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Interview with Bill Franks, Chief Analytics Officer, International Institute For Analytics - Speaker at 5th Annual Global Big D Posted on : Jul 25 - 2017

We feature speakers at 5th Annual Global Big Data Conference - August 2017 to catch up and find out what he or she is working on now and what's coming next. This week we're talking to Bill Franks, Chief Analytics Officer, International Institute For Analytics (Topic : The Analytics Of Things)

Interview with Bill Franks

1. Tell us about yourself and your background.
I have been doing analytics for a couple of decades now and I have spent more time on the consulting side of things than the corporate side. As a result, I've been lucky enough to really see first hand how a lot of large companies have evolved their analytics expertise and approaches over the years. Years back, I would get my hands dirty coding and analyzing every day. More recently, I am involved more on the strategy and design side of analytics. I often miss the hands-on work, but really enjoy what I do now as well. I have always viewed myself as a teacher and coach more than anything else. I really believe in analytics and so when I'm talking to a client, my view is that if I educate them on what I know and what I see they can do, they'll be eager to do it.

2.  What have you been working on recently?
A lot of my time recently has been spent working with companies to understand what they need to be doing differently to adapt to today's more complex analytics landscape. Common issues I end up discussing include how to organize for analytics, what the impacts of artificial intelligence will be, how to handle all the big data companies are still grappling with, and how to operationalize analytics to drive maximum value.

3. Where are we now today in terms of the Big data, and where do you think we’ll go over the next five years?
At this point, most organizations have accepted that big data will be part of their future and that analytics are critical to driving value from big data. Unfortunately, many organizations haven't yet figured out how to really make big data work at scale within a business setting. I anticipate some nice gains in this area over the next few years.  Additionally, as storage costs continue to drop and cloud options become widely accepted and utilized, the options for analyzing big data will become cheaper and more flexible.

4. What would be your pitch to folks out there to join your Organization? Why does your organization matter in the world?
The International Institute For Analytics (IIA) is focused purely on helping companies improve their analytics performance by providing them the information and connections that they need. We don't sell software or hardware.  We also don't do classic implementation services. Rather, we provide a robust set of analytics related research, client only events, peer to peer facilitation, and advisory consulting services. With so much focus on analytics, it is worth investing a small amount in an unbiased organization like IIA to help ensure that your organization will be successful.

5. What are some of the best take aways that the attendees can have from your talk on "The Analytics Of Things"?
I plan to discuss a range of issues related to IOT data, IOT analytics processes, and IOT analytic deployment. My goal is to provide each attendee with a couple of things they hadn't yet thought of, along with some ideas on what they can go back to their office and do differently after the show. I firmly believe that IOT analytics will be one of the most widespread and highest impact areas of analytics in the coming years. It is time to get started!