An Innovative Approach to Solving Your Problems

Tessella Hackathons

Summary

What's the problem?

What is a Tessella Hackathon?

When are Hackathons the most useful?

What are the benefits?

Review of past successes

What to do next

What’s the problem?

• Do you lack access to diverse enough skills to solve a particular problem or analytics challenge?

• Do you have problems that just seem unsolvable?

• Do you lack insight into breaking a problem down into manageable steps?

• Are you trying to develop a business case or secure extra funding to solve a problem?

• Do you need to de-risk an approach to a problem before you could justify a larger investment?

What is a Hackathon?

hack·a·thon / hakˈ əθ n/ɒ noun, a hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest or codefest) is an event in which computer programmers and others in the field of software development like graphic designers, project mangers, UX experts, and project managers, collaborate intensively to solve technological problems. [from HACK1, on the pattern of MARATHON]

What is a Tessella Hackathon?• We review your analytics problem statement• We select a team from our large pool of world-leading experts covering

skills such as:– Data visualisation– Machine learning– Statistics & Mathematical modelling – Informatics & data science– Software engineering

• Over the course of 1 or 2 days the team challenge themselves with one of your problems.

• Emphasis is on creative, innovative thinking; the ‘art of the possible’, actively collaborating to identify new opportunities and solutions

• Deliverables are not finished products, but– Proof of concepts– Ideas– Demos

When are Hackathons the most useful?

• When a problem is big• When a problem is hard

– … and you don’t know where to start• When you need to know more

– Justify a larger investment– Write a business case/proposal– Determine whether the problem is

actually solvable at all• When you’re investigating a new

area or problem domain

What are the benefits of a Hackathon?Lots of creative ideas for your problem

• Diverse skillsets • Mixture of domain experience• Focus on ideas rather than production systems encourages off the wall thinking

Low cost way to put lots of intensive effort into a single problem

• Focussed effort over a short timescale, typically 1 day• Better than a workshop - work will be done, rather than just talked about!• Emphasis on solving the problem rather than a particular tool or technique.

An opportunity to work directly with Tessella experts

• Get a hands on feel for the skills we can offer• Get to see us work on real problems

Review of past Hackathon successesClient Problem• Our client was considering significant technology investment in the area of

knowledge management and discovery. In order to inform their decision they needed to analyse the ontology formats used within the different platforms and make an assessment as to their potential for future innovation

At the Hackathon• We were able to successfully demonstrate how to work with the different

technologies under assessment• Using a variety of visualisation and reporting tools were able to show the

capabilities and limitations of each

Outcomes• We produced a report outlining our findings, proof of concept visualisations, and

working code to process ontological data. • This hackathon enabled the customer to make informed decisions about their future

technology investments with good knowledge about the technical risks involved and the mitigations of those risks

Review of past Hackathon successesClient Problem• The client had a large multivariate data set on various attributes of crop growth.• They wanted to use this experimental data to better understand which factors

impacted yield and why.

At the Hackathon• We were able to visualise the data and explore multiple analysis techniques. We

were able to demonstrate a number of quick and effective pieces of analysis that gave massive insight into the problem.

Outcomes• The client was able to gain significantly more understanding from the dataset and

thus increase the value of their experimental data• The experiments are costly and time consuming therefore finding ways to cost

effectively explore opportunities within that data was essential to maximise return on the investment

Review of past Hackathon successesClient Problem• The client produces a huge range of products in a variety of different

quantities making controlling stock levels difficult. Holding higher levels of stock than necessary is a cost to the business.

• Our client enlisted us to ask can we use our historical sales data to:– Gain an understanding of sales forecast accuracy?– Improve forecast accuracy and improve decision making based on sales

forecasts?

At the Hackathon• We were able to visualise the data and explore multiple analysis

techniques which addressed each of the client's questions.

Outcomes• The client were able to gain a much better understanding of their forecast

accuracy and factors that affected it.• They were able to identify areas where further analysis would help

maintain optimal stock levels and decide which product lines to maintain.

"It was great to get an outside perspective to challenge thinking in a very neutral, data driven manner. “

Ian Martin, Technology Director, Johnson Matthey

What to do next?

• Contact us to discuss a Tessella Hackathon and defeat your analytics problems.

• Why not Challenge Us to Solve a Key Strategy or Analytics Delivery Problem?

Analytics@Tessella.com