PREDICTA
Focused on Data & Advanced Analytics... well before Today's Buzz

In the 1970s and 1980s, Analytics practices—in the form of descriptive reporting—allowed businesses to merely analyse data after the fact, rather than predicting outcomes. Although not a fraction as advanced as today’s analytical tools, “SPSS Statistics”—a pioneering statistical analysis software program—had analysts across the world excited about their newfound ability to analyse, manage and document data. In 1986, a group of starry-eyed statistical analysts in Greece forged a partnership with SPSS to form SPSS GREECE, a company that harnessed SPSS technology to edify organizations on the benefits of applying sophisticated Analytics in day-to-day operations. Over the next 25 years, the company grew from strength-to-strength, bolstered its Data Mining and Advanced Analytics competencies, and lent its expertise to industries such as Banking and Telecom. Then, the year 2011 opened the doors of a new era.

"Our motto is, we are wide open. We speak all data languages. Our teams are capable of harnessing any technology–proprietary or open-source–depending on what’s suitable for every solution"

Soon after SPSS was acquired by IBM, SPSS GREECE rebranded itself to PREDICTA Analytics for Decision Making and accelerated its efforts to oblige the rapidly-changing business landscape, in which Data & Analytics were a growing part of the wider conversation. After years of catering mainly to businesses that were “mature data-wise,” PREDICTA saw the value in serving clients across industries ready to be reincarnated as modern enterprises driven by data. “By analysing processes and data in a sophisticated manner, we can discover hidden information and drive change in every industry. Our game-changing insights have become industry-agnostic, helping us expand to new markets,” says Ioanna Koutrouvis, PREDICTA’s Managing Director.

Today, a certified Gold IBM Business Partner with Support and Solution Provider status, PREDICTA is recognised as an expert in enterprise Data & Analytics, a champion in businesses across Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and the overall CEE territory. Besides catering to private organisations in Telecom, Banking, Insurance, and Retail, PREDICTA’s proven solutions have also found application in the wider public sector, including the utilities domain, among companies that deal with water, energy, renewables, oil and gas. PREDICTA’s esteemed clientele includes the likes of Vodafone, T-Mobile, Eurobank Group, National Bank of Greece, Aegean Airlines, and PepsiCo.

So, how exactly did PREDICTA script such a remarkable success story?

Ioanna cites the company’s “boutique structure” and “niche expertise” as its key differentiators; “Unlike large IT vendor structures, which have never actually specialised in applying Statistics and Advanced Analytics to harness enterprise data, we have solely focused on this area for more than 30 years.” In fact, since the increasing buzz on the ‘Data’ subject, with frequent soundings like Big Data, Data Science, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence, PREDICTA has seen a significant uptake in its market demand. She adds, “There are a few people in the world who understand SPSS technology and its capabilities as we do. We are so proficient in SPSS’ wider suite that we can both train our clients on it, plus leverage it for the development of a wide range of Analytical Applications, deployable and fully integrated into our customers’ operations’ and systems’ environments.”

Most of all, PREDICTA—one of the earliest adopters and providers of Advanced Analytics in Europe—has “lived through the development” of technologies such as Data Mining, BI, Predictive Analytics, as well as Big Data, ML and AI, tools that have ushered in endless possibilities as they pertain the discovery and treatment of data. “It was challenging to execute lengthy or/and complex analytical processes 30 years ago. As and when technologies evolved, we developed our speciality and stuck to our niche,” informs Ioanna.

Diving into Data Lakes, Transforming Businesses

Though every modern organisation is keen to benefit from their data, they need a suitable operational structure to effectively run Advanced Analytics and absorb their results.

This is where PREDICTA drives great value. Acting as a strategic partner in a client’s data-dictated makeover, PREDICTA adopts a handholding approach throughout the journey. “Such is PREDICTA’s role in every engagement, as proven and effective methodologies are adopted, the necessary knowledge transfer is achieved, while projects’ tasks are distributed optimally between PREDICTA’s experts and a client’s internal team,” explains Ioanna.

By applying Data Mining, Statistics, and Machine Learning techniques, PREDICTA handles all of an organization’s available data to uncover hidden information that can be leveraged to predict future outcomes and optimize the decision-making processes of a business. Ioanna says, “Prioritising Customer Success is a fundamental driver in the engagement process with our customers. We focus all our efforts in developing solutions that lead to the achievement of desired outcomes, immediately deployable within an organization’s related operational environment.”
To illustrate an example of PREDICTA’s Data & Analytics prowess, Philippos Paschentis, PREDICTA’s Commercial & Deputy Managing Director, sheds light on a customer success story involving ALPHA BANK, one of the four main systemic banks in Greece. Over the last decade, PREDICTA has streamlined processes of two separate divisions within the bank; CRM and Risk Management. “Besides having fully deployed SPSS’ end-to-end suite, our team of experts work—on an ongoing basis—in close collaboration with the bank’s internal teams, designing and implementing critical projects to optimise customer relations and regulatory operations,” informs Philippos.

PREDICTA’s integrated analytical solutions—with a proven track record of transforming business data into information, information into insight, and insight into action—have impacted Greece’s retail industry as well. Most recently, PREDICTA collaborated with MASOUTIS, one of the major chain supermarkets in Greece. As part of the project, PREDICTA applied analytical methods on the company’s loyalty card data, to help the client get a better understanding of their shoppers’ base, develop personalized offers to maximize baskets, and proactively manage customer attrition.

Using Past Data to Predict the Future

Today’s buzz on the subject and the influx of new technologies has not influenced PREDICTA’s principal ideology around Data & Analytics. It has always been about evolving from a ‘Fail-and-Fix’ model to a ‘Predict-and-Prevent’ practice. “This is the concept, whether looking in the private or public sector, a Telco, a Bank, or a Finance Ministry, a Manufacturing or a Utility company. A Telco wishes for churn indicators, well before their customers think of doing it; Banks look into predicting future loan defaults; a Finance Ministry targets tax fraud early detection; a Manufacturing company wants to prevent critical equipment breakdown; a Water and Sewage company would like to proactively maintain its pipelines’ network, to avoid floods or/ and pollution,” describes Philippos. “PREDICTA’s solutions enable organizations to shift from ‘counting incidents after they have occurred’, to ‘preventing them, by detecting their likelihood before they happen,” adds Ioanna.

In building models and overall analytical processes to predict future outcomes, PREDICTA employs a propriety methodology titled Cross Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM), a six-step approach guiding successful Data Mining/Analytics projects (see graphic). Developed over 20 years ago, CRISP-DM methodology starts with the Business Understanding step, during which business objectives are determined, and the situation and related environment are assessed, while data mining goals are established, and a project plan is outlined.

During the second step—Data Understanding—different available data sources are explored, data fields are defined, and overall data-quality is verified.

The Data Preparation phase follows, representing the most important step in a Data Mining project. This is where PREDICTA’s experts clean, construct, and integrate all available data, categorizing them into neat datasets and KPIs, painting a clearer picture of the client’s present scenario. This leads to the Modeling stage when advanced data analysis, including sampling and testing is realized, before selecting the modeling technique(s) most suitable for the specific target. Data is split into two groups: one that builds (trains) the model and another one that tests the model. “Since the models use data from the past, we test them accordingly so that they can predict the future. Over the years, we have uncovered that unless the models are tested against events and scenarios of the near past, their prediction power is insufficient,” reveals Ioanna. Once models’ results are put through the everyday working life of a company, feedback is evaluated and reviewed to determine the next steps.


During the final stage of an Analytics implementation cycle, PREDICTA proceeds with integration and automation processes for Deployment, enabling the feeding of Analytics’ results in purpose-designed dashboards of Enterprise Reporting/ Visualization environments, their combination with real-time data in Marketing Automation/Campaign Management platforms for event-based marketing actions, and more.

Dual Service Delivery Model

PREDICTA offers two delivery models for its Services: Integrated Solutions and Analytics-on-Demand. An Integrated Solution combines the appropriate software products with the necessary training services, as well as advisory, design, and implementation services, a delivery model suitable for companies that wish to gradually develop internal capacity and independency in Data & Analytics works. However, “If a customer wishes to harness their business data without investing in in-house capacity, our services team acts as the company’s business consulting and data science team, accessing the data sources and reporting back with the necessary analytical results, visualized on customised dashboards for instant decision-making,” explains Philippos.

There’s more to come…

PREDICTA continues its “systematic investments” in R&D, with the ultimate objective of remaining a top-notch player in the Advanced Analytics arena. Despite its unparalleled expertise in SPSS’ software technology suite, the company does not limit its Data & Analytics expertise to specific software technologies, platforms or programming languages. “Our motto is, We are Wide Open. We Speak all Data Languages. Our teams are capable of harnessing any technology—proprietary or open-source—depending on what’s suitable for every solution, as well as on budget availability,” says Philippos, before revealing that PREDICTA recently undertook a project in Singapore, in the pharma sector, while has initiated a collaboration for offering its services in Germany. “We continuously aim to expand both sector-wise and geographically.”



On a closing note, PREDICTA has a clear message to prospective clients with regard to its technology-agnostic solutions: “Unlike other vendors, we strongly support that Analytics’ application methodologies are not tied with specific technology brands. While focusing on appropriate methodological approaches to be applied in every case, we are tech-savvy consultants comfortable with any software tool. Following a ‘discovery’ approach when meeting new customers, we listen to business pains and needs, consider respective operation models, systems’ environments and available data, and suggest the set-up of appropriate tools’ stacks and analytical assets development.” Since its inception more than three decades ago, PREDICTA has maintained several long-term customer relationships with recurring Business Analytics projects. During this journey, PREDICTA has forged technology or/and services partnerships with the likes of IBM, Microsoft, Predictive Solutions, Transiris, and more.