KXEN: Predictive Analytics Made Easy

That simple fact explains the increasing demand for databases, warehouses, ETL tools, report writers, dashboards and analysis software—in short, the various software components that make up the business intelligence market. But no matter how far solution providers and customers push these business intelligence capalities, the technologies rarely do more than offer a view of the past. At best, some business intelligence products in the corporate performance management space can compare an organization&s actual performance to goal. But for many users, the ultimate business intelligence tool would determine what their next move should be. Such a tool could tell them the best products to sell by region, reveal when high-value customers are likely to defect or even predict fraudulent claims.

Emphasis on the word “predict,” as in predictive analytics—sophisticated software that relies on statistics to determine a course of action. The problem? Statisticians must sift through hundreds of variables to determine the five or 10 most useful to run through this sort of software. That&s where KXEN comes in. The San Francisco-based vendor offers analytics software that not only works better with more variables—it even figures out the most important ones.

“This really takes predictive analytics to a broader range of users and allows us to re-engage our client base,” said Peter Geovanes, principal of Daugherty Business Solutions, a St. Louis-based business intelligence consulting firm. “I say once you have all of your data sources connected, the real benefit is inputting predictive capabilities. Plus, it helps differentiate us from the competition.”

KXEN hopes others feel the same way. The company last month inaugurated a new program designed to woo systems integrators and consultants to its partner ranks.

“We don&t do consulting. We sell software,” said Joerg Rathenberg, vice president of marketing and business development at KXEN. “We&re specifically targeting partners with a [business intelligence] background because they&re looking for the next thing to bring to their customers. “For us, the benefit is they already have the data and infrastructure set up, so we don&t have to start from scratch.”

For a $5,000 sign-up fee, partners will receive three days of free training, as well as access to a hot line and e-mail tech support that leads directly to KXEN&s developers in France. In addition, KXEN&s technical and sales people will join in on partners& sales call, if needed.