z Analytics Business Value Validation Methodology

Are you considering an investment in a z Systems Analytics solution? How will you evaluate the Return on Investment (ROI) that will be realized using this solution? Does the measurement of 'Return' align with your business objectives? The z Systems 'Business value validation workshop' offered by IBM will validate both technically and financially if/how a z Systems centric solution can help you meet your key business objectives.  Typical business objectives include cost savings, cost avoidance, new customer value, customer satisfaction, reduced liability, increased security. 

For example, a fictional company 'Acme Systec' is focused on reducing costs and reduce data sprawl.  This assessment would be used to explore the savings, efficiencies, and new value that can be gained by reducing data sprawl within Acme Systec's IT infrastructure through use case definition, requirement gathering, technical validation and a cost benefit analysis.  The workshop would focus on Acme Systec's specific environment and business requirements, forging a partnership between the application teams, infrastructure teams, and key decision makers.  The application teams provide relevant insight into use cases and business usage, while the infrastructure teams provide insight into current costs and technical configurations.  The workshop recommendations provide a holistic approach to both technical architecture improvement and financial cost reduction. 

The following link contains a sample offering focused on determining the cost savings that can be realized through DB2 z/OS + the IBM DB2 Analytics Accelerator: IDAA Cost Benefit Analysis Link.  For more information about the Business Value Validation Methodology for z Systems, please contact your local IBM z Systems sales specialist.

-Shantan

Could your analytics strategy cost your business USD 100 million?

How new technologies can help protect your analytics data and your bottom line

    Technology trends and forces such as cloud, mobile and big data can represent big opportunities to bring analytic insight to the enterprise. They can also represent big risks if proper data security and governance controls are not in place. In 2015, one of the largest health benefits companies in the United States reported that its systems were the target of a massive data breach. This exposed millions of records containing sensitive consumer information such as social security numbers, medical IDs and income information. Various sources, including The Insurance Insider, suggest that this company's USD 100 million cyber-insurance policy would be depleted by the costs of notifying consumers of the breach and providing credit monitoring services—and that doesn’t consider other significant costs associated with a breach such as lost business, regulatory fines and lawsuits. 
    Data is now so important that it is has a value on the balance sheet.  Cyber criminals know this. Without exception, every industry has been under attack and suffered data breaches – healthcare, government, banking, insurance, retail, telco. Once a company has been breached, hackers focus on other companies in that same industry to exploit similar vulnerabilities. In 2015 the average cost of a data breach was US$ 3.79M, causing long term damage to the brand, loss of faith and customer churn. 
    As you think about the impacts of this and other data security breaches occurring at organizations worldwide, consider this question: how exposed is your business to a similar type of breach? To answer this question, you must first ask, “Where does the data that feeds our analytics processes originate?”

See my full paper here

-Shantan