International Institute for Analytics

Project prioritization is one of those activities that seems simple and straightforward on the surface, but scratch at it just a little and hidden complexities are quickly revealed. While there is general agreement that “good” prioritization contributes to the overall effectiveness of an analytics function, rarely is any effort taken to define “good” and map out an agreed-upon approach to get there. The obvious outcome of a prioritization process that lacks intentionality is general chaos — analytics teams are overwhelmed and expressing a need for more resources, business leaders are frustrated that their needs aren’t being met, the loudest voice often gets his or her way, and the enterprise isn’t optimizing the return on its investment in analytical talent.

Procurement Integrity (PI) represents a broader problem and bigger opportunity than most businesses recognize. Comprehensive PI programs continuously validate purchasing transactions, using data and analytics to trace patterns, spot anomalies, and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse. The problems uncovered range from occasional opportunistic fraud to ongoing organized fraud, from duplicate invoices and other improper payments to regular kickbacks, from conflicts of interest to ongoing collusion with suppliers. Continuous monitoring of anomalies in procurement and supplier due diligence processes reveal potential problems, including data issues and process breaches, and help focus the efforts of audit and other investigative staff.

Inquiry:

We’re new to HR analytics. What kind of projects should we look to tackle to show some initial wins?

Inquiry:

We’re building a team to focus on using machine learning to enhance our end user experience. Many of our analysts aspire to be data scientists, and we would like to fill data scientist roles with the talent we have where possible. How should we delineate roles and responsibilities of a data analyst vs. a data scientist?

This is our 11th annual look toward the upcoming year. We are pleased that our annual Predictions and Priority research brief and the associated webinar have become among IIA’s most popular pieces of content of the year. This year, we’re once again augmenting each of our predictions with a specific priority for leaders to focus on as they attempt to address each prediction. As a result, each priority provides specific guidance as to how to best prepare for, and adapt to, its corresponding prediction.

Each year, the International Institute for Analytics takes time to focus on the latest analytics trends and the most pressing analytics challenges currently facing organizations. Join IIA’s Bill Franks (CAO), Kathleen Maley (SVP, Analytics Executive), Drew Smith (VP Analytics Leadership Consortium) and Eric Siegel (Founder, Predictive Analytics World) as they look forward into the upcoming year.

Inquiry:

We’re in the process of gathering our IoT data into an enterprise data lake to facilitate our advanced analytics efforts. Our main challenges are dealing with proprietary file formats and getting the data ready for the data science team. What would you suggest?

From its early days in the 1970s as a pioneering discount brokerage, Charles Schwab has grown into one of the largest asset managers in the world, with over $6 trillion in client assets and 28 million brokerage accounts. A market innovator from the start, Schwab credits its continued success to its relentless commitment “to put the client first” and “to champion every client’s goals with passion and integrity.”

Inquiry:

How can we measure the lift from coupons used and what’s the best way to deploy the models to do it? We know we have lift coming in from various combinations of promotions, but we need a more granular view. Unfortunately, we don’t have access to web data, although we can track the coupons used in our brick-and-mortar stores. What do you think?

2020 has been shaped by an unprecedented series of events. COVID19, remote work, protests for social justice, natural disasters and a contentious election have had a significant impact on the development, use and business impact of analytics. Join IIA’s Doug Mirsky (VP, Research & Advisory Network), Drew Smith (VP, Analytics Leadership Consortium) and David Alles (VP, Sales, Marketing and Client Success) as they explore the top challenges, initiatives and projects seen in their everyday work with IIA clients in 2020.