By A STAFF REPORTER

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - The first networking event for 2010 of  the Southern California chapter of the IIT Alumni organization, PanIIT USA, was held at the Tanzore restaurant here on January 30. The moderated panel discussed the power of analytics and business intelligence (BI) and how organizations of all types can benefit for it. The panel consisted of a distinguished group of IIT alumni who work in this arena.

 Ananta Mukerji, co-founder of Aviana Global Technologies, provided a simple analogy to understand –the different flavors of BI as “… imagine you are driving a car: your rear view mirror shows you where you have been - this is conventional BI; your dashboard corresponds to a BI score card that shows you important operating statistics at a glance so that you may take timely corrective action if needed; and the view through the windshield shows you what lies ahead this is called predictive analytics.”

Mukerji also explained how huge amounts of data from sales in super markets could be used to boost product sales by analyzing consumer buying patterns. He went on to explain how companies as diverse as Amazon, Netflix, Obamaforamerica, banks, mortgage lenders, health care service providers and others have used analytics to their strategic advantage. 

Pramod Kunju, CEO of Nakunj, used a case study to explain how insurance companies use BI, to retain old customers who are likely to leave.

Munshi Alam, co-founder of Accelerant Software, discussed how businesses like hotels and airlines use analytics to optimize utilization of “perishable resources” such as hotel rooms or airline seats.

Arun Tripathi, a Senior Consultant in the Advanced Analytics group at Deloitte, explained how analytics could be used in almost any type of business, even in some very unlikely areas.  As an example, he explained how Orley Ashenfelter, an economist, was able to predict the quality of wines using a simple equation derived from historical weather data. To the surprise (and dismay) of wine experts, Ashenfelters equation was able to consistently beat the predictions made by highly experienced wine experts! 

This event was moderated by Smita Goel Bagla, Sr. Director at Amritt, Inc. and the President of Southern California, Pan IIT Association.  Smita Bagla is a management consultant whose expertise includes BI in the Healthcare Service sector.

The interactive question and answer format of the session led to active participation by the audience. The panelists provide information on different approaches to implementing BI in the corporate world and also went on to discuss the background and skill profile needed to be successful BI practitioner.  They also commented on the future of BI in these troubled times:  BI and analytics should play a prominent role in the economic recovery, as companies must learn to work more effectively to simultaneously aim for revenue growth, reduced costs and better quality. 

The event was well attended and concluded with a lively and informative Q&A and networking session.