Analytics is a newly formed section (officially started April 7, 2011). Below is some history on how and why this section was formed, a more detailed definition of Analytics, and the guiding principles for this section:

Why is Analytics important?

• Gartner Symposium attended by 5,000 senior IT leaders and 1,200 CIO’s
• Cloud computing and Analytics topped Gartner's 2010 Strategic Tech List
• Cloud computing and Analytics have jumped front and center
• Gartner renamed Business Intelligence to Analytics

1. Virtualization 2. Business Intelligence 3. Cloud Computing 4. Green IT 5. Unified Communications 6. Social Software and Social Net working 7. Web-Oriented Architecture 8. Enterprise Mashups 9. Specialized Systems 10. Servers – Beyond Blades	1. Cloud Computing 2. Advance Analytics 3. Client Computing 4. IT for Green 5. Reshaping the Data Center 6. Social Computing 7. Security - Activity Monitoring 8. Flash Memory 9. Virtualization for Availability 10. Mobile Application

How INFORMS got started in Analytics?

• Commissioned Capgemini to conduct an 8-week study, based on Board approval
• Engaged Adhoc Committee of INFORMS Leaders
• Study completed on June 16, 2010
• Member Townhall in Austin Nov 8, 2010

Objective of the INFORMS Study	End-result of the INFORMS study
Understand the needs of the analytics professionals in organizations Understand the competitive landscapes and products and services Identify what products and services INFORMS can offer to attract the practitioner demographic Understand how analytics differs from O.R	Definition of ‘Analytics’ to encompass the understanding on how businesses use analytics and who conducts analytics in organizations Identify products and services for INFORMS to address the analytics practitioner Develop strategic recommendations based on a high –level cost/ benefit case

How is Analytics defined?

While analytics includes all three categories, the Analytics Section of INFORMS will focus primarily on predictive and prescriptive analytics and will develop an understanding of the analytics process that can be described and communicated in ways that enable organizations to be able to either engage in using analytics more effectively and/or in moving up the analytics maturity path.

Data Modeling	Prepares and analyzes historical data
Visualization Regression	Identifies patterns from samples for reporting of trends

What are the Guiding Principles of the Analytics Section?

• Protect INFORMS Academic Integrity
• Focus on Predictive and Prescriptive space
• Engage membership base to drive change
• Balance business opportunities and member benefits
• Own the advanced analytics movement