February 23, 2010 | Story by: Brenda Larson | Categories: Business
Bill Green (left), CEO of Accenture, and Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS, announce their intention to join forces on a major analytics solution project.
In this week’s Business Report, SAS teams up with Accenture, Adopt a Rescued Rabbit and It’s Not Too Late to Win a Car. Plus, have your say on the Town budget and nominate a small business in Cary for an award.
Accenture, SAS join forces for next-generation analytic tools
SAS and Accenture will jointly develop, implement and manage next-generation predictive analytics solutions, a first for both companies.
As part of their strategic relationship, the two companies intend to jointly invest in the development of solutions focused on industry-specific predictive analytics applications, starting with financial services, healthcare and public service sectors. They also plan to begin delivering sophisticated analytical capabilities as a managed service.
The joint project brings together Accenture’s extensive industry and functional business knowledge, with SAS’s market-leading analytics solutions and capabilities.
Predictive analytics takes the information made available through standard analytics today and combines it with more sophisticated statistical modeling, forecasting and optimization techniques to anticipate the impact on business results.
“In our long experience providing analytic insights to our customers, we’ve never seen leaders to readily adopting analytic approaches across their organizations,” said Jim Goodnight, chief executive officer of SAS. “The Accenture SAS Analytics Group will help these companies take their business results to the next level by applying best-of-breed predictive analytics and best practices to complex questions and decisions.”
Accenture and SAS have successfully worked together for more than 10 years on more than 100 global clients and across a variety of industries.
Get hopping to Cary Towne Center
Things will be hopping on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Cary Towne Center.
That’s when AniMall Pet Adoption Center will celebrate Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month. This educational event will celebrate the wonder of owning a house rabbit, while providing education about what to look for, how to prepare and how to enjoy a rabbit as a companion animal in your family.
Topics to be covered at the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at AniMall, include:
Dr. Dan Johnson from Avian and Exotic, http://www.avianandexotic.com/, the Triangle’s only 100 percent exotic animal hospital, will also be on hand to trim bunny nails, in exchange for a donation to AniMall.
For more information, visit www.rabbitday2010.com or www.animall.org.
No longer affiliated with WiFiciency, WiSpots calls off merger
Kevin Flannery, founder, CEO and president of WiSpots Inc. of Cary has announced that the planned merger of the organization into the holding company he co-founded, known as WiFiciency Inc., will not happen.
WiSpots, which provides advertiser-supported wireless access, WiPads and patient Interaction Centers in medical wait enviroments, check-in areas and exam rooms, will pursue new customers and investors for its unique proprietary technology.
“We felt it was in the best interest of WiSpots and our ability to improve the model, delivery and acceptance of our solutions to remain a separate company,” Flannery said in a statement issued Feb. 11. “We are 100-percent focused on providing the best possible products and service, and strengthening the WiSpots brand.”
WiSpots was seen by millions of viewers on the premiere episode of ABC’s Shark Tank television show in 2009.
Have Your Say on the Town Budget Until Feb. 28
The Town of Cary is inviting citizens to weigh in on the 2011 town budget, which identifies services and projects to be undertaken by the town between July 2010 and June 2011. Email them your thoughts at budgetinput@townofcary.org or call at 469-4307.
Are you Linked In Locally?
On LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com, I found a great group called Linked Local in Cary, founded by Gary Hart, a cash flow planner, business marketing strategist, social media connector and insurance educator.
This business networking group offers a great opportunity to share information about services, products, special events, educational opportunities and more in the LinkedIn environment. (If you’re not LinkedIn, you should be!).
The Cary-based group is holding its first face-to-face networking event on Thursday, March 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Catering By Design, in the Big Lots plaza at Kildaire Farm Road and Maynard Avenue. Greg Lewis of Catering by Design will provide tasty hors d’oeuvres for the event.
For more details and to RSVP, check out this link: http://events.linkedin.com/Linded-Local-Cary/pub/236503.
NEWS FROM THE CARY CHAMBER
Where does the time go?
Mike Collins from The Perfect Workday Company, http://perfectworkday.com/index.html, will help you find the time that drifts away through the course of your day as part of the Cary Chamber of Commerce Smart Business Series.
Collins will be the facilitator for Time Management for Champions on Friday, Feb. 26 at the Wake Tech Business & Industry Center, 3434 Kildaire Farm Rd., Cary.
The event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and is free. Please bring your own lunch.
Register in advance at http://carychamberofcommerce.com/ or call 919-467-1016.
Win a Malibu Hybrid
Reminder … you could win a car! Well, you could, if you’re one of the 500 people who buy a ticket in the chamber’s reverse raffle. Only 500 tickets, $100 each, will be sold on the car, a 2010 Chevy Malibu Hybrid, donated by Hendrick Cary Auto Mall, so the odds are great. The ticket also provides entry for two people to the raffle and auction event Feb. 25 at Prestonwood Country Club, 5:30 pm. For more info, visit the chamber site, www.carychamber.com.
Cary Chamber Small Business Awards
Nominations are open for the Cary Chamber of Commerce 2010 Small Business Awards, which include the Small Business of the Year, Community Service, Employer of the Year, Innovation Award, Entrepreneurial Award in Education and Charitable Partners Award. Presenting sponsor Crescent State Bank encourages you to nominate a business by visiting the chamber site, www.carychamber.com, and filling out the nomination form. The awards will be presented at a special luncheon May 13 at noon at Embassy Suites in Cary. Keep an eye on the chamber site for more details.
What’s Your News?
If you have business news, let us know. Email Brenda Larson with the details. We’d love to hear from you!
