Fitzgerald Analytics Blog

"Beginning with the End in Mind" - Habits of Highly Effective Data Professionals

2011-10-19T02:52:00.000-07:00

What if Steven Covey was a technologist, data professional, or data scientist? Would the best-selling author–best known for promoting his ”Seven Habits of Highly Effective People“–have thrived in today’s data-driven world?

We explore this question in Habits of Highly Effective Data Professionals , our latest post on DATAVERSITY.

We believe he could have thrived, if he adapted to the complexity and practical realities of working with data and technology. Like today’s best data pros, he would have succeeded by combining technical skills with the principle of “Beginning with the End in Mind” (Habit #2). He would also have needed to take the next step, rolling his sleeves up and figuring out HOW to achieve his most essential goals.

We call this key next step ”Causal Clarity™,” by which we mean achieving a clear vision for HOW a goal will be achieved. What will cause the desired result? What are the preconditions? What are the sequence of steps–sometimes thousands of them–that lie between the current state and the desired state?

Read the Entire Article Here...

Data Management & the Netflix Qwikster Stumble

2011-10-19T02:44:00.000-07:00

After decades building his reputation as one of the most data-savvy, customer centric, and innovative corporate leaders of our generation, the Netflix CEO stumbled badly when he announced plans to split Netflix operations into two separate businesses. After a barrage of criticism from customers, stockholders and analysts, Netflix announced Monday that it will abandon the ill-fated plan.

In our Latest Post at DATAVERSITY, we comment on the data management implications of the much-debated Qwikster debacle. Surprisingly, the same company that sponsored the pioneering Netflix Challenge—effectively crowd-sourcing the optimization of their movie recommendation model–was planning to intentionally create a less integrated, less customer-friendly version of itself.

Read the whole article here...

Social Media Metrics that Matter: 5 Recommendations

2011-10-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

Social Media has become essential as a channel for engagement with customers and prospects. Yet because these channels are so new, most firms are still developing their capabilities to capture the full benefits of social media.

“Social Media ROI” is not well optimized. Social media metrics—by which I mean metrics that matter, key drivers of financial benefits—are in their infancy.

Using social media effectively requires more than simply tweeting, liking, posting, and connecting. Achieving measureable ROI requires an understanding of your company’s business model and its drivers, continues with careful analysis of options, and becomes viable through the development of relevant metrics to track performance in ways that are relevant to your specific business model.

Quantity? Quality? What Metrics Matter? Recently I was interviewed by April Rudin, CEO of The Rudin Group, who wrote an insightful and enjoyable article for the Huffington Post that takes aim at the most misunderstood and immature metric in the entire social media realm: follower counts. Her article argues that for the majority of users and businesses, quantity (e.g. number of followers) of relationships is over-rated, while quality is under-rated (e.g. rich and lively engagement with people who matter to your business model). In response to our discussion, my team and I at Fitzgerald Analytics did some bespoke analysis for Rudin, which she features in her article.

I agree with Rudin...follower counts are the most over-used metric in social media. According to a study by Marketing Sherpa of more than 2,000 marketers, the most commonly used social media metrics are: 1.) Visitors/Sources of Traffic, 2.) Network Size, and 3.) Quantity of Commentary about Brand/Product. So it’s Quantity, Quantity, and Quantity. This may work for certain large consumer brands, but for 99% of the business models out there, we can do better!

It’s About The Business Model. The question of what matters more – quantity, quality, or other dimensions – depends entirely on your organization’s business objectives. It depends on what you are trying to accomplish through social media channel(s). Is your company trying to create buzz and excitement around a new product launch? Or does your business model require a better/additional communication channels to address customer gripes? Does your firm live and die based on your ability to acquire new customers? For each of these business objectives, a different set of metrics is appropriate to measure performance of your social media campaigns.

Measuring what Matters to YOUR business model. To increase social media ROI by measuring what matters, we have five practical recommendations:

Begin with the End in Mind. What are the desired end results for the social media campaign? Documenting what the company is seeking to accomplish with clear business objectives lays the foundation for effective measurement of the company’s social media engagement.
Demand Causal Clarity™. Understand the fundamentals of the business and how operational drivers lead to success. What drives the end-goal you defined in step one? Before one can begin to measure impact or return on investment, it is important to identify the right levers on which to pull.
Map Metrics to Objectives. While most marketers are focused on network size and overall buzz, your social media metrics should map to your business objectives. If your priority is to drive sales, you should be evaluating conversion rates, not number of eyeballs. You can’t deposit page visits in the bank! Measure things that drive hard dollar results
Choose Social Media Tactics and Activities that Match your Objectives. Decide what to do on social media based on your goals. Depending on your business model, the platforms you use, and how you use them will vary significantly.
Be Nimble and Adjust. If the social media campaign is not delivering the desired results, rethink how these tools are being used and adjust. However, it is only with the insight of measuring performance that this option is even possible.

Does Data Visualization Improve the World? - Tech@State Event Asks the Question

2011-09-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

While private sector innovators mint money through better data analytics, visualization, and innovations, a wide spectrum of global challenges and opportunities require similar tools to maximize results. At tomorrow's Tech@State conference, the focus will be on how data visualization is being used--and even more importantly how is COULD/SHOULD be used--to make the world a better place.

Through visualization, we can view information in a variety of ways that will allow us to draw conclusions and convey messages that before would have been drowned in a sea of numbers.

The event will feature speakers including:

Edward Tufte

Adam Bly from Seed Media Group

Jonathan Cousins

Laura Kurgan from Columbia University’s Spatial Information Lab

Aleem Walji from the World Bank Institute’s Innovation Team

Charles Kenney from the Center for Global Development

Peter Speyer from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

Wayan Vota from Inveneo

Jaime Fitzgerald from Fitzgerald Analytics

Jake Barton from Local Projects

The full agenda is at tech.state.gov where you can find the most current agenda and speaker bios.

Proceedings will take place over two days with the second being an unconference where participants can collaborate with other conference participants to create their own agenda.

· September 23 at the Kennedy Center: The first day, Friday, Sep 23, will be held at the Kennedy Center in the Atrium and Foyers.

· September 24 at Microsoft. The unconference on Saturday, Sep 24, will be hosted by the Microsoft’s Office of Civic Innovation, at the Microsoft Innovation & Policy Center, 901 K Street NW, 11^th Floor, Washington, DC. There is a separate Eventbrite for Saturday – REGISTER HERE.

The event will also be streamed live on the Internet.

Follow on Twitter:

@techATstate

Tech@State connects technologists to the goals of U.S. diplomacy and development through physical and virtual networking events. As part of Secretary Clinton’s 21st Century Statecraft initiative, Tech@State brings together leaders, innovators, government personnel and others to collaborate on 21st century technology solutions to improve the education, health and welfare of the world’s population. Previous Tech@State events have covered the aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake, Mobile Money, Civil Society 2.0, Open Source and Serious Games.

Tech@State is organized by the U.S. Department of State, Development Gateway, AidData, and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). It is made possible through support from the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) Fitzgerald Analytics, Esri, Microsoft, and MetroStar Systems.

Photo: What Happens if We Skip Causal Clarity™

2011-09-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

We get stuck "trying" rather than "causing"

-- we may "try hard but cause less"....

"Begin with the End in Mind"
- Steven Covey

Data Visualization & the Global Public Interest: Tech@State Conference Sept 23-24

2011-08-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

Tech@State will host a conference on Data Visualization in the Public Interest on September 23-24. This conference visualization techniques and the innovative ways in which they are--and can be--used to enhance results in development, government, and the social sector in general.

Speakers will include Jaime Fitzgerald from Fitzgerald Analytics as well as an all-star roster headlined by Edward Tufte.

The full agenda is available at tech.state.gov where you can find the most current agenda and speaker bios.

Tech@State connects technologists to the goals of U.S. diplomacy and development through physical and virtual networking events. As part of Secretary Clinton’s 21st Century Statecraft initiative, Tech@State brings together leaders, innovators, government personnel and others to collaborate on 21st century technology solutions to improve the education, health and welfare of the world’s population. Previous Tech@State events have covered the aftermath of the Mobile Money, Open Source and Serious Games.

More Profitable Analytics Projects via Simplifying Methodologies - Join me at the Financial Services Symposium August 18th

2011-08-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

The gigantic potential of analytics has generated a mountain of hype and a cacophony of buzz. Unfortunately, the more buzz in your ears, the less likely YOUR analytics project will hit pay dirt. My specialty is solving this problem for clients, and next week I'll share my approach at the Financial Services Symposium (details below...)

RX for More Successful Analytics Projects: Simplify from Jaime Fitzgerald on Vimeo.

The hype around analytics leads to more complexity and less clarity. Technology vendors, service providers, and even colleagues lead each other to believe that the more advanced your analytic methods, the better your results.

This tends to obscure a relatively simple goal: making better use of existing information to achieve our goals.

In my Keynote Presentation at the Financial Services Symposium, and off-stage throughout the day, I will be sharing my methodology for getting results in analytics. These methods have helped me unlock millions of dollars for clients… but are free with admission when you attend next week.

Sincerely,
Jaime Fitzgerald
President and Founder
Fitzgerald Analytics

ROI On Technology Investments: THE Theme @ the Financial Services Symposium

2011-08-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

“We have lots of information technology… but we don’t have any information!” – so goes the caption of a popular cartoon for technologists and business people alike.

Yet behind the joke, there is a serious problem statement: “We have lots of technology, but we need to get better results from it.” That’s the theme we will be focused throughout the one-day Financial Services Symposium on August 18^th.

I hope you will join us on August 18^th for the event of the season. I will be giving the morning keynote presentation on Analytics, and will moderate a panel discussion on technology and on results in Capital Markets and Brokerage Services. Click here to register for the Financial Services Symposium.

The Financial Services Symposium – Sign Up Now!

2011-08-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

The Financial Services Symposium on August 18th is quickly approaching -- be sure to reserve your spot!

Jaime Fitzgerald will give the keynote on Analytics in Financial Services: Practical Methods that Convert Data into Real Results. Check out the abstract of his talk here.

This week, we confirmed several amazing panelists and moderators for the following panel discussions between veteran practitioners in the banking, brokerage, insurance, and cloud computing spaces:

The Navigating New Realities in Banking: The Role of Technology panel is all booked up and should provide interesting insights on the role of Technology in adapting to today's competitive landscape. Panelists will include:

Sidney Gottesman, COO of Bank Leumi USA
Luc Descloitres, VP of Beacon Application Services
Bruce Lynn, Managing Director at The Financial Executives Consulting Group will moderate the discussion

In the Return on Technology Investment in Capital Markets and Brokerages panel, our own Jaime Fitzgerald will moderate. Confirmed panelists include:

Richard Whitworth, Senior Manager, TD Ameritrade Institutional
Beth Daigle, VP, Beacon Application Services

Unlocking Opportunity at the Intersection of Insurance and Technology with:

Madeline Osit, CEO, Beacon Application Services
Paul Johnson, Director, Risk Management, Verizon Communications, Inc.

And finally, Today's Cloud Computing Options: Decision Criteria for Maximum Benefit, featuring three outstanding tech experts:

Mitchell Kemp, Group Vice President, Oracle
Barry Cooke, JGS Insurance
John McGuigan, Pre-Sales Executive and CRM Optimizer, Kyriba Corporation

Again, the Financial Services Symposium is scheduled for August 18 at Adelphi University’s beautiful Long Island campus. For more information - or to register - click here. We hope to see you there!

Quick Nexus Update (in Pictures)

2011-07-28T02:28:00.000-07:00

A mentioned earlier this week, Jaime, Naoko, and I are participating in the Nexus Global Youth Summit on Innovative Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship. It’s been a busy, but inspiring, 48 hours! We’ve met lots of interesting and inspiring attendees so far, from a woman running her family’s foundation that feeds poor communities in Malawi, to representatives of well-known NGOs like Amnesty International, to someone who specializes in organizing the toppling of dictatorships…seriously. Here’s just three photos from my experience so far...

Naoko and I at the Met, with the Congo Power Figure

Amazing surprise appearance and talk by
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (you have to squint…)

Conference “survival guide” and
neat microphone in UN meeting room

Thursday is another packed day. This morning's agenda includes the panel Jaime is participating in, Metrics of Philanthropy and Impact. Stay tuned for more highlights!

Medicare Cost Analysis - Guest Radio Appearance to Explore Data-Driven Insights

2011-07-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, July 28th Jaime Fitzgerald, will approach the challenges of Medicare costs and quality via analytics, as a guest commentator on Inside Analysis, a new show by AOL.gov which analyzes federal spending trends. The conversation will be completely non-partisan, hinging exclusively on data-driven insights and interpretation.

This week’s Inside Analysis discussion centers around the financial side of Medicare—ensuring high-quality care while controlling costs and preventing fraud. Jaime will join phenomenal panelists whose experience in the sector will complement Jaime's focus on the numbers...

Michael Haisten, Principal at Real Intelligence
Gary Baldwin, Editorial Director of Health Data Management
David Wiggin, Program Director of Healthcare and Life Sciences at the Teradata Corporation
and moderator Eric Kavanagh, CEO of The Bloor Group

Together, Jaime and his colleagues will tackle big questions including:

· What is the return on investment for fraud detection?

· What accounts for the major variations in Medicare costs by region?

· Is there an efficient way to handle end of life costs while protecting quality of care?

· What can be done to keep Medicare viable?

Tune in to the exciting live webstream (audio plus video) Thursday, 12:00pm EDT

Where Causal Clarity™ Matters The Most

2011-07-27T02:52:00.000-07:00

This week, three members of the Fitzgerald Analytics team are attending, participating, and speaking at The Nexus Global Youth Summit on Innovative Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship in New York City. We are here due to our enthusiasm for the event's mission, which is to catalyze and empower a next-generation of social entrepreneurs, innovators, and philanthropists in their quest to change the world for the better.

Our lasting firm-wide commitment is to use our specialties and strengths for social sector impact. Although most of our revenues come from corporate clients, we also help non-profits, social-entrepreneurs, and philanthropists create impact...at heavily discounted rates. Our work in the "social-sector" is one of the most fulfilling elements of our jobs.

Attending this week will be co-founders Jaime Fitzgerald and Naoko Fitzgerald, as well as Justin Goldbach, an analyst at Fitzgerald Analytics who, among other duties, supports the Aspen Institute's Business & Society Program.

Jaime Fitzgerald will be a panelist speaking on "New Metrics for Philanthropy and Social Impact." Moderated by Brian Muraresku, an attorney at the Inter-American Development Bank and innovator in the field, it will feature the perspective of four amazing thought-leaders on the topic:

Doug Mellinger, the Founder of Foundation Source
Laura Rawlings, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist at the World Bank
David Pritchard, Head of Measurement and Evaluation Specialist at New Philanthropy Capital
Jeni Klugman, UNDP, Director of the Human Development Report Office

The event is being hosted by Young Donor Network and Search for Common Ground.

Data to Dollars™ - Analytics in Financial Services - Executive Luncheon July 21st @ at Delmonico’s

2011-07-13T04:52:00.000-07:00

Five Ways Analytics Drive Profit in Financial Services
Analytics is making money for your competitors and peers. We'll show you which ones and how. You'll also learn about the powerful Data to Dollars™ methodology that transforms information into opportunity, profit, and growth.

The Venue: Steaks at Delmonico's (56 Beaver Street New York, NY)

Guest Speaker: Jaime Fitzgerald, independent expert in financial services analytics

When July 21, 2011 | Noon - 1:30 PM Register Here!

Lunch is free but seating is limited, so reserve your spot today. Registration is subject to qualification.

Contact us to make arrangements for special meal requirements (e.g., vegetarian, kosher, etc.).“Data to Dollars™” is a trademark of Fitzgerald Analytics, Inc., and is used here with permission.

Turning Data to Dollars™ in Financial Services: Business Analytics and the Five Key Profit Engines in Financial Services

2011-07-11T16:33:00.000-07:00

How can financial services firms boost profitability and market share, and still cut costs? By transforming customer, product, and performance data into insights that assess the risk, outcomes, and probability of business decisions.

Data captured by financial institutions is loaded with potential. But using it to look into your business future, and to forecast what will happen next, requires the application of segmentation, visualization, and dashboard technologies.

Join Information Builders, and Jaime Fitzgerald, founder and CEO of Fitzgerald Analytics, to hear about how business analytics can turn Data to Dollars™ by making information your most important asset, pushing you ahead of your competition. Jaime will provide the road map that plots a quicker, more reliable course to analytical maturity, and will also discuss the Five Key Profit Engines in Financial Services.

Register Now!

Lunch is free but seating is limited, so reserve your spot today. Registration is subject to qualification.

Special meal requests (e.g., vegetarian, kosher, etc.) can be accommodated with prior notification. Contact us to make arrangements.

Fitzgerald Analytics to Participate in Innovative Philanthropy Conference

2011-07-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

Fitzgerald Analytics co-founders Jaime Fitzgerald and Naoko Fitzgerald, together with teammate Justin Goldbach, will take part in The Nexus: Global Youth Summit on Innovative Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship, thanks to the invitation of conference organizer, Daniel Karpantschof. The conference is scheduled for July 26-29 in New York City.

Jaime will join a panel discussion on Metrics of Philanthropy and Impact, where he will share thoughts on how FA’s Analytics Pathway™ methodology, with it's emphasis on clarity of cause and effect, can be applied to improve results in the social sector, just as it has generated millions of dollars in profits for private sector clients of Fitzgerald Analytics.

Jaime’s co-panelists include:

Doug Mellinger, the Founder of Foundation Source
Laura Rawlings, , Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist at the World Bank.
David Pritchard, Head of Measurement and Evaluation at New Philanthropy Capital
Jeni Klugman (UNDP, Director of the Human Development Report Office
The panel will be moderated by Brian Muraresku, an attorney at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Fitzgerald Analytics, a New York City-based firm, helps its clients - from Fortune 1000 companies to data-driven start-ups to international non-profits - achieve extraordinary results by maintaining a clear line-of-site between business objectives and the analytics and data management programs which support them. The firm has made a long-term commitment to supporting the social sector by applying its tools and expertise to enhance non-profit outcomes.

Justin Goldbach, who recently spoke on the topic of social entrepreneurship at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain, is helping out with pre-conference logistics.

Note: Laura Rawlings of the World Bank recently published a great book on measurement in the social sector, entitled Impact Evaluation in Practice, which we highly recommend....

Analytics in Financial Services - Upcoming Keynote at Oracle User Group Conference

2011-06-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

On August 18, Jaime Fitzgerald will deliver his latest keynote presentation on converting Data to Dollars™ via practical analytics. He will share his methodology to "get practical, get traction, and get results" at the 2011 Symposium of the Oracle Financial Services User Group. The event is a learning-oriented gathering of practitioners being hosted this year by Adelphi University, whose students are also encouraged to attend.

Like his keynote in March for The Data Warehousing Institute and the New York Technology Council, Jaime his approach to unlocking the full potential of analytics. When analytics are applied well in the financial services industry, the impact is game-changing. Yet many analytic efforts fail to achieve this potential due to complexity, disconnects between business tactics and analytic programs, and planning missteps. Jaime created his “Causal Clarity™” methodology to close this gap.

The Causal Clarity™ methodology focuses on systematically linking business goals with analytic methods, making sure analysis is designed to impact key drivers of business results, and translating this into the technical details and approach. The methodology has helped analytic teams multiply their efficiency while minimizing failures.

Here is the conference announcement:

***
If you, like many, typically feel that you cannot afford to take time away from the office, hopefully you will see the value in attending this program and networking with peers -- to help you "get the job done!" This content-rich and highly affordable event is not to be missed! So be sure to mark your calendar and spread the word among your colleagues.

The morning program will be filled with keynote addresses, including:

The State of the Economy by Rakesh Gupta, Dean of the Adelphi University School of Business
Analytics in Financial Services: Practical Methods that Convert Data into Results by industry expert Jaime Fitzgerald
Financial Services Industry Technology Landscape by Oracle

The afternoon program will kick off with a general session on Creativity and Innovation by Charles Camarda, NASA astronaut and inventor.

The afternoon program will then feature:

Panel discussions and breakout sessions focused on the major Financial Services Industry Sectors -- Banking, Capital Markets/Brokerages and Insurance
"Hot Topics" such as Business Intelligence, Changing Regulatory Landscape and Automation, Identify Management and Innovation and Collaboration
PeopleSoft and E-Business Suite product roadmaps

Throughout the day, there will also be many opportunities to network with your peers, as well as with the presenters, sponsors and exhibiting solution and service providers!

Call for Presentations: If interested in presenting, participating as a panelist or suggesting other content ideas, please contact Joanne Brennan at JoanneBrennanTBF@aol.com or by phone at 617.510.2578 by Friday, June 10th. Customer experiences and success stories are always in demand and will be duly rewarded with a complimentary symposium registration.

Registration Rates will range from $75 (Early Bird) to $100 (Regular and Onsite) for financial services industry employees and $150 (Early Bird) to $200 (Regular and Onsite) for non-exhibiting solution and service providers. Registration deadlines and instructions, along with more content details, will be forthcoming.

Exhibitor Tables and Sponsorship Opportunities: For information and pricing, contact Joanne Brennan at TBFenterprises@aol.com or by phone at 617.510.2578. There will be a limited number of exhibit tables, so be sure to reserve your spot soon.

***
It is guaranteed to be a wonderful day! The FA Team hopes you can come out and join us!

Reflections on Eckerson's Book "Performance Dashboards"

2011-06-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

The second edition of Wayne Eckerson's Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business" is a practical, substantial yet accessible guide to a topic that has continued to gain importance since the release of the book's popular first edition. Measurement-based-management has become an essential part of the Information Landscape™, and yet it's not easy to do well.

I recommend the book to teammates, clients, and fellow practitioners. I particularly appreciate Eckerson's straight-forward writing about the human dynamics within an organization that can negatively impact the design and implementation of effective dashboards -- an important and often overlooked topic. The book has become standard reading in my firm.

One such human dynamic that resonates with us at FA is the well-known "distrust," as Eckerson describes it, that exists at many organizations between technologists and business people. We have seen this disconnect time and again in a variety of industries.

Eckerson offers a number of tips for overcoming this difficulty, including integrated departments in which technologists aren't physically - and socially - separated from their business counter-parts, and instead these integrated teams share supervisors, regular meetings, and incentives. This is a great idea from our point of view. In fact, doing this will likely replicate some of the value my team brings to our clients: clients often hires us because we "speak the language" of both technologists and business people, and have often served as a trusted translator between the two functions when integration between departments is not possible.

Free Analytics Event in NYC This Monday (June 20th)!

2011-06-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

The next practical analytics event co-sponsored by the New York Technology Council and The Data Warehousing Institute, scheduled for Monday, June 20 at 5:45pm. This lecture is the next in the series, following Jaime’s inaugural talk on Analytics in Financial Services that took place in the spring.

Even though the concept of “customer segmentation” has been around for a long time, the tools and techniques that allow you to do customer segmentation well are constantly evolving. The FA team is looking forward to hearing more about the latest thinking in this space.

***

Customer Segmentation: Beyond "What-If?" - It's Time for "Who's Next?"

Monday June 20, 2011, 5:45 PM
EisnerAmper LLP
750 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017

In business, we participate in many types of relationships. Once we recognize that people behave differently based on their choices, preferences, cultures, and perspectives, we can begin to define sub-groups that we can treat differently. We can focus on those groups that help us, and avoid those groups that don’t.

Our performance is often dramatically impacted by how well we allocate scarce resources… time, money, etc. If we are going to consistently enhance our business performance, we simply must be more effective in our resource allocation. The effectiveness of Predictive Analytics is attained by re-conceptualizing the way we think about our problems. It works from the assumption that the variables in our models are simply a way of describing a group.

It is not enough anymore to ask "what-if?" Instead, we must ask "who's next?"

Speaker: Thomas A. "Tony" Rathburn is a world-renowned Predictive Analytics designer, implementer, speaker, consultant and teacher at The Modeling Agency (TMA) in Pittsburgh PA, and has over 25 years of applied Predictive Analytics development experience across a broad range of industries and application areas. He has been a regular presenter of Predictive Analytics & Data Mining courses at the TDWI World conferences since 2003.

Tony will present two completely new courses at the San Diego TDWI World Conference in August. He will also facilitate The Modeling Agency's "Predictive Analytics & Data Mining: Strategic Implementation" course starting on June 13 in NYC, then August in Minnesota and September in Washington, DC.

Register for Free HERE.

Jaime To Present at Text Analytics World NYC!

2011-06-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Jaime Fitzgerald will speak at the 2011 Text Analytics World conference in New York City, scheduled for October 19-20. Along with co-presenter Alex Hasha, Jaime will speak on “New Insights from ‘Big Legacy Data’: The Role of Text Analytics at Bundle.com.”

For decades, credit card transactions have generated mountains of data about consumer spending habits, but the data formats were designed for archiving and reporting rather than for data mining and pattern discovery. In particular, the merchant's name is embedded in a text field, which also contains other information, without any standard format.

Bundle.com is a new startup that is building a business on the extraction of value from this legacy data source. Text analytics are being used to robustly identify merchants in the dataset as a first crucial step in the extraction of powerful insights about consumer spending behavior.

A long-term client of Fitzgerald Analytics, Bundle.com is a joint venture between MSN Money, Morningstar and Citi.

Alexander Hasha is the lead Data Scientist at Bundle.com, the definitive source for information on how people spend, save, and invest their money. Prior to joining Bundle, Alex worked in analytic modeling at Citigroup in the company's mortgage division, where he also wrote articles for publication. He is a graduate of M.I.T. and earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from NYU's Courant Institute. He also holds an advanced certificate in mathematics from Cambridge University.

The Founder and President of Fitzgerald Analytics, Jaime Fitzgerald has developed a distinctively quantitative, fact-based, and transparent approach to solving high stakes problems and improving results. His firm was named one of the “Best Small Consulting Companies to Work for” by Consulting Magazine, and ranked on Inc.5000 list of fastest-growing small businesses. Jaime’s specialties include strategic analytics, information management, knowledge management, technology strategy, and business process improvement. Jaime has advised market-leading banks, retailers, manufacturers, media companies, and non-profit organizations in the United States, Canada, and Singapore.

With his team at Fitzgerald Analytics, Jaime developed a set of unique methodologies that enable analytic professionals and teams to enhance their effectiveness. He has shared these methods at 5 major conferences and events in the past year, including a keynote presentation for The Data Warehousing Institute focused on practical analytics in the financial services industry.

Trip Report: Impact Weekend at IE Business School

2011-05-31T11:17:00.000-07:00

I just returned from IE Business School’s first-ever Impact Weekend – and what an inspirational weekend it was!

Impact Weekend is a 60-hour, hands-on, innovative experience that brings together students from IE Business School with social entrepreneurs from across Spain to share ideas and develop socially responsible business plans. The event leverages IE Business School’s business savvy and strong culture of entrepreneurship to empower both social entrepreneurs and students with the tools to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world through business.

I was flattered to receive an invitation to deliver a keynote to kick off the weekend. My talk, titled “Next Generation Business Leadership,” reflected on the evolution of corporate social responsibility over the past decade and positioned social entrepreneurship within a larger context. Drawing lessons from my work with the Aspen Institute -- as well as the Institute’s original research -- I emphasized why these students’ ideas of creating positive societal impact through business were so important - but also highlighted some of the unique obstacles that social entrepreneurs face.

The keynote started in a fun, non-traditional manner – the audience, made up of both IE students, professors, and venture capitalists from around Spain, formed small groups and discussed a painting by Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance (an exercise I personally experienced at an Aspen Institute seminar in Wye, Maryland). Thinking it would be fun to have business students use the other side of their brains, the exercise was successful in getting the group’s creative juices pumping and in highlighting the point that together, as a group, we were pushing forward a shared understanding of a larger concept over the course of the weekend.

After the keynote, student teams presented their business ideas and were rated on the financial sustainability of their idea, its social impact, and its innovativeness. The ideas were incredibly diverse…more on this in a moment!

I served as a judge along with actual social entrepreneurs and angel investors from all around Spain. The top 5 teams remained in the Impact Weekend challenge, and all other students (including those whose ideas were not selected) were given the chance to work on the remaining 5 ideas for the rest of the weekend. Everyone then enjoyed cocktails and tapas at a local bar and got to know each other better – it was exciting to see all the students from across the school bonding and sharing stories from their personal careers that influenced their interest in creating positive societal change through business.

Saturday and Sunday morning were dedicated to brainstorming sessions for the remaining five teams and their supporters. As a mentor, I had the great pleasure of rotating from team to team every hour and brainstorming with the participants. This was incredible! How often do you get to work with aspiring entrepreneurs who are trying to change the world while simultaneously making money?

Ideas ranged from providing solar-powered showers for the middle-class in Brazil to a Groupon-like website offering deals for essential consumer goods to Spain’s unemployed. All five of the ideas were really interesting, and it was a true joy working with the students and other mentors to develop initial ideas into robust final business plan presentations.

After a few intense final hours of putting the finishing touches on the PowerPoint presentations, everyone moved to Hub Madrid, an incredible space dedicated to incubating entrepreneurial ideas. With its wonderful abandoned warehouse aesthetic, it reminded me of Brooklyn! Again, the five teams presented – and what a difference 48 hours makes! Many of the ideas transformed beyond recognition. I removed myself from the final judging panel, since I’d worked so closely with the students over the weekend and would have had difficulty choosing a winner.

After the winner was announced (Tarifas Blancas – they receive access to the exclusive IE Venture Lab, which will help incubate the idea further next semester), we celebrated everyone’s progress and commitment to the core ideal of the event: regardless of whether you’re a social entrepreneur or work within a large corporation, we must seek opportunities to leverage the power of business for the benefit of society. Profitability and social, environmental, and ethical stewardship are not mutually exclusive.

I’m thrilled to have been a part of such a great event! Thanks to Aline Carnizelo, David Fogel, Lalit Chopra, and to all of the incredible student organizers for inaugurating such an inspirational and well-organized weekend! Special thanks to my friend Max Oliva, Associate Director of Social Impact Management at IE Business School, for the invitation to join and to Gary Stewart, Executive Director of the IE Venture Lab, for the warm welcome.

Justin Goldbach is an analyst at Fitzgerald Analytics.

About Fitzgerald Analytics' commitment to the the Non-Profit, Social, and Public Sectors:Since it's founding in 2005, Fitzgerald Analytics has maintained a commitment to the social sector. The firm provides services to non-profit clients and social entrepreneurs at discounted rates, donates a portion of profits to charity each year, performs research on smart giving & non-profit efficiency, and supports organizations and events focused on social impact. For example, the firm's co-founder--Jaime Fitzgerald--will join a panel discussion in July 2011 on best practices and challenges in measuring the impact of philanthropic investments.

Business Model / Causal Model

2011-05-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

We use the term "causal model" to describe something that is inherent in every business model, every operating model. We've built our entire business around "Causal Clarity™," helping clients to identify the key drivers of results for their business model...

Defining my Mission in Professional Life

2011-04-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

At the start of the keynote presentation on "Analytics in Financial Services" w/ TDWI and the NY Tech Council on March 30th, I needed to introduce myself to nearly 200 strangers without wasting their precious time. It was necessary to articulate succinctly my "mission in professional life"

My professional mission: "to find and unlock opportunities for clients via data, technology, processes, and the ever-crucial role of people."

Analytics in Financial Services: A Practical Approach to a Competitive Imperative

2011-04-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

It was a privilege to share my approach to "practical analytics" with a diverse audience of nearly 2000 professionals on March 30th, 2011, at the New Yorker Hotel in NYC.

The keynote presentation, together with a panel discussion that followed, focused on "bridging the gap" between the potential of analytics and the practical steps required to unlock this potential.

Did you see the event? If so, please let me know what you liked and what could have been even better.

If you missed the event, and want to hear more about it, feel free to contact me.

View more presentations from Fitzgerald Analytics here...

Preview Image of our Talk at Enterprise Data World

2011-04-05T04:46:00.000-07:00

Preview Videos -- March 30th "Analytics and Data in Financial Services" Event w/ TDWI and NY Tech Council

2011-03-24T20:11:00.001-07:00

To register for this free event, Co-Produced by The Data Warehousing Institute and the New York Technology Council, click here.

About the Panelists – Practical Stories from the Trenches

2011-03-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

At the event on March 30th, we will make financial services analytics more accessible, actionable, practical and doable.

Our goal is to share more based on my experience and on the experience of analysts in the trenches…with the help of the other panelists:

Click here to register for this free event...

Preview of Analytics in Financial Services (March 30th Event w/ TDWI and NY Tech Council)

2011-03-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

On March 30^th, at TDWI’s Tri-State Area Chapter seminar, I’ll be giving the keynote address to discuss how analytics can be practically used to make better business decisions. This theme in my speech, practical uses of analytics, I feel, captures the essence of this event – a different type of analytics event – it’s focused on giving the audience practical takeaways they can use to improve results at their job and build their career further.

Click here to register for this free event...

Analytics in Financial Services: A Competitive Imperative

2011-03-24T20:06:00.000-07:00

Preview of Analytics in Financial Services

About the Panelists – Practical Stories from the Trenches

Our goal is to share more based on my experience and on the experience of analysts in the trenches…. goal is to share practical insights…I will do this with the help of the other panelists:

John Ruda of TDAI has been able to better predict and sense if a customer is less satisfied and may leave…being able to sense this early has allowed TDA to save millions of dollars
Denis Mrkva, of Hartford Insurance Company, he’ll be talking about how they built a tool to substantially improve impact of marketing investments targeting consumers across a variety of channels

Overall, we will try to make financial services analytics more accessible, actionable, practical and doable.

So much Information, So Little Practical Analytics that “Works”

The bottom line when discussing analytics is that when it works, it can add huge value; however in the world of analytics there is a deluge of information, technology and analytic options – so much so that I’ve noticed a pervasive frustration in the business community that analytics solutions do not work smoothly or often enough. Together with the TDWI, New York Technology Council, and event sponsors, we’re going to take a step toward fixing this problem. In my keynote, and in this event, we’ll try and bridge the gap between the awesome potential of analytics and the complexity of figuring out how to realize that potential.

We will discuss the key drivers of results in a number of key business models in financial services, and we will be clear about the decisions we need to make to improve results in these business models, without overcomplicating the analysis. We will share with you a simpler way to translate a business decision that needs to be made into an analytics method that is fit with purpose…in the trenches practitioners have figured this out but there’s not a lot of sharing of how to best do this…our goal is to share more…based on real experiences of myself and others.

Benefits to Attendees Interested in Analytics

While this event is a financial services event, it can be useful for those not in financial services. We’ll be using a set of universal frameworks to distill business models, find points of opportunity and choose the best way to address this opportunity via analytics; these frameworks can be applied in any industry where high-stakes business decisions are made. So if you’re interested in analytics, this is an ideal event for you.

Benefits to Students or Job Seekers

This is the perfect event for anyone who’s entering or aspires to enter the field of financial services (investment bankers, or financial services professional in retail, insurance, consumer banking, credit cards). I guarantee you’ll walk away with practical takeaways you can use back in the office or to turbo-charge your career.

So much Information, So Little Practical Analytics that “Works”

2011-03-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

Click here to register for this free event...

Interested in Analytics? Our March 30th Event is for You

2011-03-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

While this event is a financial services event, it can be useful for those not in financial services.
We’ll be using a set of universal frameworks to distill business models, find points of opportunity and choose the best way to address this opportunity via analytics; these frameworks can be applied in any industry where high-stakes business decisions are made. So if you’re interested in analytics, this is an ideal event for you.

Click here to register for this free event...

March 30 TDWI Event in NYC: Benefits to Students + Job Seekers

2011-03-24T20:03:00.000-07:00

This is the perfect event for anyone who’s entering or aspires to enter the field of financial services (investment bankers, or financial services professional in retail, insurance, consumer banking, credit cards).

You’ll walk away with practical takeaways you can use back in the office or to turbo-charge your career.

Click here to register for this free event...

Video Preview of Next Week's event on Analytics in Financial Services

2011-03-24T19:51:00.001-07:00

To register for this free event, Co-Produced by The Data Warehousing Institute and the New York Technology Council, click here.

To register for this free event, Co-Produced by The Data Warehousing Institute and the New York Technology Council, click here.

Join Us for "Analytics in Financial Services" w/ TDWI and NY Tech Council

2011-03-24T05:12:00.000-07:00

Analytics in Financial Services: A Competitive Imperative -- Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
8:30am-12:00pm The New Yorker Hotel
Free! To Register: Click Here

Jaime Fitzgerald will be delivering the keynote at this conference emphasizing practical take-aways.

Free! To Register: Click Here

The financial services industry is inherently data-driven. In recent years, our ability to store, retrieve and analyze massive volumes of data has exploded, creating new opportunities as well as new challenges. Investment banks, retail financial services firms, and insurance companies are at the forefront of this data revolution.

How are Wall Street innovators using analytics to compete and succeed? What tools and tactics do they use to turn data into value? What are the pitfalls and cautionary tales associated with data-driven tools, techniques, and technologies?

At this half-day joint event of the New York Technology Council and The Data Warehouse Institute (TDWI) Tri-State Area Chapter, our keynote speaker and industry panelists will explore this topic.

On top of this content, the event will be a great networking event -- about 200 people have already registered!

Free! To Register: Click Here

Additional video previews of this event up on his YouTube page.

Join Us on March 30th!

2011-03-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Analytics in Financial Services: A Competitive Imperative
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
8:30am-12:00pm

The New Yorker Hotel
481 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10001

Free! To Register: Click Here

Jaime Fitzgerald will be delivering the keynote at this conference emphasizing practical take-aways.

At this half-day joint event of the New York Technology Council and The Data Warehouse Institute (TDWI) Tri-State Area Chapter, our keynote speaker and industry panelists will explore this topic.

On top of this content, the event will be a great networking event -- about 200 people have already registered!

Jaime Fitzgerald has additional video previews of this event up on his YouTube page.

Upcoming Panel Discussion: Analytic Processes In Quantitative Finance

2011-03-20T23:46:00.000-07:00

Evolution of Quantitative Equity Investment Methodologies and Processes

Panel Discussion With:

Indrani De, PhD, Director of Quantitative Research, New Amsterdam Partners
Jaime Fitzgerald, President and Founder, Fitzgerald Analytics
Margaret Stumpp, PhD, Chief Investment Officer, Quantitative Management Associates (QM Associates, a Prudential company)

Moderator: Herbert Blank, SVP-Quantitative Products, Rapid Ratings International

AGENDA
5:20- 6:10 Registration, Networking, and Refreshments
6:10 - 6:15 Chapter Business
6:15 - 6:20 Introduction of Panelists, Herb Blank, SVP, Rapid Ratings - Moderator
6:20 - 6:35 Importance of Disciplined Investment Processes and the Role of Quantitative Methodologies - My Perspective - Indrani De, Director of Quantitative Research, New Amsterdam Partners
6:35- 6:50 Importance of Disciplined Investment Processes and the Role of Quantitative Methodologies - My Perspective - Margaret Stumpp, Chief Investment Officer, QM Associates
6:50- 7:05 Importance of Disciplined Investment Processes and the Role of Quantitative Methodologies - My Perspective - Jaime Fitzgerald, President and Founder, Fitzgerald Analytics
7:05 – 7:20 Break
7:20 – 8:15 Panel Discussion (All of the Above) - Evolution of quantitative investment methods over time - what have we learned?

Bios
Indrani De, CFA, Director of Quantitative Research, received an undergraduate degree in Economics (Honors) from the University of Delhi, and a graduate business degree from the Indian Institute of Management. Ms. De completed coursework for a PhD (Business-Major in Finance) at the City University of New York. Prior to her doctoral studies, Ms. De worked as an Investment Analyst for GE Capital Services. Ms. De has also worked in equity investment positions at Birla Global Finance and 20th Century Venture Capital. In addition, she has been published in the Journal of Investing and NYSSA Financial Professionals' Post.

Jaime Fitzgerald is the Founder and President of Fitzgerald Analytics, a “next generation” consulting firm which uses quantitative methods, technology, and process innovation to convert "Data to Dollars™." Jaime is a frequent speaker at national conferences on the subject of innovation in data, technology, and analytics. The morning after joining our panel, Jaime will give the keynote presentation and facilitate a panel discussion on “Analytics in Financial Services,” at an event co-sponsored by The Data Warehousing Institute and the New York Technology Council. He is the co-author of several published articles, including two articles in the Journal of Management Development. Previously, Jaime worked for First Manhattan Consulting Group and Novantas LLC. He received his BA in economics, with honors, from Harvard University.

Margaret Stumpp, PhD is the Chief Investment Officer of Quantitative Management Associates (QMA). She is portfolio manager for equity portfolios for institutional investors and mutual fund clients and is extensively involved in quantitative research in asset allocation, security selection and portfolio construction. Maggie has published articles on finance and economics in numerous publications, including The Financial Analysts Journal, The Journal of Portfolio Management, The Journal of Investment Management and Award Papers in Public Utility Economics. Maggie earned a BA cum laude with distinction in Economics from Boston University and holds an AM and PhD in Economics from Brown University.

Herbert Blank (moderator) is Senior Vice President of Rapid Ratings International and Head of its Quantitative Products group. Among his responsibilities are business development and product develoment. Working with QED International, the consulting firm he founded in 1997, Herb had been a consultant to Rapid Ratings for more than three years. Among the more noteworthy ETF launches on which Herb consulted were iShares and Van Eck Market Vectors. He has also written articles and book chapters on ETFs and index issues. Prior to this, Herb managed the CountryBaskets Index Fund ETF Portfolios for Deutsche Bank; these were the first ETFs to trade on the NYSE. Prior stops included Value Line and Fidelity Bank. Herb is Vice President and Steering Committee Chair man of QWAFAFEW-NYC. He holds a graduate degree from the Stern School of Business of NYC and a BA in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business

2011-01-18T04:42:00.000-08:00

"Data-driven awareness" is a guiding professional passion for me, and a common theme in most client work at Fitzgerald Analytics. As I result I'm draw to and enjoying the new book by Wayne Eckerson: Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business

It's the only book I took on this week's trip, and reading this book is the only thing I'm doing on each flight...

Post read, I will share reflections in a follow up post.

Books on Data Management: a 5-Book "Starter Library"

2011-01-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

A friend of Fitzgerald Analytics in Monterrey Mexico is spending more time thinking about Data Management, and reached out via twitter in search of recommended resources. We promised to share a short-list of recommended books on data management, a sort of "Data Management Reading List," which is below.

Notes:

Since Data Management is an umbrella topic with many sub-topics such as data quality, Master Data Management, etc., we have included books from a few key sub-topics...
While we kept the list below to 5 books, our office bookshelf contains more than 50 books on this topic--and related ones like data governance, data quality, data integration, architecture, enterprise information management, meta-data management, business analytics, etc. But in the spirit of starting somewhere, here are five books that provide helpful perspective on the concepts and methods used to manage data more profitably:

5-Book Data Management Starter Library:

1. The Data Governance Imperative by Steve Sarsfield, a respected industry veteran like the other authors on this list. His book is practical and readible...very helpful on a key subject, data governance, which is an inportant place to start.
2. The DAMA Guide to the Data Management Body of Knowledge (DAMA-DMBOK) Print Edition
More comprehensive than other books, this is the definitive collection of data management knowledge from the leading association dedicated to this topic (DAMA). Also Available on CD!
3. Executing Data Quality Projects: Ten Steps to Quality Data and Trusted Information (TM) by Danette McGilvray. Practical, step by step approach to Data Quality. Comprehensive yet Practical. You can customize this to projects and get a lot done!
4. Master Data Management (The MK/OMG Press) by David Loshin. Contains an excellent combination of frameworks and practical details. An excellent start to your reading on Master Data Management.

5. Data Quality: The Accuracy Dimension (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems): shorter than other data quality books, but excellent.

We hope this is helpful! Feel free to add more books in the comments if you would like.

Each NBA Shot is a Decision: What's the Decision Model?

2010-12-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

These days, the sports world is full of people paying close attention to statistics....

General Managers use unconventional statistics to find hidden value in players....
Fans discuss stats when debating what a player is worth, how much playing time he should get and who he should be playing against.
Journalists use statistics to write stories - at best they'll use numbers to create a new narrative; at worst they'll use numbers to conveniently support an intuitive--but false--"story hook"

David Biderman, who writes "The Count," a Sports and Numbers blog for the WSJ, seems to have fallen into the latter category with his recent piece on what the Miam's Heat's passing means for their scoring chances. His convenient but suspicious "story hook" is that the more the Heat pass, the lower their shooting percentage gets. Here at Team Fitzgerald, we are deeply skeptical.

Biderman's contention is that because the Heat's shooting % is higher when they pass less, they should start acting more selfishly, pass less, and voila...they can boost their shooting percentage. If it were that simple....

But wait!...correlation does not equal causation. Do players get higher percentage shots when they pass less? Or do they pass less when they have a high percentage shot, for example on a fast break?

Let's take an important step back: each pass or shot is a decision. Professional players make it thousands of times, and coaches monitor how well they make that decision. We praise players who take higher percentage shots when they have them, and blame them when they give up a good shot with a pass they didn't need to make. On the other hand, if a player does not have a high percentage thought, we praise the decision to pass...nobody admires a "forced shot" with low probability of hitting the net.

If a player has a sweet fast break, or an open path to basket, the rational choice is to shoot (or dunk) bc they already have their high percentage shot. If the defense is able to get back, and the player can't easily take it himself, the rational choice is to slow it down and look for a set play that may involve more than 1. These are the decisions a player makes based on the set of facts in front of them in the moment. By not eliminating fast break plays, controlling for shot location, etc...Biderman is left with a data sample skewed enough to result in incorrect conclusions. Separating them would be a better way to see the impact of passing on a given basketball play.

So mathematically, let's run a quick scenario. During each game hundreds of "pass vs. shoot" decisions will be made. Rational team players shoot when the odds are in their favor (high percentage shot) and pass when they don't have a good shooting opportunity, seeking a better one. Meanwhile, the shot clock ticks...and as time passes, the calculus changes. Given the risk of running out of time on the shot clock, extra passes become less attractive and shots on the basket become more imperative, and players rationally are more willing to take lower-percentage, lower-quality shots. Shooting percentages can be expected to fall, because players are forced to shoot without having found an easy layup or fast-break dunk.

The article was based on data from only two games by one team. We wish we could find a similar but potentially more valuable data-set: shooting percentages by teammate, segmented by the number of seconds on the shot clock. This would allow us to test our hypotheses, which is that game patterns, and the related passage of time, cause patterns in shooting percentage, and that passing less is correlated with, but does not cause, higher shooting percentages.

We feel that Biderman's piece misses is what's at the heart of why statistics in sports are so captivating to so many of us. They allow us to reveal truths that were previously hidden. Biderman's piece doesn't make an attempt to dig deeper into why the Heat score less when they pass more. There is no hidden truth in this article, only a potential straw man.

What do you think?

Alex Roberts & Jaime Fitzgerald

"We've got lots of information technology. We just don't have any information."

2010-11-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

Speaking of Turning Data to Dollars™: Previewing two Conference Presentations this Spring

2010-10-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

This week, I was delighted to receive invitations to speak this coming spring at both the AIIM International Conference & Expo and at Enterprise Data World. I’m excited about these opportunities to share real cases in the area of my passion: turning data into tangible results.

In late March, I’ll be presenting on “Knowledge Management for Analytic Professionals and Teams” at the AIIM International Conference & Expo @info360 in Washington, D.C. This annual event brings together thousands of technologists and business users to learn about and discuss the fast-changing landscape of information management -- and I’m excited to be a part of it!

Two weeks later, in the first week of April, I’ll be speaking for the second year in a row at Enterprise Data World in Chicago, Illinois, on the role data plays in customer experience. The title of my talk will be “Data-Driven Customer Satisfaction: The Link between Data Management, Balanced Scorecard, and Client Service Best Practices.” I’ll be sharing the stage with a long-time client, Zohar Swaine, Managing Director of Institutional Strategy and product at TD Ameritrade.

And just in case you’re interested, the slides from my presentation @ the 2010 Enterprise Data World conference, “Tales from a Master Data Management Transformation Roadtrip,” given with Art Garanich, Director of Information Technology at Bridgestone Firestone's Consumer Credit company, which provides private label credit cards for more than 5,000 retailers as part of the Bridgestone Firestone Corporation.

Besides sharing lessons learned while helping clients, these conferences are always a great opportunity to meet up with old friends and to learn from other thought leaders who are spearheading innovation in the data management space. I hope to see you there!

-Jaime Fitzgerald
@jaimefitzgerald

What Motivates Analytic Professionals?

2010-09-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

There are many reasons why we love or hate our jobs.

Professional analysts: what motivates YOU the most? If you could design the perfect job in analytics, what is the key?

For example, are you motivated by the nature of the work, the types of problems you solve, the financial incentives, career path upside, or something else?

Update End of Year 2010:

Hi fellow professionals -- thanks so much for all your comments on this thread. We hosted this discussion both HERE and on the Fitzgerald Analytics page on AnalyticBridge. Both the number, and the quality, of the posts exceeded my expectations. In about 1 week we are going to "close the window" on comments for this round, so we can plan and pursue next steps to research the topic further...and will be reaching out to all of you to invite your participation in that next round of discovery.

In the meantime if you have not commented YET, please do this week! I'm super grateful, and will do whatever I can to make it worth your while as we pursue this further.
Cheers,
Jaime Fitzgerald
Founder and President
Fitzgerald Analytics

Semantic Web Technologies and Open Data Innovation

2010-09-04T11:32:00.001-07:00

With my colleagues Kevin Cabral and Justin Goldbach, I attended and greatly enjoyed the latest event of the Lotico New York Semantic Web Meetup which was about open data innovation, especially with a focus on Data.gov and obviously, the role of Semantic Web Technologies in making open data more accessible, more useful, and more valuable to citizens and businesses.

The speakers were incredible:

Gale A. Brewer, New York City Council Member, who is clearly passionate and experienced in the benefits of applying technology and data innovation to benefit citizens, improve public services, and enable non-profits to help more people
Jim Hendler, Tetherless World Senior Constellation Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) -- a pioneer in the field and a fascinating speaker.
Deborah L. McGuinness, Tetherless World Senior Constellation Professor RPI -- gave a fascinating talk. My favorite line: "the government would like nothing better than to see private companies use public data to make money, create jobs...create value with this."
Peter Fox, Professor and Tetherless World Research Constellation Chair RPI. Wow. A great presentation also, about "The eScience revolution: Semantic Web platform for massive scientific collaboration"

The implications of Semantic Web Technology, together with Open Data on the Web, including government data, creates incredible promise for innovation, transparency, and value creation. The wheels are spinning.

Helping in Haiti, Informed Giving, and Maximizing the Impact of Donations

2010-02-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

The recent tragedy in Haiti--and the outpouring of well-deserved sympathy and generosity it stimulated--has also highlighted a crucial trend in the non-profit world: the role of information in improving productivity, efficiency, and results.

This is good, as better information about how donations are used should help inspire MORE people to give what they can, confident that they know their hard-earned dollars will be deployed efficiently. But the tools need to be used to get these benefits...

According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, private-sector donations to relief efforts in Haiti were more than $600 Million in the first 3 weeks since the earthquake...it looks like private giving could end up exceeding a billion dollars. And while this is a large and historic surge of giving, Haiti's challenges far exceed the resources available to fully address them.

When results matter--as they surely do at a time like this in Haiti--the tools we use to maximize the positive impact of our resources becomes incredibly important. Efficiency matters. My hope is that whenever possible, donors to charities not only give resources (e.g. dollars), but give them in ways that maximize the results achieved from these resources.

To give as efficiently as possible, we need good information on our options, and the implications of HOW we give. The good news is that today's donors have access to excellent information if they choose to use it....information that can multiply the impact of donor dollars by channeling resources to the most efficient charitable organizations. Several key resources here include:

Charity Navigator: the "guide to intelligent giving," this organization rates charities on their organizational efficiency and capacity, using a standard methodology. The CEO of the Charity Navigator, Ken Berger, spoke about the importance of "informed giving" on "The Takeaway" radio show.
Impact Your World: The Charity Navigator and CNN have partnered to create this site which features"vetted" organizations with known capabilities for a given natural disaster or humanitarian need
The American Institute of Philanthropy is considered especially aggressive in filtering out organizations that may attempt to "game" the ratings systems of other oversight organizations. It has been called the "pit bull of watchdogs" by the New York Times, and "more forensically minded" by Forbes. Their website is at http://www.charitywatch.org
GuideStar is also well known for their informed giving toolkit, including their 9-Step Guide to Giving Wisely
The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University has done a lot of research--and offers valuable information for donors--about the factors affecting "return on donations" across a wide range of situations. Their recent conference (in Oct. '09) pointed out that while "disaster giving" is essential and necessary, preparation for disasters BEFORE they occur often yields an even higher benefit per dollar invested.

At Fitzgerald Analytics, we have made a lasting commitment to serving the social sector as well as the private sector with our skills and our passions. We made this commitment because we genuinely believe that good decisions are even more important in the public and social sectors than they are in the private sector. With better decisions--enabled by information--our vision is to maximize the positive results achieved from existing resources, which are always finite.

Using the resources listed above, my team and I at Fitzgerald Analytics chose to make a contribution this month to Partners in Health. We were attracted to their clear business model, their efficiency, and their impressive rating @ Charity Navigator.

Final notes and next steps:

The topic is far more complex than any single blog post: it is important to acknowledge the inherent complexity and challenge of measuring the effectiveness of charitable programs. The social sector is incredibly diverse, and so are the drivers of results, the types of results being pursued, and the tools for measuring outcomes. We look forward to exploring a variety of more detailed topics in future posts, and also to learning more from our allies in the non-profit sector regarding the challenges they face, the nuances they encounter, and the emerging non-profit models they see getting the most traction towards the results donors so generously seek to enable.

Please share your insights: Please do get in touch so that we can "thought-partner" and collaborate further on this essential but complex topic.

- Jaime Fitzgerald

The Impact of Money in Sports: Correlation or Causality?

2009-12-15T10:42:00.000-08:00

According to the Wall Street Journal's sports metrics column, The Count, the NHL shows the strongest link between team payroll and winning percentage of all professional sports. It's a provocative and counter-intuitive conclusion, as many sports fans assume that baseball is most impacted by financial disparities between big-city teams and other, smaller market competitors.

The column compares the correlation between payroll and winning percentage in the 4 major sports:

NHL shows the highest correlation between payrool and winning: .49
MLB places a close second at .43,
The NBA and NFL lag behind at .24 and .15, respectively.

I'm intrigued, but also skeptical, and most of all curious to see more comprehensive analysis of the dynamics at play here. Glad to see the info, but several "open questions" remain:

Causality: since correlation does not prove causality, it may be premature to conclude (as the column does) that in the NHL "More Dollars Equal More Wins." What if causality runs in the other direction, with winning teams earning more revenue, which they in-turn spend retaining their best players?
What's The Mechanism?: how does extra money generate additional wins? If the NHL is really the league where money buys success most consistently, how is that investment achieved? One could think of this as the "Return on Investment" on professional sports payrolls....
Role of Sabermetrics? -- In most businesses, ROI is higher when investments are better screened and selected. Facts and analysis are used to make better decisions which achieve superior returns. This is where the NHL and MLB are especially different: player-valuation metrics are advanced and heavily used in Baseball, while they are less well developed in the NHL. I'm curious to investigate further how the "metrics environment" affects ability of team owners to "buy wins" in one sport versus another....
Effects of League Financial Structure?: the financial dynamics, salary cap rules, and revenue-sharing arrangements vary significantly amongst the professional sports leagues. What impact might those differences have on the "causal impact" of money in each league?

Posted By:
Jaime Fitzgerald, Alex Roberts

Clear Line of Sight into the Value of HR Executives

2009-12-15T08:40:00.000-08:00

Awareness of the value of HR Executives is growing. Clear "line of sight" between Human Capital contributions and the bottom line has resulted in more measurable and better understood definitions of HR impact. A recent WSJ article points out that:

"At least 65 current and former human-resources managers serve as outside directors on 101 boards...Ten years ago, the number would have been no more than a half dozen..."

An interesting trend, for sure -- HR pros have increased their role in corporate boards by an order of magnitude.

Based on our experience working with executives in the Human Capital function, my team and I believe that the respect HR Pros are receiving is driven by two key factors:

Measurement: it's become easier (and more common) to measure the contribution of HR Pros to bottom line results. So the value that's always been there is now being measured more consistently.
Results-Orientation of Human Capital Pros: the HR function has evolved, increasingly, towards a "Human Capital" paradigm, which is inherently results oriented, ROI-driven, and does a better job of "connecting the dots" between HR functions and business outcomes. As a result, the best Human Capital professions in their field have become high impact, high value, and highly coveted C-level executives

It's great see see the huge intangible value added by Human Capital professionals becoming more visible!

Posted By:
Jaime Fitzgerald, Alex Roberts

Themes from the 2009 MDM Summit in NYC

2009-12-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

For the third year in a row, I attended the MDM Summit in NYC with teammates from Fitzgerald Analytics and with clients whose interests dovetail with the subject matter at hand. As usual, the event was thought-provoking and at times, even inspiring.

For those of us who are passionate about the challenges, but also the opportunities in the emergent field of data management, the event reminds us that "the wind is at our back." A mixture of technology trends and business imperatives means Data Management will continue to grow as a field, and the quality of solutions will continue to mature.

This year I was struck by several "highlight themes":

Emphasis on doing "first things first," which means for example:

...doing enough data profiling before data integration...

and

...establishing viable data governance before rolling out major solutions or change programs...

This realism was positive, and a sign that more "real cases" are leading to more consensus around "preconditions to success" in the MDM realm.
Linking strong Data Management with revenue upside.

John Fleming, Head of Strategy & Governance for Client Data at MERRILL LYNCH, was especially impressive in articulating the connection between better integrated and managed data, and better customer retention, more innovative revenue capture, etc.

Posted By:
Jaime Fitzgerald

Data Management Conference

2009-12-02T04:30:00.000-08:00

Together with teammates and clients, I'm about to head uptown for the long-awaited MDM New York Conference. Having attended annually since 2007, I've found the event always thought-provoking regarding this critical topic which is becoming a fast-growing but still emergent discipline/function.

Some of the "highlight topics" we expect to be especially resonant:

MDM: NOUN OR VERB -- explores the key question "is Master Data Management something you buy or is it a long term commitment?"
MDM in the Health Care Industry -- obviously a hugely important topic with regard to digital medical records
Data Governance -- and "oldie but goodie" topic, a perennial, because it's such a "key precondition" to success in data management, so essential to getting ROI on MDM investments

More to come...

Posted By:
Jaime Fitzgerald

Analytics Career Paths: Still a Promising Road...

2007-12-02T22:14:00.000-08:00

While many predictions about the impact of the internet on our lives have required "heavy edits" or revisions, this article about careers in analytics seems like it could have been written yesterday. The actual dateline? July 4th 2001. (The article focused especially on web analytics, but the thesis applies more broadly in both online, offline, and hybrid contexts.)

As I mentioned in a comment to the author, at Fitzgerald Analytics we feel as certain in 2007 as she was in 2001 regarding the growing demand for Analytic experience.

For job seekers who share our interest, and confidence, in the continued growth of the analytics career path, take a look at the Analytics Career Path at Fitzgerald Analytics :-). If I can be of further assistance on this topic, don't hesitate to contact me.

Signed,

Jaime Fitzgerald
President
Fitzgerald Analytics, Inc.
Visit us at http://www.fitzgeraldanalytics.com

Data Governance (Between Organizations)

2007-11-28T18:22:00.000-08:00

The rules by which data from one source in integrated into another organization require thought, planning, and governance that goes well beyond what most organizations currently are capable of.

In this interesting post, author and fellow practitioner David Loshin comments further on this issue.

read more | digg story

What If You Hired Only the Best People and Paid Them Like Superstars?

2007-11-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

Moneyball tactics (generally speaking, analytics & fact-based decisions in the context of professional sports mgt) help teams improve their Return on Investment (ROI). But the size of the investment itself (including salaries, management....even the analysis itself!) still matters in the equation.

Cheers,

Jaime Fitzgerald
President
Fitzgerald Analytics, Inc.
Visit us at http://www.fitzgeraldanalytics.com

Fitzgerald Analytics

Reflections on the Master Data Management Conference

2007-11-17T14:26:00.000-08:00

As a firm whose "strike zone" involves the translation of raw data into high-impact decisions, the Fitzgerald Analytics Team has long been passionate about the "analytic process." And if you define it broadly enough, the so-called "Analytics Value Chain" does indeed stretch...

From the origins of raw data...
...to it's management within established standards, governance, and processes...
...to it's inclusion in core data assets...
...which are used as inputs to analytic platforms...
...upon which analytic tools are built and deployed...
...which are used within business processes...
...to systematically make better, more profitable, decisions :-)

And while step #7 is "where the money is," the chain of causality stretches all the way back to step #1.

With this perspective in mind, our team took time out from client work to attend the CDI-MDM Summit last week, here in New York City. This is the premier conference focused exlusively on Master Data Management and Customer Data Integration, and was worth every penny, minute, and calorie we spent attending.

We will be posting a more extensive summary of takeaways, but at a high level, the event did a great job of showcasing the fact that good data management remains, as it has been for several decade now, the "great precondition." What I mean by that is that since modern business processes are build on information, the management of corporate data as a precious asset is required to enable C-level strategic objectives including:

Compliance and Risk Management
Agility and responsiveness to change (for example, to pursue new markets, segments, or partnerships)
Merger integration
Marketing ROI
Sales Force Effectiveness

...and many other objectives.

For more on analytics and data management, check out our Fitzgerald Analytics book recommendations at Amazon.

Jaime Fitzgerald
President
Fitzgerald Analytics, Inc.
Visit us at http://www.fitzgeraldanalytics.com

Fitzgerald Analytics