company globalization at a faster rate than every before.

I knew that focusing data could speed agility, and that it was natural to deliver it with mobile solutions,  Especially when data was changing rapidly due to context or domain volatility.  Added analytics with the right cloud access can result in value added solutions.

But I had never considered that cloud and mobile would lead to faster globalization.  That was a provocative thought I had to consider.   Agility is the key.  Managers traveling into new areas, gathering new data, but constantly needing information and analytical methods to support their
needs.

I had seen an example where a retail compliance system linked images taken on site could be quickly transmitted to experts at headquarters, analyzed and questions sent back to the aisle.   In another example presentations based on demand volumes were developed by artists and shipped to people on site.  Agility and the ability to transfer analytical solutions to the field based on data from the field.   In another proposed project, construction of local buildings by contractors was checked by distant engineers.  International compliance examples are common and ache for this integration of methods.  This is agility and speed by linking distant expertise.   Available now to all sizes of businesses.

Besides the software provided, the social constructs are also invaluable.  To quickly determine the answer to key questions, local needs and communications methods.   I find this mobile agility useful when traveling even for my personal needs.  Imagine its value when focused for a business.

So I much like the idea and if we prepare for global and agile integration using cloud, mobile and analytics methods, we can progress in the right direction.    Faster and with fewer errors. I will think of  this for future applications.

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Data Mining for the Midsize Business

In the large enterprise we constructed a number of datamining efforts that looked to classify solutions based on measurements we had gathered.   One popular technique, called Regression Tree Classification, made it easy to create and adapt decision trees based on small amounts of data.

Decision trees are very easy for management to understand.   I would often be approached with a data set that would be much smaller than the 'Big Data' being gathered today, and quickly construct a model that could be tested against future data.

We used this method against many applications.   Many other such modeling methods exist and are available in systems like R.  I am now in the midst of addressing such a datamining problem for a midsize startup.

I see in a recent IBM Midsize Insider article about how to think about setting up and utilizing a data mining program.    The piece covers the issues very broadly.  I would suggest also to include an expert consultant in data mining, at least for the first few examples.  Also, make sure to start simple and to start with problems that are likely to provide quick results.

Further, include business decision makers in the selection of the data, ensuring that it is correct, and in the use of the decision recommendations in the real world.

The article linked to above also provides a good list of application ideas that are good to examine for initial applications.   If you gather information about how you are doing your business, and seek methods that will make it operate better, take a look at data mining methods.  I often cover data mining in this blog.

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.

Customer Engagement Analytics for Cultural Venues

Its all about engaging the customer.   All companies, large, small and midsize need better ways to engage with and retain  their customers.  And as the context of engagement varies over time, how they engage will have to be adapted to new customers and their needs.

I was recently sent some information from the IBM Midsize smarter commerce group that addresses exactly these issues.   How do millennials use and engage with cultural venues, typically midsize enterprises?    Two excellent examples here: The Point Defiance NY Zoo and Aquarium, and  The Colorado History Center.   In each link there are embedded videos which describe their experiences using big data.  These examples are also good general useful case studies of the general use of data mining of experience in data.    Recall also the example  I wrote  about the Cincinnati Zoo.  Above an infographic expressing the relationship beween Big Data and Cultural Venues for Millennials.

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.