Wiley and SAS Business Series

All companies use information to set strategies and accomplish business objectives. But how many CEOs and CIOs would say they are satisfied that their companies get maximum value from information? Not many. How many have a systematic plan for evolving their information capabilities to the next level? Fewer still. SAS has developed an Information Evolution Model (IEM) to aid companies in assessing how they use information to drive business. The model outlines how information is managed and utilized as a corporate asset and enables organizations to objectively evaluate their use of information and accurately lay out a roadmap for improvements that optimize business returns. This book shows how the IEM can be used together with analytics.  The book provides the necessary information that managers need to introduce and promote the use of analytics and insight across the organization and how to identify the starting point and develop a roadmap. Examples of global companies that have successfully been through this process are provided as well as best practices.

Social media is having a major impact on marketing.  It is the glue that leverages the consumers views and opinions across all elements of a retailers business.  Retailers are becoming aware that social media offers promising ways they can benefit from it, such as improving brand awareness, listening to consumer sentiments, creating incentives to drive cross-channel traffic and purchases, building content-focused communities to improve loyalty, enticing consumers to try new products, understanding assortment preferences and improving customer service.    Analytics are essential to a retailers success in leveraging social media and mobility. The amount of data produced by these new channels is explosive.  Quick and effective analysis of this data and resulting actions are essential to achieving business benefit.   Analytical tools exist for retailers to listen, learn, react and engage with consumers within and across social media, mobility and other channels.  The more a retailer engages with these tools, the savvier it becomes about consumers and their preferences. Written in a blog format to help retailers experience interactive dialog in this rapidly growing communication vehicle, this book will create awareness of social networking and mobile technologies and the significant impact these channels are already having on retailers; provide specific examples of social media and mobility business applications ; explain why companies need to act now; describe the analytical tools necessary to make informed decisions on the data; demonstrate how to use social media to leverage brand equity across the entire business; and recommend a process for building a comprehensive strategy and action plan.

Unlocking the value of business analytics can be challenging complexity, uncertainty, and confusion are usually the norm, not the exception. True innovation and competitive advantage stem from navigating the razors edge between order and chaos. So how do those who succeed do it? Everyone faces the same challenges; success comes from balancing the benefits of unfettered creativity with the need to industrialize those same unstructured processes. The harsh reality is that most teams are not as effective at managing these competing pressures as they could be. With the information contained in this book, they would be. This book provides 30 design patterns (examples) to help guide those who would create value through business analytics. Practical advice is given to help understand: (a) how a variety of common problems can be solved; (b) the advantages of disadvantages of each choice; and (c) how these solutions typically create organizational value. Each Pattern will contain the following elements: (a) pattern diagram, (b) problem the pattern solves, (c) design intent behind the pattern, (d) description of the actors and entities involved in the pattern, (e) use case description, (f) benefits of the approach, (g) limitations of the approach, and (g) common business-related applications and the reason why the pattern creates value.