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Winning the war for Skills: IBM Announcement Analytics Talent Assessment

November 13, 2013 / / 3 Comments

Last week, IBM co-hosted the Big Data & Analytics EdCon event (with Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool) and University of Ottawa Telfer School of Mgmt), bringing together leading academic thinkers who are pioneering curriculum in the Analytics space. All are wrestling with how to strike the right balance among interdisciplinary topics to achieve the right blend of market-ready skills in their students.

Data is exploding!

We all experience the explosion of data from my fav social to sensors in factories.  Due to this explosion,all companies need more data scientists, analytics professionals and Big Data trained decision makers who can not only crunch data, but turn it into effective strategy.

Creation of a skill gap. 

There is a widely-discussed skills gap between the growing number of jobs being created to support Big Data & Analytics and the available talent pool to fill these jobs.This “skills gap” is a significant concern across industries. Our research uncovered a dramatic gap in analytics skills, with only 1 in 10 organizations believing it has the skills it needs to be successful.

Collaborate to win!

To narrow this gap, IBM is collaborating with more than 1,000 academic partners to develop curriculum that reflects the mix of technical and problem-solving skills that is necessary to prepare students for Big Data and analytics careers, across all industries.IBM has a unique, hands-on model for collaborating with universities to build degrees and coursework from the ground up via the Academic Initiative ( this is part of my new role as the IBM General Manager of Ecosystem Development! )

  • We provide schools with access to IBM Big Data and analytics software
  • We help faculty develop curriculum materials
  • We build case study projects for students based on real-world business challenges
  • We offer IBM experts who visit classes as guest lecturers
  • We make available faculty awards, whose funding fuels new coursework on Big Data and analytics
  • Faculty members become part of a global community of educators working together to educate the next generation

Announcing the Analytics Talent Assessment!

The Analytics Talent Assessment offers insight from IBM clients (see the press release below showcasing both Boeing and Nationwide) on what analytics skills drive positive business outcomes.
Using the IBM Analytics Talent Assessment, university students can now gauge their readiness for public and private sector Big Data and analytics careers and gain guidance on ways to develop and position themselves for these in-demand jobs through a simple online questionnaire.

The eight universities piloting the assessment (Fordham University, George Washington University, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, Southern Methodist University and the University of Virginia) are pioneers teaching Big Data & Analytics skills”

— Fordham’s dual track degrees, which are designed to train marketing analytics professionals
— GWU’s career-track courses support fields such as sports and marketing
— IIT integrates Big Data and Analytics courses in their Stuart School of Business
— UMass Boston offers an undergraduate and a graduate concentration in Business Intelligence
— Northwestern University offers an MS in Analytics as well as an online MS in Predictive Analytics
— The Ohio State University is partnering with IBM Academic Initiative to develop undergraduate and graduate big data and analytic programs
— SMART projects with schools like SMU bring bring together a commercial entity with a real world problem that students can then apply analytic skills to solve
— University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce offers an undergraduate Business Analytics track and they continue to broaden their Big Data and Analytic programs.

This focus is essential for winning the war for talent.   With the access of the technology and expertise for the assessment,   this initiative provides the insight into today’s state-of-the-art curricula, and provides the client insight, technology, and proven outcomes these skills can drive.

 

 

GET BOLD, Live Social !

November 7, 2013 / / 8 Comments

My favorite Get Bold readers!!

A few weeks ago I had the privilege and pleasure of speaking (virtually!) at the Women’s Toolbox Conference that took place in Beverly, Massachusetts. I gave the attendees some of my favorite tips on how to integrate social into their business strategies, and they also received complimentary copies of my book Get Bold–because that’s exactly what I want them to do!

Then I challenged my readers to go online and let the world know if they are really ready to #GETBOLD with their business. They did a great job declaring how they plan to #GETBOLD! Here are some of my favorites:

I will Get Bold in my business by building the sales engine. We provide high quality language translation services and we need to get the word out about us. The sales engine will include top people, clear metrics, and increased sales.Wendy Pease  Rapport International – http://rapporttranslations.com/      

I will Get Bold in my business by nurturing my communities, sharpening my skills, and helping fellow entrepreneurs stand out from the crowd through smart, targeted marketing!  Sandra Larking   Metaphor Maven – http://themetaphormaven.com/    

I will Get Bold in my business by being open and honest about my own experience of being $50,000 in credit card debt to help others learn how to get out of debt, think of debt differently and make sure they never get back into debt.   Maureen Campaiola  The Debt Free Project – http://thedebtfreeproject.com/   

I will Get Bold in my business by Imagining. Clarifying. Executing.Helping emerging women entrepreneurs generate six-figure incomes by managing conflict and doing business like a woman ..She E.O [not CEO]  Deborah Thorne  The Information Diva – http://theinformationdivaonline.com/  

Connect 2014! IBM's Largest Social Event! Join me!

November 6, 2013 / / 4 Comments

Connect is coming!  YEA!

With Halloween behind us, it’s no surprise we’re seeing Black Friday previews online and Christmas tree displays in stores. (I’ve actually seen displays as early as September!) This abrupt change of season is a reminder that 2014 is quickly approaching, bringing more changes. But as far as I can see, the changes on the horizon look very good.

For starters, the Connect 2014 Conference,  January 26 – January 30, is expanding to reflect the growing breadth of what it means to be a social business. In addition to the strategic social business content we saw last year and the Technical Program, Connect 2014 will include the Kenexa World Conference – focused on empowering HR, your workforce and your business. This addition addresses exactly what we are seeing in the marketplace; in order to be competitive, your business strategy needs to consider social, mobile, cloud, a smarter workforce, digital, smarter commerce and analytics. And even more importantly, businesses have to figure out how to integrate these game-changing technologies into a seamless customer experience.

We’re also getting an earlier look at the sessions for Connect 2014. The content team recently shared some IBM abstract submissions we can expect to see on the agenda, including IBM Sametime 9: From On-Premises to Mobile, Cloud and Beyond, Getting Beyond Theory and into Practice: Deploying Mail and Social Business in the Cloud and IBM Digital Experience Platform: Strategy and Roadmap. I’m told they will continue to release additional session titles on a regular basis. So stay tuned!

And in keeping with the theme of early holiday shopping, the conference team recently extended the early bird discount until December 13, 2013. With news like this, maybe Santa will want to start his shopping early too!

9 Levers of Differentiation in Big Data (Social creates alot of data!)

October 30, 2013 / / 1 Comment

What is big data anyway?  It is the flood of information that is available today.   Did you know that every day, 2.5 billion gigabytes of data are created in a variety of forms, such as social 
media posts, information gathered in sensors 
and medical devices, videos and transaction records?  Why .. that’s Big!

Why is Big Data important? Being able to capitalize of that data gives you better insight and makes you more competitive.

big data info

IBM’s Institute of Business Value just published a study on the 9 Levers of Differentiation for Big Data.   The research makes it clear there are specific activities that can help organizations accelerate value creation and simplify analytics implementation.

Those 9 levers are:

1. Know the Source of Value.   Focus on actions and decisions that generate value.  Organizations realizing value from analytics solutions are those that can readily measure their impact.

2. Culture.  Those cultures that support the availability and use of data and analytics see higher value from analytics and data.

3. Executive Support and involvement.  Infusing the use of analytics into an organization’s culture typically requires advocacy and action from the most senior levels of
the organization.

4. Measurements.  Evaluating impact on business outcomes.  

5. Trusted data and data management practices.  Decision makers must have confidence in the data before they will use it to guide their actions.

6. Disicplined approach.  Leaders use a financial rigor in analytics funding process.

7. A great software platform.  You need integrated capabilities delivered by software tools to take advantage of big data.

8. Organizational confidence in the data and the skills.

9. Focus on Skills. Development and access to skills and capabilities.   There is a huge analytics skills gap.  Those leaders focus on training a great team.

Download the full report:   www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/thoughtleadership/ninelevers/

5 Tips for a Better Social Customer Experience

October 23, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Customer experience is a key differentiator for businesses.  In the age of social, the experience is even more important.

From some research this weekend around the “experience” area, here are some of the tips I find most helpful in this area.

Top 5 Tips for a Better Social Customer Experience;

  1. Post relevant content.    This technique pulls relevant people to your area.  Much like a retailer would leverage a storefront, or product, or specials to get people into the store.
  2. Use big data to understand your clients needs.   I believe the combination of big data and social is a game changer.  Using the social conversations that exists, you can learn how to better meet the needs of our clients.
  3. Be Consistent.   Your company will be on a number of social sites, and probably your own website.  Consistency in multichannel is crucial.  The new Generation C demands it!  Be Consistent in brand message and content and service. .   Consistency drives trust.   Trust drivers loyalty!
  4. Help your clients.   Provide them with social tools to help them decide on your products from the experience.   Think about recommendations from others. There is a new type of purchasing recommendation.   Instead of behavior driven – if you buy this, buy that because others did this, leverage the power that social brings:  “You share these attributes with the people who read this. You might want to take a look at it.”.  Gamification and other tools in the social world can increase your customer experience.
  5. Use predictive analysis to improve both current and future interactions.  Anticipating your clients needs keeps them in your camp longer.

TGIF: To #FF or not?

October 18, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Yes, today is Friday.    You will start to see a lot of #FF.

What does #FF mean?  Well, starting back in 2009, Twitter fans created this hashtag as a shorthand for Follow Friday.

Should you #FF?   YES !  Why?  Well it helps you introduce new users to a great social tool.  In addition, it allows you to show appreciation and thanks for the followers you have that retweet you, or support your thoughts, and more.

To be authenticate, don’t FF just because folks follow you.  Do it because you recommend them for a reason.

I like recommending a person and giving great attributes about them, like this:

ff

I avoid doing big groups as to me it doesn’t tell me why I should consider following someone.

So given today’s Friday … #FF someone you know!

The Social Sales Team – Knowledge accidents and all!

October 16, 2013 / / 0 Comments

The Social Sales Team

A good sales team should rarely meet each other.  It should, instead, be out meeting customers.  It should be working out what your customers want and be maximizing the return for your organization.    The problem comes because sales teams have voracious appetites for ideas, comments, case studies, pricing, presentation, market intelligence and so forth.  They are generally very poor at following a process and providing forms to fill out and records to keep gets in the way of the sales process.  In addition to this, much of what a sales team relies on is experience amongst the members of the team.

The knowledge accidents that occur when they bump into each other in the corridor or at lunch are extremely valuable and efficient to exchange information and catch important snippets.  So how do you keep their appetites satisfied, but maximize their time in front of customers?

Make them Mobile

Give them the technology they need to keep in touch easily with the places they need to go to help them in their job.  This might be an iPad with a 3G card, or a Mi-Fi device or similar which lets them connect to the office and access your systems.

Collaboration Hubs for Clients

In your social intranet, create communities focused on each of your major customers.  Use Wikis, Forums, Activities, Ideation Blogs and all the other tools you need to share everything you have about that customer which would help your sellers.  Consider organizing the material around opportunities (perhaps pulled from your CRM system) using tags.  That way you can easily find everything about a particular opportunity whilst keeping the structure fluid so that it’s easy to re-use information.  For more information on this, please see

Give them some Power Tools

Provide them a social network to interface with other sellers.   Teach them how to use the outside social tools .   Did you know the most productive sellers in IBM leverage social in their sales process?

One of the best techniques the Sales Team can deploy is to use an informal blog. This lets them express their thoughts, experiences and opinions about the work they’re doing with the customer account without the need for the structure of more formal meeting minutes.  It’s in the blog that the seeds of the knowledge accident tree are sown.  It’s where short narratives about what’s going on can be captured and stored for the benefit of the rest of the team.

Remember that by putting mobile technology, which is connected to your system in the hands of your sellers, they will be more inclined to participate.  If it’s made easy, and they are rewarded for doing so, they will do it.

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