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How To Use Predictive Analytics For Better Decision Making

IBM

By Marc Andrews, IBM

What if organizations could deliver predictive insights directly to business users, enabling them to make better decisions, faster?

And even better, what if they could do it without having to invest significant resources in developing analytic models from scratch, integrating multiple technologies and building custom interfaces?

This would enable marketing analysts, product managers, merchandising managers, retail store managers, operations managers, field service technicians, financial advisors and others to make better and faster business decisions with fewer resources than ever before.

With the new IBM Industry Analytics Solutions announced today, retail, banking, telecommunications, insurance and other industries can get quick answers to critical business questions. Examples include:

  • How many different fabric-color combinations should we offer in our stores?
  • How important is it for us to ensure cosmetic brushes are always in stock?
  • Are people who spend a lot of money dining out after 8 p.m. more likely to spend more than their credit card limit?
  • When should we stop production of an oil well to pull the pumps out of the ground for maintenance?

The first 20 new Industry Analytics Solutions are designed to provide businesses with predictive insights that will uncover a better understanding of customers, assets and operations so they can take actions that improve profits. With interactive and role-specific dashboards, business users can share predictive insights across teams and organizations so they can make better business decisions.

To ensure these solutions address the most critical business requirements in each industry and to increase the accuracy of the predictive insights, we are working with clients and partners across various industries. The solutions deliver actionable insights based upon knowledge gained from more than 50,000 client engagements.

For example, the solutions will help:

  • Retailers to understand the potential overall revenue impact of individual products to make smarter decisions about which ones to carry and how to best promote them.
  • Banks to analyze customers' spending patterns to predict their financial and life events and deliver more relevant offers.
  • Wealth management firms to understand behaviors associated with higher-profit clients to determine who they should target and how to drive increased activity.
  • Oil & gas companies to reduce high costs associated with inspections and maintenance of submersible pumps in order to predict outages before they occur.
  • Media & entertainment companies to better understand their audiences' viewing behaviors to advise advertisers about higher-value targets.

As companies see the potential impact of daily decisions made within their organizations, they are increasingly demanding solutions that deliver insights to address specific needs characteristic to their industries. According to a new report by Nucleus Research, on average, organizations that use industry-specific solutions are able to deliver greater benefit for customers and accelerate the time to value 57 percent faster than solutions that need to be customized.

Find out more about IBM’s Industry Analytics Solutions

Marc Andrews is Vice President of Industry Analytic Solutions for IBM.