Management Information Analysis

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Use of “Thick Data” on the Rise

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Thick DataBig data entered the mainstream a long time ago, but its development is still very much ongoing. One of the latest wrinkles in the analytics world is the emergence of so-called “thick data.” The notion behind this development is that, while big data provides large volumes of information, analytics tools often cast too wide a net and are not focused enough.

Thick data, therefore, is meant to complement big data by allowing users to delve deeper into specific areas that can provide them with the most valuable insights. Sometimes, having access to general sweeping consumer behavior trends is not enough to allow businesses to adequately tailor their services in order to maximize revenue and customer satisfaction.

Two prominent companies that have had success with thick data are Lego and Samsung, which conducted hours of interviews and studies in order to understand their target audience better than they could with mere facts and figures. This is, in essence, the procedure that researchers use in health sciences, and when applied to consumer-oriented industries it can produce very useful results.

“We invite a number of our clients to our facility here on the east coast, and we ask them to work with the software on their own,” explained a software company’s CEO to TechRepublic. “While they are doing this, we videotape them. Afterwards, we analyze the videos to determine which portions of the report design process were easy and intuitive for them, and which they had trouble with. We then break down all of the trouble areas to determine what the issues were, and we find ways to ergonomically solve these.”

The benefits of business intelligence analytics are well-established by now, and successful developments like this one should further cement their place as a top priority for companies.

Survey: Two Thirds of Americans are Willing to Share Their Health Data

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Data PrivacyPrivacy is one of the main concerns of any data analytics process that involves gathering information from consumers. This is even more true in the case of health care because of the sensitive nature of the data. But health care is also one of the industries that stands to benefit, and indeed is already benefiting, the most from analytics. Now, a survey conducted by NPR and Truven Health Analytics shows that Americans are probably more willing to share their medical information than is generally thought.

Sixty-eight percent of respondents to the survey said they would allow their health data to be used anonymously for research purposes. Conversely, when asked if they feel uncomfortable sharing their records, only 16 percent agreed they don’t like sharing with their insurers, 14 percent with hospitals and 11 percent with physicians.

The survey also shows a significant adoption of electronic health records (EHRs): 74 percent said their physicians use them. That percentage is higher among patients that are older and those with a higher level of education.

“An overwhelming number of patients have had experiences with EHRs, which seems to point toward a concerted effort among health care providers to share information as a means to faster, more accurate care,” said Truven CMO Michael Taylor. “While privacy concerns have been an issue in the past, as EHRs continue to become more prevalent, it appears that Americans are becoming increasingly comfortable sharing this type of information with employers, providers and health plans.”

Health organizations are increasing their EHR adoption and improving their access to updated patient data. With comprehensive ETL architecture, they can make those records available across various providers, further improving the efficiency of their operations.

Centralized Analytics Groups Improve Decision-Making

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Data AnalyticsMany organizations rely on data analytics to govern their business operations, but not all have refined their data gathering and implementation processes. With the new year, companies have a chance to take a big step forward and fully integrate data into their plans for 2015. A recent Marketing Land column suggests creating a centralized data analytics group to make sure that every department is on the same page.

With an analytics group, business decision-makers can more effectively focus the information they draw from various sources. Organizations gather data in every department, from financial to marketing and customer service. While some of that information is exclusive to each operational area, much of it can provide business leaders with vital insights that they can use to improve operations across the company.

Ideally, each department could have a data group that would report to the larger centralized one where the organization’s strategies are decided. Business leaders can define performance indicators on a general and specific level, allowing all departments to benefit from useful data gathered in one area. With regular meetings, the data group can adapt those strategies and adjust them to any market changes.

For organizations that are embarking on a major project, such as an expansion or relocation plan, there can never be too much available information. It is essential that decision-makers understand their target market with as much accuracy as possible in order to guide such an endeavor to a successful finish.

ETL Transforms Warehouse Management

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Warehouse ManagementSupply and inventory management requires a high degree of planning and analytics to forecast information that affects the totality of an enterprise. Distribution, production and purchasing are facets of operations that benefit from having readily available data in real-time. ETL software provides ERP solutions to these components of a business by improving accessibility to information across disparate systems. Having access to the entirety of data pertaining to operations enables the implementation of effective business management strategies.

World Wide Technology provides an example of the impact ETL architecture can have on data warehouse optimizations (DWO).

“Our Big Data experts and infrastructure engineers have designed and integrated hardware, software and services into a single DWO solution that alleviates performance bottlenecks, allows organizations to take full advantage of their data sets and demonstrates a real return on investment within two months.” said Bob Olwig, Vice President of Business Strategy and Innovation with World Wide Technology.

Systems integration is the foundation of improving DWO. Providing warehouses with information regarding sales enables them control inventory and distribution tasks in order to assure a high standard of customer satisfaction is achieved. By synthesizing their information with other components within their enterprise, warehouses can also provide information that enables sales departments to improve their performance.

Sales, accounting, warehousing and other departments represent the individual components of a business that must work in cooperation with one another to enable their collective success. Communication is the foundation of being cooperative. Systems integration enables these divisions to effectively communication with one another in order to work in unison. ETL software achieves the degree of connectivity that is necessary to arrive at that unity.

Management Information Analysis provides ETL architecture to businesses that seek to benefit from business intelligence software. By integrating systems, ERP is invariably improved.

IDC: Retail Analytics to Triple by 2017

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Retail AnalyticsBusinesses have more data available to them than ever before, and the retail industry is among the leaders in adopting analytics solutions to help them improve every aspect of their operations, from customer service to project planning. According to the latest FutureScape report by International Data Corporation (IDC), the market is going to grow exponentially over the next three years.

Researchers predict that by 2017, three times as many retail organizations will depend on third-platform technology to assist in their business operations. Companies are trending toward adoption of Omni-channel Retailing solutions, which help them provide more seamless service across their brick-and-mortar locations and online platforms. These systems have the additional benefit of providing additional data points to gather more information about customer bases.

“The most successful retailers will find opportunities by putting mobility, analytics, cloud, and social to work in their customer and operations strategies, adopting Omni-channel integration technologies and IT governance, unifying customer engagement for hyper-personalized loyalty, adopting product intelligence for marketing and competitive insight, employing location-based services via analytics-driven agile engagement and operations, utilize socially-networked on-demand delivery services, and gain share with private label merchandise,” said IDC vice president Leslie Hand.

The use of analytics will soon become an inextricable part of any retailer’s expansion or relocation plans. While companies’ own business intelligence dashboards are aimed more toward customer service, a growing number are turning to third-party providers for broader demographic and consumer insights. This information guides major projects, allowing retailers to make more informed overarching business decisions that have major impacts on the entire organization’s finances.

Survey: Big Data Analytics Evolving Toward Improved ROI

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Return On InvestmentFew can dispute that big data analytics are fast becoming an important part of any company’s business strategies. But it is equally true that this is still a young trend, and one that many enterprises haven’t mastered yet. A survey conducted by technology community Wikibon shows that currently companies are getting a return of just 55 cents on every dollar they invest in big data.

On the plus side, respondents are still very optimistic about what the future holds and expect to make up to $3.50 on the dollar within the next three to five years. The results show a significant divide between business and IT managers, with the latter reporting much higher success rates. The authors of the report say that this is due to a difference in criteria: IT managers consider a project successful when the technological tools work well, but business decision-makers want to see financial results.

The authors write that it is essential to know the different roles that employees play, understanding the complexities of the process in order to simplify it. On the IT side, there is a separation between the employees whose job it is to operate the tools and those who develop specific applications. On the business side, the challenge is designing a plan that will allow companies to focus their analytics efforts on areas that they know will produce useful data.

Business intelligence reporting systems are already evolving and becoming more accurate as companies fine tune their data mining processes. Over time, a greater understanding of how analytics work will certainly improve their effect on the bottom line.

Data Analytics Dominate List of Most Innovative Companies

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InnovationThe Boston Consulting Group (BCG) provided more evidence of the importance of data analytics last month with the release of its list of the world’s 50 most innovative companies. According to the study, innovative companies are three times more likely to rely on analytics than those not considered innovative. Fifty-seven percent of innovative companies have data management solutions in place, and 67 percent report positive returns from those projects.

The top of the list is dominated by tech companies, with Apple Inc., Google, Samsung, Microsoft and IBM making up the top five. But the rest of the list shows a variety of industries, including financial enterprises, manufacturers, retailers and even food and beverage companies.

In a survey of executives, 81 percent of those whose companies use data analytics extensively credit that focus with making them more innovative. BCG calculated that those companies’ revenues are on average 12 percent higher than for businesses without analytics investment. Despite these tangible results, the survey suggests that many decision-makers still don’t fully realize the value of data management.

Software companies were highest in both active use of big data and expectation that big data will impact their business significantly within the next three to five years, but less than half of companies have already implemented data analytics.

Studies like this one prove beyond a doubt that data analytics can have a very noticeable effect on the way companies do business. With greater insight into their industries and target audiences, businesses can find creative and innovative ways to get ahead of their competitors.

Big Data Use Growing in Project Planning

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Project PlanningThe use of big data analytics is up across all industries, as companies are tapping into the ever-growing well of available information to plan their business strategies. And many organizations are going even further, using big data as an essential tool for project planning. Big data affords enterprises unprecedented insights into market trends and other elements that can determine a project’s success, such as geographical surroundings and population demographics.

With this data in hand, companies can make more informed decisions regarding expansion or relocation plans. This can be especially useful in industries like health care and retail, which are already at the forefront of analytics adoption for other purposes, but is certainly applicable for any project of this kind.

Both health organizations and retailers are frequently looking for expansion opportunities, and it is essential for them to make sure that they have the best chance to tap into a new market. With detailed information on the population of a particular city or neighborhood, they can maximize the return on a major investment.

“Using data in the industry is not new,” said University of Illinois School of Architecture professor Randy Deutsch. “The built environment has long been an abundant source of data. What is new is the amount of data that is available to us, our capacity to measure and ability to capture, process, and act on that data and, frankly, our industry’s urgent need to do so.”

Business intelligence analytics is no longer a niche trend, but it does have plenty of room for growth. Even as big data itself increases exponentially, so too do its uses in the business world.

Health Care Trending Toward Predictive Analytics

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Data AnalyticsAs the data analytics industry has grown, health care is one of the sectors that has benefited the most. Many health organizations have systems in place to gather and analyze large quantities of information, and that trend is only going to continue to grow in the near future. As this blog has reported, several studies have predicted exponential increases for the health care analytics market over the course of the next few years.

Now experts are focusing on how those analytics tools can evolve to become more effective. Seed fund Rock Health has published a report titled “Predictive Analytics: The Future of Personalized Healthcare,” saying that the necessary next step is a shift from the current descriptive analytics to a predictive model.

According to the report, capitalists have already invested $1.9 billion in predictive analytics projects — a large sum, but a fraction of the total market. That number will go up, bringing benefits to both patients and health care providers. Accurate predictive analytics can greatly reduce costs for organizations and assist in project planning.

Planning analytics are possible thanks to the growth of the Internet of Things, which is generating data about health care consumers at an unprecedented rate. Through the implementation of an ETL architecture, all that information can be gathered together in one place for analysis.

Citing JAMA figures, Rock health points out that organizations could recoup $355 billion per year with effective data analysis. With comprehensive, accurate analytics tools in place, health care providers can improve their decision-making processes and strategic choices.

MGMA Reveals Dissatisfaction with CMS Reporting

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Medical Data AnalyticsAt the MGMA14 event in Las Vegas, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) revealed the results of a survey it conducted among more than 1,000 physicians on the effectiveness of the reporting programs run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). A majority of those surveyed said that the programs have not improved quality of service, instead making reporting needlessly complex.

On the plus side, 83 percent of respondents said their organizations have internal programs in place to improve clinical quality, and 77 percent use evidence-based analytical tools for that purpose. But 84 percent said that the three federal programs — EHR Meaningful Use, Physician Quality Reporting System and the Value-Based Payment Modifier Program — do not contribute to improving quality, and 85 percent claimed they had negatively affected productivity due to their complexity.

Physicians believe that the inefficiency of the reporting programs affects not just quality of care but the overall operations of health care centers, using up the staff’s valuable time. Most agreed that the CMS should consolidate the three programs to streamline the reporting process and eliminate redundancies.

“Medicare has lost focus with its physician quality reporting programs,” said MGMA vice president of government affairs Anders Gilberg. “Instead of providing timely, meaningful and actionable information to help physicians treat patients, this has become a massive bureaucratic reporting exercise. Each program has its own set of arcane and duplicative rules which force physician practices to divert resources away from patient care.”

Until the CMS enacts changes, health care providers can institute data management solutions that will help them reduce the amount of staff time spent on the reporting process.

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