Competing on Analytics Tour Stops at SAS World Headquarters

After a live global Webcast and six successful events across the United States and Canada, the Competing on Analytics executive tour stopped at SAS world headquarters in Cary, North Carolina, June 6-7.  The event drew nearly 90 senior executives and was the mid-point of the tour, which features breakfast symposiums and executive dinners with author Thomas Davenport. The tour is hosted by SAS and Intel in conjunction with Harvard Business School Publishing and provides attendees an opportunity to discuss using analytics to create sustainable competitive advantage and drive superior performance.

Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Jim Davis noted that the strong attendance at events this year reflects the growing strength of the analytics market, especially among senior executives. “This tour has really taken off,” he said. “We have had tremendous turnout, with customers and prospects excited about the opportunity to drive their business forward with analytics.”

Over the course of two days, attendees listened to presentations from:

• Thomas H. Davenport, President's Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College and author of Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning.
• Jeffrey Ma, co-founder of PROTRADE.
• Jim Goodnight, SAS CEO.
• Jim Davis, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for SAS.
• Panel discussions with representatives from SAS, Eli Lilly & Company, Union Pacific Railroad, Wachovia, Accenture, UPS and North Carolina State University.

Throughout the event, presenters emphasized that companies can gain a competitive edge by knowing how to pair people with technology.  Organizations invest in employees who are trained to use and apply analytics in everyday business because it adds value to the business. 

“Decisions in the business world today are moving from an art to a science,” said Davenport, who cited numerous examples of successful companies that are competing through analytics. “Instead of relying solely on experience, good leaders are looking to the data to help drive their company strategy.”

Attendees, who traveled from as far away as Brazil to participate in the event, said the conference helped them realize the true potential of analytics. 

“The Competing on Analytics conference allowed me to see analytics in action across several fronts -- from pharmaceuticals and transportation to gaming and education.  I did not realize the overall impact analytics has in shaping our future and our need to be proactive in this space,” said Dan Thorpe, Senior Vice President, Wachovia.

"The greatest benefit to the Competing on Analytics conference was to learn and to understand how other industries employ analytical decision tools within their business to create a sustainable competitive advantage within their industries.  My challenge, when I return home, will be to try and incorporate these robust tools and methodology's into my business challenges." 

Thomas Davenport, President's Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College in Wellesley, MA.