The Analytics Revolution
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Overview |
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Like manufacturing in the 1800s, the field of analytics needs to go through its own industrial revolution. Analytics processes today are usually created in an artisanal fashion with a lot of care and customization. That’s okay in many cases, and the artisanal approach often still is appropriate. However, we must also push analytics forward to another level of scale and impact. The industrial revolution took manufacturing processes from an artisanal practice to a modern technological marvel that is able to manufacture quality items at massive scale. The same type of revolution must happen with analytics. Operational analytics deploys embedded and automated analytics at industrial scale just like traditional manufacturing processes enable bowls to be produced at scale.
Making analytics operational doesn’t remove any of the steps historically required to build an analytics process. Rather, it takes the process further. Framing and designing each new analysis is still necessary. Building a prototype of the analysis and testing multiple iterations of it to make sure everything works correctly is still necessary. Only at that point can the analytics process be promoted to an embedded and automated operational process, turned on, and executed in an automated fashion. After being turned on, the performance of the analytics process must be monitored constantly just like a real assembly line is monitored. Operational analytics is about embedding analytics within business processes and automating decisions so that thousands or millions of decisions every day are made by analytics processes without any human intervention. Five to ten years from now, virtually no business will remain untouched by this trend. Resistance is futile. Your organization needs to implement operational analytics, and this book will help you get started. How has this evolution come to pass and what is required to understand and implement operational analytics in your organization? Sit back, get comfortable, and prepare to find out! |
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Reviews |
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Click here to read a review of the book on Forbes.com
Click here to read a review of the book on SupplyManagement.com
“This book might be described as the first post-big data book. Franks takes for granted that organizations will use their small, structured data assets as well as their large, less-structured data assets. Why would anyone do otherwise? The book addresses a wide range of topics, from technology to privacy to people topics. It’s all here and in highly useful and digestible form. It’s not Franks’ style to make wild-eyed predictions or pronouncements; instead you get calm, straightforward discourse about the way things are with operational analytics in 2014.”
– Tom Davenport, President’s Distinguished Professor Of IT And Management, Babson College
“Realizing significant, sustainable benefit from data and analytics is becoming more of an organizational change management initiative than a technology project. In The Analytics Revolution, Bill Franks uses his experiences as a practitioner in the trenches and a consultant in the C-suites to help leaders gracefully move their organizations to a game-changing level of analytic value.”
– Kathy Koontz, Associate Vice President, Customer Insights And Analytics, Nationwide
“If you are an executive, you need this book. While the standard fare of most books on analytics is – understandably – a technical ‘geek out’ session, the enterprise leader must instead gain view of the full landscape of analytics value, strategy, and process, as well as a map of pitfalls and how they’re best avoided. The Analytics Revolution brings this landscape into clear view.”
– Eric Siegel, founder of Predictive Analytics World and author of Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die
“This book is a must-have for professionals who want to effectively use big data to free companies to innovate. Bill precisely captures the most imperative incoming wave of the big data revolution, which is operationalizing decision making processes by using data in a massive scale, but not making data driven decisions only at the strategic level. This is great news for business!”
– Simon Zhang, Senior Director, Business Analytics, LinkedIn Corp
“Data and analytics don’t create value until they change how something is done. Operational analytics is that change – on a scalable and repeatable basis – and Franks provides a roadmap for how to succeed with it.”
– Blake Johnson, Consulting Professor, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University
“Organizations are understanding that Big Data and Analytics can provide a competitive advantage and are clamoring for information on making this promise a reality. In The Analytics Revolution, Bill Franks provides a practical guide for making analytics operational and a cornerstone of organizational decision making. Bill’s expertise and passion for the topic shines as he explains this revolution, steps for implementation, and pitfalls to avoid. Business leaders will appreciate Bill’s ability to demystify this important yet misunderstood topic.”
– Jack Levis, Senior Director of Process Management, UPS
“I thoroughly enjoyed Bill’s latest book. In The Analytics Revolution Bill once again demonstrates his rare ability to take a complex, technical topic, and convey what is truly essential to every senior business manager. As Bill so effectively articulates, the analytics revolution is underway and promises to fundamentally change how business operates. This is not an IT practitioner’s guide – rather, it is a primer for the seasoned business manager. It cuts through the hype and informs the manager what he or she must know to operationalize analytics within the company’s business processes.”
– Mark A. Van Sumeren, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, Owens & Minor, Inc.
“I have known Bill for many years and I admire him for his very pragmatic and straight forward approach to operationalizing analytics. Two decades of real-life, hands-on experience set Bill apart and define him as one of the top leaders in the analytics space!”
– Elpida Ormanidou, Vice President, Global People Analytics, Walmart
“Franks has created another masterpiece of pragmatic insight and direction, taking the standard of practice and leaping it forward. While data scientists and data managers will appreciate the business value Franks offers, anyone who wants to advance data-driven decisioning and operational analytics needs to read this guide to reaching the next level of the analytics-based business.”
– Jeff Tanner, author of Analytics and Dynamic Customer Strategy and Director, Baylor’s Innovative Business Collaboratory
“As recently as a few years ago, many organizations, departments, and people remained dubious about Big Data and questioned whether analytics mattered at all. Today, those who haven’t crossed the chasm are squandering massive opportunities. They appear outdated and hidebound. But where to begin? While no one book can possibly answer every question about making Big Data happen, The Analytics Revolution provides an excellent framework. I heartily recommend it.”
– Phil Simon, keynote speaker and award-winning author of The Visual Organization and Too Big to Ignore
“This is a comprehensive and much-needed guidebook to successfully implementing operational analytics, automating decisions, and driving data analysis deep into business processes. There is no better guide than Bill Franks to this timely subject, fast becoming a critical strategic differentiator in the era of big data.”
– Gil Press, contributor to Forbes.com
“The book offers an excellent perspective on what a business leader must do and consider to be successful with analytics. The way decisions are made at firms, by operational processes and even by customers is changing – all driven by analytics! This revolutionary change in decision-making will be a new norm in business. I highly recommend this book as a great guide on what to do and expect with operationalizing analytics!”
– Russell Walker, Clinical Associate Professor, Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management
“If you’re in the thick of the Big Data movement at your organization (and who isn’t?), then you must read this book. Through his unique storytelling ability, Bill Franks delivers entertaining and insightful examples of how firms around the globe capitalize on their data stores through operational analytics. In particular, there is a keen focus on how to assign value to smart use of data, something that has been missing in many conversations involving Big Data. Franks follows up his succinct analysis presented in Taming The Big Data Tidal Wave by providing a surfboard for those who want to optimize their ride on the wave, and provides his vision for the future of a data driven world.”
– Linda Burtch, Managing Director, Burtch Works Executive Recruiting
“One our key learnings at Kaggle is that big data is about more than building advanced algorithms. Bill has written an important book about what’s involved in putting analytics into practice.”
– Anthony Goldbloom, Founder & CEO, Kaggle
Click here to read a review of the book on SupplyManagement.com
“This book might be described as the first post-big data book. Franks takes for granted that organizations will use their small, structured data assets as well as their large, less-structured data assets. Why would anyone do otherwise? The book addresses a wide range of topics, from technology to privacy to people topics. It’s all here and in highly useful and digestible form. It’s not Franks’ style to make wild-eyed predictions or pronouncements; instead you get calm, straightforward discourse about the way things are with operational analytics in 2014.”
– Tom Davenport, President’s Distinguished Professor Of IT And Management, Babson College
“Realizing significant, sustainable benefit from data and analytics is becoming more of an organizational change management initiative than a technology project. In The Analytics Revolution, Bill Franks uses his experiences as a practitioner in the trenches and a consultant in the C-suites to help leaders gracefully move their organizations to a game-changing level of analytic value.”
– Kathy Koontz, Associate Vice President, Customer Insights And Analytics, Nationwide
“If you are an executive, you need this book. While the standard fare of most books on analytics is – understandably – a technical ‘geek out’ session, the enterprise leader must instead gain view of the full landscape of analytics value, strategy, and process, as well as a map of pitfalls and how they’re best avoided. The Analytics Revolution brings this landscape into clear view.”
– Eric Siegel, founder of Predictive Analytics World and author of Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die
“This book is a must-have for professionals who want to effectively use big data to free companies to innovate. Bill precisely captures the most imperative incoming wave of the big data revolution, which is operationalizing decision making processes by using data in a massive scale, but not making data driven decisions only at the strategic level. This is great news for business!”
– Simon Zhang, Senior Director, Business Analytics, LinkedIn Corp
“Data and analytics don’t create value until they change how something is done. Operational analytics is that change – on a scalable and repeatable basis – and Franks provides a roadmap for how to succeed with it.”
– Blake Johnson, Consulting Professor, Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University
“Organizations are understanding that Big Data and Analytics can provide a competitive advantage and are clamoring for information on making this promise a reality. In The Analytics Revolution, Bill Franks provides a practical guide for making analytics operational and a cornerstone of organizational decision making. Bill’s expertise and passion for the topic shines as he explains this revolution, steps for implementation, and pitfalls to avoid. Business leaders will appreciate Bill’s ability to demystify this important yet misunderstood topic.”
– Jack Levis, Senior Director of Process Management, UPS
“I thoroughly enjoyed Bill’s latest book. In The Analytics Revolution Bill once again demonstrates his rare ability to take a complex, technical topic, and convey what is truly essential to every senior business manager. As Bill so effectively articulates, the analytics revolution is underway and promises to fundamentally change how business operates. This is not an IT practitioner’s guide – rather, it is a primer for the seasoned business manager. It cuts through the hype and informs the manager what he or she must know to operationalize analytics within the company’s business processes.”
– Mark A. Van Sumeren, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Business Development, Owens & Minor, Inc.
“I have known Bill for many years and I admire him for his very pragmatic and straight forward approach to operationalizing analytics. Two decades of real-life, hands-on experience set Bill apart and define him as one of the top leaders in the analytics space!”
– Elpida Ormanidou, Vice President, Global People Analytics, Walmart
“Franks has created another masterpiece of pragmatic insight and direction, taking the standard of practice and leaping it forward. While data scientists and data managers will appreciate the business value Franks offers, anyone who wants to advance data-driven decisioning and operational analytics needs to read this guide to reaching the next level of the analytics-based business.”
– Jeff Tanner, author of Analytics and Dynamic Customer Strategy and Director, Baylor’s Innovative Business Collaboratory
“As recently as a few years ago, many organizations, departments, and people remained dubious about Big Data and questioned whether analytics mattered at all. Today, those who haven’t crossed the chasm are squandering massive opportunities. They appear outdated and hidebound. But where to begin? While no one book can possibly answer every question about making Big Data happen, The Analytics Revolution provides an excellent framework. I heartily recommend it.”
– Phil Simon, keynote speaker and award-winning author of The Visual Organization and Too Big to Ignore
“This is a comprehensive and much-needed guidebook to successfully implementing operational analytics, automating decisions, and driving data analysis deep into business processes. There is no better guide than Bill Franks to this timely subject, fast becoming a critical strategic differentiator in the era of big data.”
– Gil Press, contributor to Forbes.com
“The book offers an excellent perspective on what a business leader must do and consider to be successful with analytics. The way decisions are made at firms, by operational processes and even by customers is changing – all driven by analytics! This revolutionary change in decision-making will be a new norm in business. I highly recommend this book as a great guide on what to do and expect with operationalizing analytics!”
– Russell Walker, Clinical Associate Professor, Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management
“If you’re in the thick of the Big Data movement at your organization (and who isn’t?), then you must read this book. Through his unique storytelling ability, Bill Franks delivers entertaining and insightful examples of how firms around the globe capitalize on their data stores through operational analytics. In particular, there is a keen focus on how to assign value to smart use of data, something that has been missing in many conversations involving Big Data. Franks follows up his succinct analysis presented in Taming The Big Data Tidal Wave by providing a surfboard for those who want to optimize their ride on the wave, and provides his vision for the future of a data driven world.”
– Linda Burtch, Managing Director, Burtch Works Executive Recruiting
“One our key learnings at Kaggle is that big data is about more than building advanced algorithms. Bill has written an important book about what’s involved in putting analytics into practice.”
– Anthony Goldbloom, Founder & CEO, Kaggle
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