November 2013
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Greetings!

In this issue, we present some of our favorite In the News topics and direct you to some great webinar presentations that have been recently delivered by our team.

 

This issue, we will highlight some subject matter expertise we've contributed to the community in the Ask the Expert section.  In addition, we will share some things we have learned in recent meetings or projects in a section entitled Heard Around the Water Cooler as well as inform you of changes to our Upcoming Events

 

We welcome your feedback for future issues.

 

The Management Team

StatSlice Systems

 

Recent Presentations Delivered by Our Team
Webinar: Big SQL Analytics - Cloudera Using Impala

On October 22, Brett Neuman, Manager Consultant at StatSlice Systems, presented a webinar on Cloudera using Impala as part of our series on Big SQL Analytics. This webinar is the third video in our series on Big SQL Analytics, and it covers the results of our Cloudera Impala investigation. In this webinar, Brett walks you through the proof of concept environment which we set up to demonstrate the capabilities of Impala. He also compares our query results with those from our previous webinar on Amazon Redshift to give a good idea of how these technologies stack up with each other. Click here to watch the latest webinar.

  

  

Big SQL Analytics - Cloudera Using Impala
 

  

  

 Is Your Job Really In Jeopardy?

Recently, Brett Neuman wrote an interesting blog on changes in technology and growing job insecurity. With the quickly expanding field of BI, there are constant worries that the newest technology will replace your current position. In his writing, he offering insightful points on how new technological advancements in BI are actually a benefit rather than an obstacle to your position. His work was recently published by Dataversity.  To read this blog, click here.

 

 

College QB Stats Visualizations

 

Last month, Justin Taylor published a blog with a visual breakdown of current NCAA quarterback stats in an effort to show off the athletic ability of Johnny Manziel who plays for his alma mater. To read the full blog, click here.

 

In the News
 
Roambi Analytics 7 Released
 
To match the new look and feel of iOS7, Roambi recently released a new version of its analytics app Roambi Analytics 7.  This release also features a "card view" which allows items to be placed into a single, interactive dashboard.  To read more, click here.
 
 
 
Tableau 8.1 Released 
 
The latest release of Tableau includes major updates that will improve enterprise functionality. Some of the major updates added in this release include R integration, SAML integration, and box-and-whisker plots. For more information, click here.
 
 
 
XLCubed 7.6 Released 
 
XLCubed 7.6 comes with a variety of new features for easier accessibility including flex reporting, SharePoint integration, and a Windows phone app. To read more about additional features, click here.
Ask the Experts
Analyzing Direct Marketing Campaign Results on a Budget 

 

Analyzing the results of a direct marketing campaign presents special challenges when your customers' contact data in your company's source system does not follow the United States Postal Service (USPS) standardized format. How do you deal with this problem when you are trying to answer questions about your direct marketing campaign and stay on a budget?

 

I faced this problem recently with one of my clients. My client, a marketing director, recently ran a direct marketing campaign using a mailing list (formatted according to USPS standards). After the mailing, he wanted to understand the results of the marketing campaign. The challenge was that his company's source contact data was not very well standardized, and there was not enough time or budget to pass all that data through a cleansing process.  Further adding to the need, the results had to be turned around very quickly in order for him to decide if he should continue running the campaign or completely shut it down. So, how do we solve this?

 

HINT: I didn't use a sophisticated system.

 
To continue reading Bernard Wehbe's solution, click here.
Heard Around the Water Cooler
Big Data Needs More Than Hadoop

 

Last month, there was interesting article published by Chris Kanaracus on www.computerworld.com. The author quotes Ken Rudin, Facebook Analytics Chief, talking about how Big Data needs more than Hadoop.

It is always interesting to read about the practices of successful organizations that have to deal with large amounts of data. In his article, Rudin talked about the standard topics of combining Hadoop with relational databases and choosing the technology that is suitable for the task at hand. For an analytics-minded person, these are common sense and important guidelines that should be followed.

 

However, what intrigued me most about this article were the insights that Rudin provided regarding the analytics operation inside Facebook. It showed a full management commitment to analytics. A particularly interesting practice is Facebook's Big Data Boot Camp program. It's a two-week training program that teaches employees from across the organization about analytics. Having this program and learning about some of the other practices highlighted in this article makes it apparent that Facebook views analytics as a core competitive advantage. What makes them successful is that they have acted on this insight and made a deep commitment to invest in analytics.

 

This article confirms our belief that successful analytics must include a change in the processes and management approaches of an organization. It's not just about technology and statistics.

 

 

 Bernard Wehbe, Co-Founder of StatSlice Systems

Upcoming Events
Calendar of Upcoming Events A Note from StatSlice Partners and Consultants

Hello Loyal Reader,

We would like to inform you that, due to the holidays schedule, we will not be hosting any events in the month of December. Please view some of our recent webinars here, and feel free to email us with topics you would like to see covered in the future. Thank you for your readership.
Jared Decker, Editor

Who We Are and What We Do

As a full-service data services consulting firm headquartered in Dallas, TX, we partner with our clients to deliver business intelligence and business analytics solutions that help solve their most complex needs.

 

With decades of industry experience and functional expertise, our consulting teams go beyond the norm to develop new insights, drive results, and help grow your business.

 

Let us give you a hand. Email us today at [email protected].

 

Please also visit our website at: www.StatSlice.com, or give us a call at (214) 206-9290.