Analytical People
EARL Conference
16 th September 2014
John McConnell – Analytical People
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Information and
Data Management
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Contents
• Background
• Winning cases
• The future?
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Background
• It isn’t that R is always directly competing with the usual suspects (SAS, IBM, etc.)
• There are situations when it is the clear choice because of cost of/access to … other software
• There are times when structurally it just fits
– E.g. We want to distribute a gadget/app/tool in an open source style
– R provides “Analytical Duct Tape*” to fill in the gaps
• Cost is an issue but we believe that it applies most directly to the cost of specific functionality (often algorithms)
*This is how we have heard Oracle refer to using R particularly R packages outside their own distribution of it
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AP is an services firm using a variety of analytical tools
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Algorithms – “killer” … or commodity?
R has commoditised many algorithms to the point where “value” (and fees) are based on other attributes like quality assurance and productivity
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Case 1 – Have coders … can code
At its core R – as we all know is a powerful, and flexible, programming language
© HBO
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But what about other roles? And workflow/process?
1.Business
Understanding
Business
• Domain
• Subject Matter
Analytical
• Methodologies
• What to use when
Data
• Management
• Structure
Technology
• Integration
• Building apps
6.Deployment
5.Evaluation
2.Data
Understanding
3.Data
Preparation
4.Modelling
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The R “Red Hats” add value here
Companies like Revolution Analytics who provide tools, licenses and other services as a layer on top of R
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Case 2 – We need an algorithm
Typically software vendors (but also in-house developers)
Many have software that isn’t primarily analytical but which requires analytical components
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Case 3 – We need analytics for Apps
GENIE is an on-line app we developed with Liverpool Council
Housing Department
Implementing a Sustainability Index co-developed by:
• Oxford University
• Audit Commission
• Liverpool John Moores
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Case 4 – We need to scale analytics - The “R paradox”
… Versus …
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Case 2 and Case 4
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Case 2 and Case 4
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Case 2 and Case 4
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The Future
• More packages
• More apps
• More interfaces for other user types
– E.g. For Business Users
• More platform integration
– E.g. to deployment platforms
• All-in-all more support for the analytical process
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Analytical People
EARL Conference
16 th September 2014
John McConnell – Analytical People
Information and
18