This past weekend, I had the honor of reuniting with a long-time colleague and friend, Clare Gillan, and participating in a panel discussion during one of her classes at the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College.
The multiweekend course, “Competing on Analytics,” covers a broad array of topics in a short amount of time such as:
Getting the band back together
Clare and I first met in early 1988. I had just joined Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and was an internal consultant in a marketing intelligence group. At the time, I was a few years removed from my MBA at the Duke/Fuqua School of Business and a veteran of several years of high-end analytics consulting across consumer products and business-to-business firms. Clare had started as a research analyst at International Data Corporation (IDC) before continuing on to become a senior vice president with the firm. Over the course of many years, we would collaborate quite extensively. In fact, the research and competitive overviews of the market we now call “Business Intelligence”, that formed the foundation for this concept we universally talk about, were very much shaped by this collaboration.
Fast-forward many years, Clare is now a faculty member at Babson College in Wellesley, MA. I was thrilled to
join her on a panel of experts on a sunny spring Saturday afternoon on the Babson College campus. I was not only excited by this opportunity to get out and speak to and interacxt with students, it was a great opportunity to network and connect. Even cooler was to be joined by my long-term friend and colleague Michele Chambers, President and COO of local software firm RapidMiner – who, like me, is also a long-time high-tech veteran. Rounding out the panel was Stan Huang, Vice President of Engineering, Humedica. While also Clare’s husband, Stan represented tremendous experience in the field of healthcare and health sciences and analytics and insights. Pretty cool indeed.
My personal story of game-changing innovation and my love of sports
Because I sat closest to the podium, I kicked off the session with a mix of content I’ve used at previous speaking engagements and at Duke/Fuqua School of Business to discuss trends in technology and marketing.
Clare had asked me to talk about “my journey” and address key issues pertinent to technology and analytics:
You can access my slides from this presentation here on Slideshare.
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An amazing journey full of analytics and insights
Michele came next. Although it was a Saturday afternoon, I couldn’t help but take notes on her presentation and send out some thought on Twitter. Here are a few words of wisdom Michele shared that I thought were particularly poignant:
Click here for Michele’s slides on Slideshare.
A perspective on clinical intelligence for life sciences and healthcare providers
Stan then spoke about his perspective in healthcare and life sciences. He invoked his long history in the industry and spoke about prior roles and more than 25 years of experience in commercial software development, including positions at Lotus Development Corporation. He then spoke about Humedica, an Optum Company. If you are not familiar with Humedica, the company is a clinical intelligence company that powers healthcare providers and life sciences organizations to make better-informed, more confident decisions by transforming unconnected data from multiple sources into real-world insights. Pretty cool and applied solutions, IMHO!
.Our presentations were followed an insightful 45-minute Q&A session that covered topics running the gamut from our presentations to the future of data
science; best practices; specific insights for healthcare, life sciences, and insurance; and so much more.
In the end, I was inspired to write my final tweet of the afternoon, summarizing the major driver of the future of business. Hint: It’s not just technology. “Analytics is no longer a side show that can be addressed ‘after’ – with Big Data it IS the show!”
Not bad for a Saturday afternoon on a beautiful spring day in the Boston area!
About Fred Isbell
Fred Isbell is Senior Marketing Director for SAP Services & Support Marketing for Thought Leadership, Demand Management and Planning for the worldwide Services & Support Marketing team. A 15-year veteran of SAP, he formerly led SAP Global Services Marketing Field Engagement, the North American SAP Services regional marketing team and SMB Channels Marketing for the SAP Small and Midsize Business team. Prior to SAP, he held a variety of senior solutions, services, and partner marketing roles with Compaq and Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). Fred is an honors graduate of Yale University with a BA in Economics and Political Science, and has an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business where he was a Fuqua Scholar.
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