Abstract
Businesses are constantly looking for ways to improve their efficiency and to cut costs. However, situations arise that disrupt the best laid plans. For example, after a major storm on the east coast of the United States disrupts travel, an airline uses a sophisticated scheduling solution to reposition its crews so that the airline can recover and start flying more quickly than its competitors. A power company uses an advanced solution for dispatching power plants to generate electricity, achieving a return on investment in less than 10 days. A financial institution uses an ingenious way to match buy-and-sell orders, reducing clearing time from one day to under two minutes. Think about what similar efficiency improvements can mean for your business.
Many companies are applying Business Analytics and Optimization (BAO) solutions to better understand customers, drive real-time decisions, foster fact-based decision-making, and increase organizational collaboration and productivity. By using BAO, businesses can identify and follow the best course of action, based on facts and objective evaluation of alternatives. For example, an IBM® semiconductor fabrication facility uses BAO to reschedule the production of complex microelectronics every five minutes. With BAO, the plant can effectively coordinate the multiple, intricate production processes and maintain high utilization of capital-intensive equipment.
This IBM Redguide™ publication provides an overview of IBM Smarter Analytics. It highlights various analytic technologies and how they apply to business environments. This paper describes a high-level reference architecture with key components. It also examines possible entry points for many industries that are interested in using BAO. In addition, this paper profiles IBM case studies of various companies that integrated BAO solutions.
Table of Contents
Executive overview
Introduction to Business Analytics and Optimization
The value of Business Analytics and Optimization to your organization
The impact of Business Analytics and Optimization on diverse industries
Advantages to implementing Smarter Analytics solutions
Key Business Analytics and Optimization concepts
High-level architecture of Business Analytics and Optimization
Summary