Accenture and SAS have agreed to jointly develop
predictive analytics solutions in a first for both companies. Edwin
Van der Ouderaa, global managing director of financial services
analytics at Accenture, and Duncan Ash, financial services
marketing manager at SAS, tell Farah Halime about the
venture.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Accenture, the consultancy, technology and
outsourcing firm, has struck a deal with SAS, the analytics
software and services firm, to expand their strategic relationship.
The firms will jointly develop, implement and manage
next-generation predictive analytics solutions, a first for both
companies.
Predictive analytics takes the
information made available through standard analytics and combines
it with more sophisticated statistical modelling, forecasting and
optimisation techniques to anticipate the impact on business
outcomes.
Under the deal, the two companies
will make “significant joint investments” in developing solutions
based on industry-specific predictive analytics applications.
Starting with financial services, including banking and insurance,
the agreement will expand to health care and the public service
sector.
The move comes as an extension of a
long-term partnership between SAS and Accenture, which began in
1998.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataFor Duncan Ash, financial services
marketing manager at SAS, it made “obvious sense” to work together
on a new project.
Neither company would talk about
specific banks involved in the partnership but it is likely the
firms will tap into the relationships it has already built across
the globe.
Intesa Sanpaolo, HSBC and Bank of
America (BofA) were among the case studies referred to by SAS and
Accenture with relation to either fraud, risk management or
segmentation software.
Return to the
forefront
According to Edwin Van der Ouderaa, global managing director of
financial services analytics at Accenture, the field of analytics
has returned to the forefront of the strategies of top-tier
banks.
Van der Ouderaa told RBI:
“Analytics is a booming field. We see there is an enormous uptake
of interest for our clients. Analytics are being used in a
strategic way.”
Van der Ouderaa, who has been with
Accenture for 16 years and a senior executive for the last 10,
added there was also a strategic reason for the firms to get
involved in providing analytics to retail banks.
With the arrival of Basel III,
which will implement stricter capital requirements from banks,
capital will become more expensive and scarcer putting pressure on
banks. For Van der Ouderaa, analytics helps to optimise the capital
banks use and be as efficient as possible.
“[Analytics] used to be a cryptic
segment dealt with only by the chief risk officer, but now it is a
central part of the strategy,” he said.
In a further note of optimism, Van
der Ouderaa said his work with “high performers” during the credit
crunch had made it clear that for the next generation of top tier
banks analytics will be key.
“This is the field where it is
going to happen,” he said.
William Green, Accenture’s chairman
and chief executive, reiterated at the time of announcing the
agreement that companies using analytics technology will
“substantially outperform competitors over the long-term”.
The key to the latest analytics
update, for Van der Ouderaa, is that it has become real-time and
predictive, as opposed to a calculation that was done “on the side”
with a report produced the next day at the earliest.
This technology fundamentally
changes the way a retail bank is run. For example, in terms of
marketing campaigns, a bank has paid 25% less for a campaign for
the same return, or gained 15% more return for the same cost.
“This is really huge. Since we have
all those frameworks about how to run a high performing bank it
allows us to go one step forward,” Van der Ouderaa said.
Both Ash and Van der Ouderaa drew
attention to the part analytics plays in customer segmentation.
Using social media as a backdrop
the firms agreed that analytics goes a step further to segment
customers. Social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn
provide a pool of information about people and their values, but
Accenture and SAS claim to take this a step further.
“What we start doing is modelling
trends, belief systems – not religion or anything – but are they
young, urban, ecologically driven, goes to park and eats fairtrade
chocolate, versus a bit older, lives in the countryside and drives
a Jaguar?” Van der Ouderaa said.
“You can micro-segment much further
down and you understand what drives these people and therefore what
is important in terms of brands and products.”
Ash added: “What we are seeing a
number of our customers doing is getting quite sophisticated in the
way they take products to the market and the way they segment.”
He added that the richer the data
that is gleaned, the more accurate analysis and therefore the more
successful the business outcome for the client.
BofA, the largest US bank by
deposits, is cited as a winner after using customer-targeted
analytics.
It has been able to segment all the way down to a single person
by taking into account a range of complex factors.
