“Robin Way is both a skilled analytics consultant
and a clear, capable writer. He has distilled many years of experience and some disciplined research into some key lessons about succeeding with analytics. If you want practice-based insights on the use of these powerful business tools, you need look no further.”
— Thomas H. Davenport
Professor, Babson College and Research Fellow, MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy Author of Competing on Analytics, Big Data @ Work, and Only Humans Need Apply
“Robin Way is that rarest of breeds: an
accomplished data guru who can translate complex technical concepts into terms that every business person can understand and appreciate. His leadership in bridging the historical divide between our IT and Marketing functions has been integral to helping our company achieve its vision of a data-focused, insight-driven organization.”
— James Weber
Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President Comerica Bank
“Ten years after Competing on Analytics, the idea of wringing measurable value from investments in analytics and data is a learnable process that is not the domain of the “digital natives” alone. Robin’s work provides quantifiable data and proven techniques to move theoretical constructs into measurable outcomes. The evidence continues to mount: managers can no longer ignore the return on investment from analytics.”
— Jack Phillips
CEO and Co-Founder International Institute of Analytics
“I have known Robin for over a dozen years and consider him one of the most insightful analytics practitioners I have ever met. I always consult with Robin when we are doing something outside our experience set. Recently Robin and team helped us transform our modeling approach to leverage very low latency transactional data.”
— Gregory Holzwarth
Senior Vice President, Director Marketing Information Group SunTrust Bank
“While there are several good books about analytics today, Skate stands apart because it is written from the practitioners’ perspective. Robin is an expert in field of analytics and he draws on his vast consulting experience to curate salient points using real-world examples.
In Skate, Robin starts by helping the reader assess his/her organization’s analytical maturity and provides practical insights for enhancing the organizations analytical capabilities including attracting, organizing, and retaining talent, and closely aligning the business and analytics priorities. He then offers a step-by-step approach to effective predictive modeling and its application in business. And finally, last several chapters provide a playbook for leveraging “big data” including customer interactions and transactions, and optimization analytics.
This book is engaging and easy to read, however, it is not short on meticulous and relevant details that only an expert could articulate, and filled with useful advice for the practitioner. It is a must read for executives and analysts who are interested in harnessing the power of analytics for maximum business impact.”
— Abbas Merchant
Group Vice President, Marketing Segments & Services and Customer Insights M&T Bank
“Robin Way is both a skilled analytics consultant
