New Book Release Authored by Andersen Alumnus Jim Rushton: Guaranteed Analytics: A Prescriptive Approach to Monetizing All Your Data

Jim Rushton, Andersen Alumnus and President and co-founder of Armeta Analytics, a boutique technology services firm helping clients move to the modern cloud data environment thereby allowing them to maximize the value of their data assets and thus develop a competitive advantage with them.

One of the other co-founders of Armeta Analytics is also an Andersen alum. He and I liked the quality of project work and the caliber of clients at Andersen, but we didn’t like the lifestyle and constant turnover of workers so much of the DNA we built into Armeta Analytics is to retain that same high caliber of clients (e.g., QuikTrip, Neiman Marcus, Verizon) and deliver a similar super high project deliverables but built into a company that people can happily stay for decades and maintain a wonderful quality of life too. Luckily, we have been able to do that now for over 2 decades.

On the analytics front, I kept seeing failed project after failed project at clients we would meet. Similarly, an article in CIO magazine quotes that 80% of analytic projects fail, and that mirrors what we were seeing in the field. Yet at Armeta Analytics have had 100% success on our projects. Determining why there was such a gap and identifying the root causes of failure is what incented me to write this book. And to that end, I did identify the major levers, often overlooked, that can avoid the 80% failure rate and instead ensure success. Most notably among those is the utilization of traditional system implementation methodologies must be avoided; these methodologies were developed to implement transaction systems, which they do well, but not analytic systems which are so different by nature. In my book, Guaranteed Analytics, I spell out step by step how to properly setup and implement your analytic initiatives all while guaranteeing success.

From the preeminent book reviewer Kirkus Reviews:

A brief but comprehensive overview of data analytics that asserts its centrality to contemporary commerce.

According to debut author Rushton, the birth of data analytics is coeval with the marriage of computing technology and business, as its awesome power to generate unprecedented efficiencies became apparent. However, the author contends, it mainly became a means for automating transactions rather than a way to “uncover previously hidden opportunities, act on them, and create tremendous value.” Most attempts to mine the full value of an analytics project are “fraught with failure,” he says. He goes on to make a persuasive argument businesses should make data analytics— “the process of sourcing data, turning that data into information, using that information to generate insights, and then implementing those insights to monetize your data”—a strategic priority. In consistently accessible language, the author describes not only the basic principles of data analytics, but also managerial principles of “proper governance” and ways that data can become actionable and profitable; specifically, he uses case studies from businesses such as Southwest Airlines, who found a way to use data to minimize customers’ travel delays. Also, he furnishes a synoptic but edifying overview of the historical attempt to combine customer personalization with scalability. This isn’t a book designed for statisticians but for business professionals, “regardless of industry or department,” who want to unlock data analytics’ potential. Rushton’s expertise is beyond reproach—he has worked for major companies like Verizon and IBM and is a founding member of Armeta Analytics. His prose style, however, can be grating at times; for example, he often didactically poses rhetorical questions and is prone to shopworn banalities such as, “Here’s the reality: if you’re staying put, then you’re falling behind.” Nevertheless, this remains an impressively exhaustive overview of the data-analytics field and its possibilities, conveyed with helpfully illustrative examples.

Available on Amazon.

Book Description

Decision-makers can’t get enough from data. The problem is, most leaders only use data to reaffirm the obvious information—and their companies are suffering because of it. Executives interested in getting to scalable, insight-driven business decisions are not sure where to start. Who should lead such a program? Will it be worth the effort? The good news is that, yes, underneath that surface-level data lies a treasure trove of useful information, and with the right approach you can get to it. With business analytics, you can have the competitive advantage you’ve been missing.

In Guaranteed Analytics, Jim Rushton offers a prescriptive approach to implementing an analytics program that will help you move past the obvious about the “stars” and “dogs” of your business and dive into where the true money—and competitive advantage—lies. Jim delivers a prescriptive approach on the discipline of analytics for organizations and how it can be leveraged to monetize your data. This is a book about identifying the opportunity analytics present, building an insight-focused culture, and unlocking the stories behind the numbers. Guaranteed.