Microsoft aims to answer predictive analytics challenge
Professionals who enroll in Microsoft certification courses are likely to receive a few lessons in predictive analytics.
Accurately anticipating the behavior of the economy, a specific market or particular consumer is an ability many enterprises covet nowadays and Microsoft is hoping to give it to them.
Not quite there
Creating unique advertisements or offers to cater to the needs of individual customers in real-time is truly an amazing feat. However, Harvard Business Review contributor Kaiser Fung noted that the technology still isn’t where it should be. He cited an instance experienced by his co-worker:
“Once I bought a TV from Amazon, they started suggesting other TVs for me to buy,” the unnamed office mate told Fung. “Do they really think I am buying another?”
It’s how you use it
Although some people would assume that a lack of algorithmic sophistication is what’s creating bizarre instances in which computers can’t understand basic patterns that are easy for humans to pick up on. Fung claimed that it’s not the complexity of the formulas that’s lacking, it’s the manner in which companies are leveraging them.
Basically, banks, e-commerce websites and other services are utilizing predictive analytics to get consumers to purchase more things. Instead, businesses should focus the technology on identifying needs. For example: Person A bought a TV, does he or she require HDMI cables to accompany the unit?
Microsoft offers a solution
According to InformationWeek, Microsoft recently revealed that it will launch a public preview of a predictive analysis program that will be a part of the Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Service in July. The concept behind the initiative is to allow Azure users to construct business intelligence platforms in the cloud environment and then deploy them as Web services.
One of Microsoft’s intentions is to enable data scientists and application developers working for e-commerce sites to create customer segmentation programs. This approach should improve digital marketing campaigns, providing Azure customers with the chance to implement cross-selling features.
“Advanced analytics is a big, important market, but one of the biggest challenges is the shortage of skilled data scientists,” said Microsoft Data Platform General Manager Eron Kelly. “We want to make machine learning techniques more accessible by taking advantage of the simplicity of the cloud.”
A need for the educated
Companies that want to capitalize on this Azure offering will likely enroll personnel in Microsoft training courses that delve into the Machine Learning Service. Being able to construct predictive analysis tools around the specific needs of a particular organization is an asset executives won’t want to ignore.
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