Analytics for Excel users

In January Frontline Systems (www.solver.com) is expected to begin shipping Version 12.5 of its Solvers for Excel, including a new flagship integrated product, Analytic Solver Platform. V12.5 also includes new versions of Risk Solver Platform, the leading tool for simulation risk analysis, conventional and stochastic optimization in Excel; subsets Premium Solver Platform, Premium Solver Pro and Risk Solver Pro; and XLMiner, the leading data mining add-in for Microsoft Excel. Analytic Solver Platform integrates all the capabilities of all these products and adds new features such as visual data exploration and data mining methods applied to Monte Carlo simulation trial data.

Frontline’s Solvers for Excel allows users to solve problems hundreds to thousands of times larger than the basic Excel Solver at speeds anywhere from several times to hundreds of times faster. Analytic Solver Platform is the first software to bring the power of data mining and visual data exploration to the analysis of Monte Carlo simulation trial data.

Frontline Systems, Inc. is a leading developer of optimization and simulation software, and the leader in spreadsheet-based software for both conventional and stochastic optimization.

Small business scoring solution

FICO (www.fico.com), a leading provider of predictive analytics and decision management technology, announced the availability of FICO Small Business Scoring ServiceSM solution version 7.0, which brings expanded data and analytics to small business lending. This new version of the small business scoring solution enables small business credit grantors to assess credit risk, comply with regulatory requirements and offer faster responses to small business applicants through process automation and instant risk assessment.

The new service offers a suite of empirically derived, multi-data sourced predictive models. The predictive models include Equifax commercial and consumer data, and through Equifax’s relationship with the Small Business Financial Exchange, Inc., banks will now have access to the largest source of small business financial payment information in the industry, including business loans, cards, leases and lines of credit reported by more than 400 SBFE members.

CMOs invest in marketing analytics

Chief marketing officers are investing in integrated marketing management solutions with advanced, real-time analytics, according to a recent report sponsored by SAS (www.sas.com). The analytics power consistent, personalized customer experiences via traditional and digital channels.

“More organizations are realizing that modern marketing is a data-driven discipline,” says Wilson Raj, global director of Customer Intelligence at SAS. “CMOs are poised to not only drive great marketing but drive broader business changes and enhance alignment across the C-suite.”

According to the study, eight of the 12 areas CMOs identified for marketing investment revolve around technology such as customer analytics, CRM, social media, marketing automation, collaboration and optimization tools.

SAS is a leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market