Last week on the special episode of Jeopardy, we witnessed a transformational milestone in the history of computing. Facing off against super champions (and humans) Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter was an LCD panel in the center podium nicknamed Watson. Behind Watson was four years of work by IBM scientists resulting in a 2,800 core, 15 terabyte memory supercomputer designed to compete in a field we’ve believed is something only humans can do: natural language processing. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI-M7O_bRNg As the contest began, the machine was holding its own. Then the brilliance of its algorithms added up into dollars, and at a pivotal moment – shall we say perhaps a little bit of machine luck – Watson picked the Double Jeopardy question. The final question on 19th century novelists sealed the deal. Classy Ken Jennings said later “we saw something new here.” Show host Alex Trebeck rightly pondered “where do we go from here?” Is this a big deal? Is it really a contest that a machine the size of ten refrigerators is competing against a 3-lb. human brain? How is this better than Google returning 3.6 million results back in 0.14 seconds? To understand, realize the fundamental difference about this challenge: Watson was not returning …Read More
Tag Archives: analytics software
How is sales data like music?
In ROI of SaaS analytic solutions for sales, we described how innovation is changing the ROI of analytic endeavors. This has a profound impact on sales operations where predictive analytics needs to drive profitability – and pay for itself. We’ve passionately embraced this philosophy. So how exactly is the ROI of analytics changing? Just as the distribution and delivery of music evolved from LPs to 8-tracks, cassette tapes to CDs, with innovation continuing online, so has the distribution of data – and analytics – evolved. Remember paying $19.99 for a CD but there was just one song you really liked? That happened an untold number of times to us. The digitization of music for CDs opened the door for online delivery. While CDs existed before Internet became mainstream, when the two innovations converged, the stage was set for a new and efficient way of distributing music. Consider iTunes. You want only one track, not the whole album? You got it. You want to sample before buying? You got that too. Fast, easy. And now streaming is not that far off. Unthinkable back when you were perusing CDs in bins at record stores. Which actually wasn’t that long ago … was it? Today, sales leaders expect to pay for results relevant …Read More
ROI of SaaS analytics solutions for sales: Have you considered the total cost?
We are often asked, what is the Valgen philosophy to SaaS pricing, and how is it a better deal? Our answer always ties back to two critical dimensions: risk and execution. The “total cost to execution” of analytics solutions is a critical decision factor.
Traditional Analytics Solutions
Risk includes the cost of all components needed to just begin implementing an analytical solution. This is because at this point, it’s not known if the desired outcomes can even be achieved. Analytics solutions have typically involved these fixed costs just to get started: Hardware, internal IT expertise, software, statistical analysts, cross-department internal resources, time.
But There’s An Easier, Faster, Less Costly Way of Doing Business …Read More