1. Analytical People 11 (When and) Why R wins EARL Conference 16 th September 2014 John McConnell – Analytical People Information and Data Management

2. Analytical People Contents Background Winning cases The future? 2

3. Analytical People Background It isn’t that R is always directly competing with the usual suspects (SAS, IBM, etc.) There are situations when it is the clear choice because of cost of/access to … other software There are times when structurally it just fits – E.g. We want to distribute a gadget/app/tool in an open source style – R provides “Analytical Duct Tape*” to fill in the gaps Cost is an issue but we believe that it applies most directly to the cost of specific functionality (often algorithms) 3 *This is how we have heard Oracle refer to using R particularly R packages outside their own distribution of it

4. Analytical People AP is an services firm using a variety of analytical tools 4

5. Analytical People Algorithms – “killer” … or commodity? 5 R has commoditised many algorithms to the point where “value” (and fees) are based on other attributes like quality assurance and productivity

6. Analytical People Case 1 – Have coders … can code 6 © HBO At its core R – as we all know - is a powerful, and flexible, programming language

7. Analytical People But what about other roles? And workflow/process? 7 1.Business Understanding 2.Data Understanding 3.Data Preparation 4.Modelling5.Evaluation6.Deployment Business Domain Subject Matter Analytical Methodologies What to use when Data Management Structure Technology Integration Building apps

8. Analytical People The R “Red Hats” add value here 8 Companies like Revolution Analytics who provide tools, licenses and other services as a layer on top of R

9. Analytical People Case 2 – We need an algorithm 9 Typically software vendors (but also in-house developers) Many have software that isn’t primarily analytical but which requires analytical components

10. Analytical People Case 3 – We need analytics for Apps 10 GENIE is an on-line app we developed with Liverpool Council Housing Department Implementing a Sustainability Index co-developed by: Oxford University Audit Commission Liverpool John Moores

11. Analytical People

13. Case 4 – We need to scale analytics - The “R paradox” 13 … Versus …

14. Analytical People Case 2 and Case 4 14

15. Analytical People Case 2 and Case 4 15

16. Analytical People Case 2 and Case 4 16

17. Analytical People The Future More packages More apps More interfaces for other user types – E.g. For Business Users More platform integration – E.g. to deployment platforms All-in-all more support for the analytical process 17

18. Analytical People 18 Thanks for listening EARL Conference 16 th September 2014 John McConnell – Analytical People Information and Data Management