On The Market:

Clementine 6.5, CRM Analytics as Easy as 1-2-3

Many organizations -- from financial firms to telecommunications companies to retail outfits -- use Clementine to increase customer lifetime value by better attracting, cross-selling and retaining customers. Companies that want to realize the same success can now do so more easily than ever before with the release of Clementine 6.5, the latest version of the leading data mining software from SPSS Inc. Clementine 6.5 includes a new Clementine Application Template (CAT) for customer relationship management (CRM).

CATs are complete, pre-built project outlines tailored to specific data mining applications that can produce significant, valuable results right out of the box. The new CAT will help users get a jump-start on data mining projects for CRM, and focuses on increasing lifetime customer value, reducing customer turnover or "churn," and predicting promotional response rates. The software is currently shipping worldwide.

"Organizations are now coming to realize what many market analysts have been saying for some time: advanced analytics are imperative to the success of CRM applications," said Peter Caron, SPSS BI senior marketing manager. "Clementine's CRM CAT makes it incredibly easy to add this analytical power. The CAT, in effect, provides a detailed roadmap that organizations can follow to get their CRM data mining projects off the ground faster, make fewer errors along the way and achieve better results in less time.

"The introduction of the CRM CAT also serves as a sign to prospective users that we are committed to ensuring that Clementine remains an indispensable tool for the continuously growing CRM market," Caron said. "As shown by the annual doubling of its sales revenue and regular topping of user surveys such as the KDnuggets polls, Clementine continues to be the No. 1 choice for data mining software."

Clementine takes a visual, interactive approach to data mining. Users build a map of their data mining project-called a "stream" -- by selecting icons-called "nodes" -- that represent steps in the process. Along the way, users can include their business knowledge for better results.

CATs contain pre-built streams, sample data and user guides designed for specific applications. Clementine 6.5 also includes CATs for analysis of Web site data to improve site efficiency and analysis of customer data in the telecommunications industry.

Other new features in Clementine 6.5 include:

• New sequence algorithm -- This new algorithm detects patterns in time-ordered data and makes sequential predictions, enabling users to analyze information such as clickstream data from Web sites.
• Enhanced Web mining CAT -- Fourteen new streams have been added to the Web mining CAT. Additional improvements include new sample data that represent popular Web log formats, more complicated field derivations and new methods for dealing with returning customers.
• Operation reordering -- Clementine now automatically reorders operations to push even more of Clementine's execution into the database. This results in improved performance and reduced network traffic.
• Expression builder -- The mouse-driven expression builder boosts productivity and reduces errors, as users no longer have to type complex or lengthy expressions.
• Multiple derive node -- Multiple new variables can now be created in a single node, saving time and reducing stream complexity.

Additional information about Clementine is available online at www.spss.com/clementine or by calling 800-543-2185.

About Clementine

Clementine, SPSS Inc's enterprise-strength data mining workbench, helps businesses improve the profitability of customer relationships through in-depth understanding of data. Organizations use the insight gained from Clementine to retain profitable customers, identify up- and cross-selling opportunities, attract new customers, detect fraud, reduce risk and improve government service delivery. Clementine can help businesses better understand their customers' online behavior and, as a result, improve Web site design, increase e-store sales and deliver online services more effectively.

Clementine was the first data mining workbench aimed at business users and is consistently acknowledged by users and analysts as the leading visual rapid modeling environment for data mining. Clementine has established a leading position in the data mining market and is used in a wide range of industries including e-commerce, telecommunications, finance, retail, health care, government and higher education. More than 500 organizations worldwide use Clementine including British Telecommunications, Unilever, Provident Financial and e-Dialog.

About SPSS BI

SPSS BI, a division of SPSS Inc, helps people solve business problems using statistics and data mining. This predictive technology enables customers in the commercial and public sectors to make better decisions and improve results. SPSS BI software and services are used successfully in a wide range of applications, including customer attraction and retention, cross-selling, survey research, fraud detection, Web site performance, forecasting and scientific research. SPSS BI's market-leading products include SPSS, Clementine, AnswerTree, DecisionTime and SigmaPlot.

About SPSS Inc

SPSS Inc headquartered in Chicago, IL, USA, is a multinational computer software company providing technology that transforms data into insight through the use of predictive analytics and other data mining techniques. The company's solutions and products enable organizations to manage the future by learning from the past, understanding the present, as well as predicting potential problems and opportunities.

Contact Matthew Martin, SPSS BI, 800-525-4980, 312-651-3066, www.spss.com.

Program from Teradata Helps Companies Cut Hidden IT Costs

Teradata, a division of NCR Corporation launched a program called Data Mart Consolidation designed to help companies save millions by tackling a common problem hidden in their information technology (IT) infrastructures -- too many data warehouses, not enough information. By combining these departmental data warehouses, called data marts, into an integrated system, organizations can increase the amount of knowledge they have about the state of their business while saving millions -- a win-win situation in these tough economic times.

To help companies smoothly and seamlessly consolidate their data marts, Teradata's Data Mart Consolidation program includes assessment services, migration tools, and customer education, in addition to business impact models that calculate return on investment (ROI).

By taking the information from disparate systems and combining it into a central, enterprise-wide Teradata Warehouse, companies can eliminate their redundant data mart costs, estimated at $1.5 to $2 million each annually, while enjoying an increase in system performance and a "big picture" view of the business. This big picture will allow a company to integrate their Web data with their store-by-store purchasing data or connect their supply chain to their sales activity, for example. With 61% of businesses lacking a single view of their data, companies that work with Teradata to consolidate systems will have an immediate advantage over their competition.

The background for many companies' use of disparate data marts to capture and analyze business data can be traced back to organizational politics, departmental budgeting policies, the approach of solving only one business problem at a time, and database vendors whose products work best with small sets of data. Teradata's research found that 59% of companies maintain up to thirty data marts and some companies have as many as 100. Since the initial cost of purchasing these systems often falls within companies' departmental capital spending limits, organizations lose track of the exponential costs of duplicating staffing, hardware, and software licenses.

"One of the biggest perpetrators of costly data marts are vendors who lead companies down this path because their databases don't have the power or scalability necessary for an enterprise system," said Vickie Farrell, vice president of Teradata Warehouse marketing. "In our Data Mart Consolidation program we've been replacing systems primarily from Oracle with an increasing number of IBM DB2, Informix, and Sybase systems."

Teradata customers like 3M and Delta Air Lines who have consolidated their data marts are saving from thousands to millions of dollars a year in license, maintenance, and personnel costs previously incurred by maintaining and synchronizing redundant data on multiple systems. These cost savings are inclusive of the costs of the integration and the Teradata Warehouse.

The business impact models developed by Teradata can create custom ROI projections based on the size and number of data marts consolidated and the speed of implementation. Using the model and patent-pending business impact methodology, one recent Teradata customer's analysis yielded a projected IT support cost savings of 40-50%. In this specific instance, annual cost savings represented tens of millions of dollars.

"Companies that took the data mart route now have new incentives to consolidate their data in a single integrated warehouse. Today's economic environment increases the appeal of an enterprise system that will both reduce IT costs and improve competitive advantage through more comprehensive and accurate analysis," said Farrell. "Our surveys of IT professionals show 68% believe their companies need to consolidate data marts. We demonstrate the cost savings using an organization's own data, and our current customers' results demonstrate the business benefits. It's a win-win combination that's very convincing."

Teradata's data mart consolidation program is backed by a worldwide network of experienced Teradata professionals who have been trained on data mart consolidation assessment services and migration tools and utilities. Teradata's Data Mart Consolidation program is based on experience in installing enterprise systems for leading e-businesses and companies in the airline, retail, financial services, insurance, transportation, and telecommunications industries.

Contact Holly Michael, Teradata Public Relations, 937-445-6086, holly.michael@ncr.com.