Category: General Analytics

Q3: What are some of the current trends in analytics?

Every few months I devote a day to discover what are the current trends in analytics. I do this both to refresh the slides in my presentation and to refresh my mind to see what I may have missed.

The amount of literature out there on analytics continues to blossom at an amazing rate, making it a true challenge to stay well versed on what’s hot and what’s not. I read a new analytics themed book about once a month and I have well over 200 blogs, web sites and social media groups cataloged. So I like to think I’m pretty well versed on what is current.

Every time I go to list the top 5 analytics trends, I find that some things change and some stay the same. Ever since I have been doing this, data visualization is near the top. Business dashboards continue to be a big need. Business intelligence tools evolve and new ones’ pop up, but Tableau continues to be a market leader. 90% of us still use Excel for 90% of our analytics work.

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Still a lot has changed. When I started this just 5 years ago no one was really talking about Big Data or Data Science. People just stared discussing using predictive analytics and now its all about prescriptive, even though most of us are still just doing descriptive analytics. For the newbie, descriptive = historical, predictive = forecast models, and prescriptive = really complicated models with a lot of variables to not just predict the future but to show a lot of alternatives as well.

Now if you talk to experts they make think nothing I have mentioned so far is new. But to the novice analyst or to the manager who really doesn’t care what’s it called, she just want’s results… its all new to them.

So I try each time to really find something really new not just to me but truly new to analytics. Six months ago that was the idea of using a data lake instead of a data warehouse. For those still unsure what a data warehouse is, it’s a collection of databases stored and/or connected centrally. Data lakes are used to describe the reality that more and more data is now unstructured data.

The discussion on what is unstructured data and how best to mine it and integrate it with structured data has really been at the forefront for a while now. Going from 80% structured to 90% unstructured in in just a few short years as mankind generates unprecedented amounts of data not easily captured in a database every day.

As of today, if I had to pick 5 topics to talk about it would be (1) Hiring Data Science and Analytics Talent, (2) Big Data Analytics, (3) Data Warehousing and Data Lakes, (4) Data Blending and (5) Mining Public Unstructured Data

Check back with me in a few weeks and this list will change.

The Fundamental of Business Analytics – Business Analytics is the application of talent, technology and technique on business data for the purpose of extracting insights and discovering opportunities. DMAIPH specializes in empowering organizations, schools, and businesses with a mastery of the fundamentals of business analytics. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to find out how you can strengthen your business analytics fundamentals.

Q2: Can you tell us what makes you an Analytics Champion?

Well, the first thing you should know about analytics is that there is no one right way to do things. Analytics is in many ways a new profession and up until very recently few people have seen being an analyst as career path. In fact the majority of analysts became so by accident.

Like in my case, most analyst are drawn to analytics because they like to solve problems, have an affinity for working with data, are tech savvy and above all else… insatiably curious. By the time I first had analyst in my title, I had already been doing analytics for several years.

Right out of college I found my novice skills with Excel, my interest in sharing knowledge and my ability to solve problems leading labeling me the data guy. There is nothing specific in my background that would suggest I’d become an analytics guru someday.

Majored in History with a plan to be a teacher. Obtained my Master’s Degree in Education. Started to teach. The school I was working at went bankrupt. Took a job with Wells Fargo Bank just to pay the bills and 15 years later I had amassed a wide range of analytics skills.

If you ask anyone with analyst in their job title, most of them have similar stories. Until recently you could not even get a degree in analytics as schools are just now offering analytics focused courses and degrees.

In 1998, I had the good fortune of being hired by Wells Fargo. The factors that contributed most to my success with the bank were two things inherit in the culture; its progressive use of data in decision-making and its accepted practice of moving up the corporate ladder by moving between departments.

If I had to pick one thing above all others that had made me a good analyst, it is my ability to quickly assess a problem and then identify the data needed to solve the problem.  For my money, finding the right data is the most important trait to have and also the hardest to teach. It comes out of being curious and letting that curiosity drive you to find answers.

For 15 years that drive lead me to add new skills, learn new technologies, and develop new methods to become a proverbial jack of all trades when it comes to analytics. I often describe myself as a super hero, analytics being my super power and the wide range of skills I’ve picked up being items on my utility belt.

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I am far from an expert on most of the ever increasing number of analytics tools out there, but I know what they can do and what they are good at. There are definitely a lot of people who are better at different aspects of analytics and no one can know it all. But in the end, I have become in many ways a guru of analytics.

I love talking about analytics, explaining it in layman’s terms, empowering people new to the concept, turning on the light in a dark room. I also love talking about prescriptive analytics models, using SQL code to write a complex join between data tables or figuring out what tool would be best use to build a business dashboard.

Providing people with the fundamentals of analytics is what I have been destined to do.

The Fundamental of Business Analytics – Business Analytics is the application of talent, technology and technique on business data for the purpose of extracting insights and discovering opportunities. DMAIPH specializes in empowering organizations, schools, and businesses with a mastery of the fundamentals of business analytics. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to find out how you can strengthen your business analytics fundamentals.

DMAIPH and Sonic Analytics is looking for a Marketing Analyst/Administrative Assistant

http://www.sonicanalytics.com/

Sonic Analytics is an analytics-centric consulting, outsourcing and training company with teams in the United States and the Philippines. We specialize in corporate analytics consulting, public analytics training and small and medium business analytics outsourcing. We maintain an office in Ortigas, Pasig City.

We are seeking an Administrative Assistant, which is a full-time entry-level business operations position. The position is predominately office based, working out of our Oritgas location. We are looking for a flexible, hard-working and analytics minded individual to take on the following tasks:

  • Prepare Monthly Ledger
  • Meet with book keeper for tax reporting once a month
  • Safe keep Permits, Government Certificates, Receipts and other business documents if needed
  • Update expense and income trackers
  • Act as a POC for any analytics seminar/service related inquiries
  • Provide guidance to interns/OJT
  • Help develop an effective marketing campaign
  • Attend events on behalf of Sonic Analytics
  • Assist with setting-up public and in-house seminars
  • Assist with Payroll

Successful candidates need to meet the following requirements:

  • Previous work experience working in an office environment and/or customer service.
  • Familiar with MS Office, particularly MS Excel.
  • Basic understanding of business analytics and using data to solve problems.
  • Strong internet research skills and knowledge of social media.
  • Strong communication and organizational skills
  • Self-motivated and a willingness to learn
  • Above average written and conversational English.
  • A bank account with BPI or the ability to open a bank account

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Basic compensation: Base monthly salary is P12,000.

  • – Up to P2,500 in tax-free allowances.
  • – 5-10% performance bonus upon normalization.
  • – Complete 40 hours of work. This is a full-time job commitment.
  • – Regular Hours are 9:30am-6pm, Monday to Friday.
  • – Annual performance evaluation and compensation increases.
  • – Standard employee benefits as mandated by Philippine law.

Interested candidates should send their most recent resume to jen.ifer@sonicanalytics.com for consideration.

Analytics Jobs – Sonic Analytics in partnership with DMAIPH; hires, refers and connects Filipino analytics talent. The Philippines is at the center of the action when it comes to solutions to the global need for analytics. Working with DMAIPH to find work, hire analytics talent or set up analytics teams will ensure you are tapped into the best of the best when it comes to analytics in the Philippines. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to find out how to take advantage of this booming opportunity.

The Best Bunch of Analytics Interns Ever

2011 – Year Zero – The Best Bunch of Analytics Interns Ever

So this is simply the story behind one of the coolest things I have ever done.

Earlier in 2011, before I set up BPO Elite, I was chatting with a friend who was attending a local community college. She was trying to find a speaker for a business club she was an officer in. I offered to come in and talk about remittances. It was a lot of fun. After the talk and lots of Q+A, one of the students approached me and asked if we had internships.

Hadn’t really thought of that before, but it made a lot of sense. I had worked with several interns while with Wells, and generally introduced them to how we did analytics. So it was a natural progression.

So I took on the intern and before I knew it I had 5 of his classmates on board as well. As I was putting the business plan for BPO Elite together I came up with a list of things we needed to understand the competitive landscape around the new business.

I divided them up into 3 types of analytics interns based on their interests; business analyst, marketing analyst and data analyst. I gave each one a research topic, gave them in a crash course in Tableau and turned them loose on doing some public data mining and analytics for BPO Elite.

About the same time we got our first two clients. A small shipping company that specialized in shipping things to the Philippines and a local chiropractor. Both business owners were at a point where they needed help understanding some of the reasons why there businesses were not a successful as they thought they should be. They knew they needed help, but didn’t know where to turn . Fortunately I had the answer… they need to bring some analytics into their businesses.

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So before we go one, let’s level set on what exactly analytics is. In its simplest form it is a the discovery of patterns in data with an eye towards using these discoveries to help a business be successful. If you ask any 10 professionals who work with analytics you will get 10 different answers. It’s a broad topic with just about every business using analytics differently than the next one. And most small businesses don’t even use analytics. Its more in the realm of the corporate world.

So after explaining to my clients what I could do to help them using analytics and getting a good idea of their challenges, I came up with some plans and turned my interns loose.

We did some good in both cases. Mainly focusing on building demographic profiles of their ideal customers and mapping where they lived, we came up with some targeted marketing materials. We used US Cenus data, Google and Tableau to demonstrate the opportunity around them.

We also spent some time building a competitive landscape for each buseiness as well so the clients could see where they stacked up against them. And finally we added some customer insights, mining data from their social media sites and places like Yelp. All in all, we gave each business owner a sample of the things I used to do at Wells. In both cases it was a big help.

And the best part, the kids learned tons of things they wouldn’t likely have learned in a traditional corporate internship. They got their hands dirty with data and they made a difference in the success of a business.

Today, they are all employed in good jobs, mostly working in position with analyst in the title.

Pretty awesome stuff.

Decision-Making, Analytics & Intelligence > Philippines

I ‘d like to introduce you to a new business initiative of mine called DMAIPH.

After 15 years of doing analytics for Wells Fargo, I moved to the Philippines and set up an analytics training and consulting business. Now 4 very successful years later, I am back in the U.S. to help businesses here get a handle on their big data infused decision-making, analytics and business intelligence challenges.

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We provide back office support from a pool of talented analysts specifically recruited for their analytical abilities. We specialize in setting up home based team of analysts who can do basic and moderately difficult types of analytics including PUBLIC DATA MINING, INTERNET RESEARCH, COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE GATHERING, and BUILDING BUSINESS DASHBOARDS.

If ever you are in need for my support, we are here to help.

 

Daniel Meyer

President & Founder of DMAIPH

http://www.dmaiph.com

The Average Keeps Getting Lower And I Refuse To Tolerate This – Updated

Updated on 10/27/16

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/08/the-average.html

The average

 Everything you do is either going to raise your average or lower it.

 The next hire.

 The quality of the chickpeas you serve.

 The service experience on register 4.

 Each interaction is a choice. A choice to raise your average or lower it.

 Progress is almost always a series of choices, an inexorable move toward mediocrity, or its opposite.

I can totally relate to this. We are a society more and more inclined to settling for the average, and are even ok with it when the average trends lower.

One place I see it happening more than most is in talent management. The demand so far outweighs the supply of good talent; we keep lowering the bar.

Frist it was 4 year degree required. Then it was some college. Now its high school grad.

In just a few years we have gone from a high bar to also most no bar.

Same day hiring. No interview required. No test or assessment. Just how up and get a job.

I hate this.

This new reality taking hold across the Philippines  is deeply concerning to me.

It is unacceptable to me to be involved with anything that is just average, and I just get crazy when I see people doing things to lower the average on purpose.

There is another way.

If you have good analytics, you can be better at setting a realistic bar and not just going lower to meet requirements.

No more mediocrity. No more playing to the average and definitely purposely lowering the average.

I just refuse to tolerate it anymore!

Let me show you how to use the data in your business to turn things around.

Stop the insanity of fueling high turnover and low employee engagement that is lowering the quality of service to a dangerous place.

Who is with me?

If you are, the you will might enjoy reading my new book, Putting Your Data to Work. I can help you use your data.

HR & Recruitment Analytics – The recruitment and retention of top talent is the biggest challenge facing just about every organization. DMAIPH is a leading expert in empowering HR & Recruitment teams with analytics techniques to optimize their talent acquisition and management processes. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to learn how to get more analytics in your HR & Recruitment process so you can rise to the top in the ever quickening demand for top talent.

Data Modeling Analyst > The DMAI Data Science Team Middle Man

The person is the middle is often the most important one. When it comes to data science, the person who takes the data provided by the big data analyst and then gives the output of refined data to the business analyst is often the data science team MVP.

As modeling experts play the role of a link between the data analyst and the business analysts.They have to know both the business and the data and then also know which type of analytics to apply.

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Modeling experts are primarily responsible for building data models and developing algorithms to draw conclusive information. Their job is to ensure that the derived information is well researched, accurate, easy to understand and unbiased.

Ideal Candidates with statistical background, having a deep interest in quantitative topics, and are usually preferred for the role of machine learning experts. The ideal professional must have a solid understanding of data algorithms and data structures in specific, and software engineering concepts in general.

Knowledge and experience with not only descriptive analytics, but also both predictive and prescriptive analytics is a plus.

  • Descriptive Analytics looks at the past to explain the present.
  • Predictive Analytics uses past data to model potential futures.
  • Prescriptive Analytics use past data to direct variable present and future options.

If you know someone looking to join the DMAI Data Science team to help businesses and schools around the Philippines set-up and/or build out data science capabilities then please tell them about this post.

DMAI Data Science Team Member #1: The Business Analyst

“We know that one of the first things lead business analysts need to do is to uncover the real issue, problem or business need. And then make sure that whatever requirements or ideas are suggested align with the thing we were trying to address in the first place” – The Business Alchemist

The first person to be recruited for the DMAI Data Science Team will most likely be a business analyst.

Some of they key personality traits for the DMAI BA include understanding how to use data to tell stories that elicit action. The BA has to be a great communicator who also understands data architecture and big data. Experience working in the BPO industry is a plus.

Data exploration and data visualization are the two most important responsibilities associated with the role of a business analyst. Business analysts work with front-end tools like Tableau as related to the core business and interact with the higher management of an organization. They further analyze business-level data provided by the data modeling analyst to find out insights related to the organization’s core business interests.

Another important responsibility of a business analyst is to coordinate with the big data analyst and the data modeling analyst to make them understand the business objectives and identify possible focus areas. The ultimate responsibility of a business analyst is to produce actionable insights based on the processed data and help the company leadership in their decision making process.

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Ideal business analyst candidates should have expert level knowledge on the underlying business data and source systems. The ideal candidate should have an eye for details and must possess exceptional analytical skills. Moreover, solid understanding of the organization’s business model and the ability to think out of the box are two important qualities that all business analysts should definitely have. It is also important to have sufficient technical skills to come up with precise dashboards using Tableau for representing business data in a structured manner.

The DMAI Data Science Team works with businesses and schools in the Philippines to build data science teams, empower data science cultures and become magnets for analytics talent.