Having just attended IDC’s Tech Outlook 2017 this week at the historic Merchandise Mart here in Chicago, I wanted to share some thoughts and summary for those who were unable to attend. As we all know data is the life blood for most businesses and continues to grow in importance each day as technology evolves.…
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The global population of data is rapidly growing and organizations are finding themselves challenged with how to store and manage data in a way that quickly leads to tap into actionable data. Today’s business decisions demand more complex data models that precisely represent the characteristics of entities and how these entities relate to one another in the physical world.…
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Across all industries – from utilities to banking and from healthcare to education – organizations are tapping into unprecedented amounts and types of actionable “big data” to understand consumers and drive powerful engagement. This is possible through evolving tools that analyze and parse data into hyper-personalized micro-segments of consumers – enabling an organization to deliver the right...
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Recently, about a dozen of us at West Monroe spent an afternoon getting familiar with Kaggle, an online data science community centered around sponsored competitions. This was the first in a series of hackathons where we aim to expose ourselves to new tools and methods of data analysis. The Kaggle competitions range from the introductory ‘Titanic: Machine Learning from Disaster’ to...
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West Monroe Partners recently hosted a round table in Seattle for local workforce, HR and technology leaders on the topic of the future of work. There was a broad range of companies at the table, including Starbucks, REI, Zumiez and Delta Dental of Washington. To start the discussion, we posed a question to the group: With the advantages of being a “digital” company so well documented (better...
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For over 40 years, the American Water Works Association and its members have celebrated Drinking Water Week by bringing together communities and industry professionals to recognize water’s vital role in our daily lives. As citizens of the richest nation in the world, it is all too easy to take for granted how critical clean drinking water is to foster healthy living and sustainable...
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There has been a great deal of talk in recent years about how companies must adopt a data-driven strategy, however one aspect of doing this is typically forgotten: data governance. One of the key takeaways from Gartner’s Data and Analytics conference this past March was that through 2019, just 10% of companies will require oversight of operational information from line-of-business...
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After recently returning from the Gartner Data & Analytics conference in Texas earlier this month, I was contemplating many of the overarching themes presented during the sessions. One interesting theme was the establishment of a Chief Analytics Officer (CAO) and/or a Chief Data Officer (CDO). As I listened to the sessions, I was having trouble deciphering if the interest at the conference...
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In December Amazon made my holiday shopping as effortless as it’s ever been. In a not-so-subtle attempt to get its Alexa Voice Service technology on a smooth surface in every home around the globe, the world’s leading online retailer slashed the price of its second-generation Echo Dot to $39.99, and moved nine times more units than it had in the previous holiday season.…
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Have you ever been in the middle of an early morning fitness class and thought “I know why I’m here – I’ve got to stay in shape all winter for outdoor cycling season—but what gets everyone else to show up for this particular 6am spinning class?” Is it because the instructor has the best playlist?…
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By now the concept of a ‘food desert’ has become a common term in diet and obesity research: it is a place where few grocery stores or healthy food options are accessible to residents, and as a result may cause obesity or other health problems. Using the same concept, what if instead we focused on health behaviors and outcomes for those who live in ‘doctor deserts’, in areas where there are...
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What is IoT? The Internet of Things (IoT) is a phrase still unknown to 80% of people, yet it is a reality that will change the world. It refers to devices that collect and transmit data through the Internet. According to a recent survey it is estimated that in the next 20 years, IoT investments and related jobs will contribute about $10 – $15 trillion to global GDP.…
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