TOPICS:
Analytics
TAGS:
Watson Analytics, predictive analytics, business analytics, cognitive computing, machine learning, Artificial intelligence
We get lots of questions about how Watson Analytics fits into the Watson family. One of the first things people should know is that Watson is no longer just the supercomputer that won Jeopardy!—it is now an IBM brand for the next generation of cognitive computing solutions. Cognitive computing systems are trained using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to sense, predict, infer and, in some ways, think. The Watson brand includes industry solutions and applications such as:
- Watson Discovery Advisor, which helps researchers explore hypotheses
- Watson Engagement Advisor for end-user interactions
- Watson for Wealth Management, which assists financial advisors
- Watson for Oncology, which provides physicians with cancer treatment suggestions
These unique offerings are built to solve some of the most difficult problems in the world today. These cognitive systems have deep domain content which help to enhance, scale and accelerate human expertise, whether in healthcare, financial services or customer service. What they all have in common is the cognitive computing DNA developed by the Watson Group in IBM.
How does Watson Analytics fit into this family of solutions?
Watson Analytics leverages Watson’s unique cognitive capabilities in three ways:
- Provides semantic recognition of concepts in your data such as time, place and revenue
- Provides recommended starting points for analysis and targets for prediction
- Enables interaction in natural language, allowing the exploration of data through simple questions you might ask a colleague
Watson Analytics recognizes the question and automatically creates the best recommended visualization. No more selecting a chart type and dragging and dropping variables—the system takes care of the complicated matters of data discovery by providing the user with smart data discovery, guided analytics and meaningful insights.
Watson Analytics is a cloud-based smart data discovery tool
It requires no customization and uses a high degree of intelligent automation to give line-of-business users access to sophisticated analytics. Business users who have structured business data and a business problem, regardless of industry or function, can use Watson Analytics for rapid insights and immediate analysis of a wide range of examples:
- Marketing: What are customers of high value responding to?
- Sales: What opportunities are most likely to be successful, and why?
- Finance: What combination of factors are impacting profitability the most?
- Operations: How can warranty claims be used to help pinpoint problems quickly?
- IT: Spot serious issues quickly from unseen patterns in across unrelated help desk tickets.
- HR: Identify top performers and understand the predictors of their dissatisfaction.
The key capabilities of Watson Analytics
- Automated data discovery
- Exploration
- Guided predictive analytics
- Recommended visualizations
- Dashboard creation
- Visual storytelling
These are all activities that business users perform on a daily basis and that Watson Analytics can accelerate.
Watson solutions aim to enhance, scale and accelerate human expertise, targeting a wide range of complex challenges in the world today. Watson Analytics itself will understand, perceive and relate information at a human level for your business problems, combining analytical insights with your expertise and experience to improve everyday decisions.
See what this exceptional product can do with your data.
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