Abstract:
“Introduction to Business Analytics” held at the Indian School of Business on 24th-June-2012 helped to demystify some common beliefs and preconceived notions regarding “Business Analytics”. The workshop revealed various interesting facts on the subject ranging from the underlying theories to innovative applications in various industries. Organised by Prof. Galit Shmueli, Professor of Data Analytics at the ISB, the session witnessed enlightening talks on the subject from eminent experts -
Mr. Kuldeep Parikh, Strategy Lead, HP Global Analytics
Mr. Ajay Kelkar, Chief Operating Officer, HANSA Cequity
Mr. Kishore Rajgopal & Mr. Divyabh Mishra, Founders of CrowdANALYTIX, Bangalore
On a sunny Sunday morning a fully packed Khemka Auditorium witnessed CEOs, Directors, Entrepreneurs, and the students from ISB lending their ears to some of the finest speakers of the subject. The three hours of enthralling lectures, which were also streamed live to the students at the Mohali campus of the ISB, perfectly introduced the audience to the concept of “Business Analytics”.
The workshop began with an introductory lecture by Prof. Galit Shmueli, who provided a brief overview of the subject of “Business Analytics”. Prof. Shmueli explained how the term “Business Analytics” is being loosely used to refer to Business Intelligence, Business Modelling or Business Statistical Intelligence in the industry. She referred to the definitions of “Business Analytics” by SAS and IBM to explain the confluence of “Business” and “Analytics” for doing predictive analysis for the business. Highlighting the increasing importance of the role of Business Analysts in shaping the strategy of a company, Prof. Shmueli informed the students of the unexplored and untapped potential of “Business Analytics” in India.
A theoretical overview of the subject by Prof. Shmueli was followed by Mr. Kuldeep Parikh’s lecture on some key projects undertaken at HP Global Analytics. Mr. Parikh began his lecture with an allusion to Prof. Dan Ariely’s book “Predictably Irrational” and continued to explain the advantages of “Business Analytics” over intuitive decision making in rapidly changing business environments. He provided further insight on the subject by discussing real world examples of the various types of projects HP had undertaken to meet its internal strategic requirements.
The next lecture of Mr. Ajay Kelkar explained how Marketing could gradually transform into a more pull based approach and emerge as a service for the organizations. He went on to explain how data was increasingly becoming a key marketing tool for the corporate entities. According to Mr. Kelkar, for a company, “data equity” was not only becoming as important as “brand equity” but also helped enhance the latter further. He, however, noted that not all companies were able to effectively analyse the data to create better processes or to make better decisions.
The workshop was concluded with a very interesting lecture by the founders of CrowdANALYTIX- Mr. Kishore Rajgopal & Mr. Divyabh Mishra. CrowdANALYTIX is an online global community which invites analytics, data mining, and statistics experts around the world to brainstorm on business analytics problems. Mr. Rajgopal proudly discussed how they were able to find highly motivated people who would work on challenging problems and compete within the community to offer the best possible solutions. CrowdANALYTIX has its own way of recognizing the achievers who could range from young talented students to experienced analytics professionals. The founders of this innovative business model did not see their company as a competitor to analytics firms as they were able to promote the importance of analytics in business by offering high quality solutions at a very low cost.
The workshop helped the interested souls crack the jargon of “Business Analytics” and capture a glimpse of a gargantuan world of predictive analysis where analytical tools could perform – customer behaviour prediction, sales trend identification, marketing effectiveness study, financial analysis and much more. The widespread application of the subject unfolds a chain of opportunities for people who are seriously thinking of making a career out of this field. ISB offers two electives in this area – Business Intelligence Using Data Mining and Business Forecasting. Therefore, the interested students who have had a taste of analytical tools in their core courses and think that they have already mastered the science of “Business Analytics” are just in the words of Prof. Galit Shmueli – “Kids in the Toy Store”!
-Sammilan Dey
