jigsaw report niche companies

Niche Analytics Companies

An exclusive report by Jigsaw Academy

An insider view � What projects do niche companies work on? A typical

day in the life of a data scientist. Insights from the founders and much more�

Introduction Nice Analytics Companies � A report by Jigsaw Academy | pg01

It is with great pleasure and excitement that we at Jigsaw academy present our report on niche

analytics companies in India. There are many enterprising and successful companies out there who

are making great strides in the analytics arena. Their work is inspiring and we at Jigsaw, are proud to

be associated with a number of these start-ups who are doing cutting-edge work for businesses

around the globe. Often the smaller companies are doing more path-breaking work and offer better

career opportunities for those looking to start off in analytics. However analytics aspirants often

struggle to find out about smaller companies. This report is an attempt to make people aware of the

type of work niche analytics companies do and the kind of interesting career options they offer.

We thank the founders and staff of Gramener and Marketelligent for their time and support in

helping us compile this report.

A note from the CEO, Jigsaw Academy

With data analytics booming world over, India too has become a major player in the

analytics industry. Niche analytics companies are mushrooming in India and are fast attracting

some of the best analytics talent there is. With a view to getting a closer look at just how some

of these successful companies function we wanted to go in depth and personal with them,

hoping that by reading about the exciting and challenging work environment they offer, many of

you will be inspired to gain some analytic skills and become a part of the analytics boom.

Purpose of this report

This category comprises of companies (mostly small and mid-size) that focus on providing

analytics expertise to businesses around the world. Growth opportunities are abundant in such

companies.

According to a report by Jigsaw academy, niche analytics companies offer salaries that average

at 4.5 lakhs at entry level and go up to 16 lakhs for director level (10+ years of experience). They

provide a varied and challenging work environment, with the quality of work done in most of

the niche analytics companies being of a very high standard.

What are Niche Analytic Companies?

Companies in focusGramener / Marketelligent

Gramener Nice Analytics Companies � A report by Jigsaw Academy | pg03

Gramener transforms data into concise dashboards,

so that business problem & solutions are visually

obvious. They find insights quickly, based on

cognitive research, and their visualization guide

actionable decisions.

Gramener founded in 2010 is one of those highly

successful niche analytics companies in India that is

taking data analytics to a whole new level. Simply

put, they take large data sets, analyze them using

non traditional analytics and visualize it in real time.

Their primary focus of work lies in Data

Visualization, Data Analytics, Text Analytics and

Predictive Analytics.

A Data Visualizations & Analytics Company

Large Telecome Operator

Visualization for Sales, Marketing & Customer Service

Suguna Foods

Production Planning Analytics, Operational

Efficiencies, Sales & Marketing

Fortune 10 Customer

Clinical Trail Analytics and Visualization

TVS & Sons

Service Analytics and Visualization

Major bank in India

Branch Performance Analysis

Examples of projects

Gramener in a nutshell

Founded

2010

Founders

J Ramachandran

Naveen Gattu

Anand S

Primary Focus of Work

Data Visualization, Data Analytics,

Text Analytics, Predictive Analytics

No. of Employees

70+

Clients

25+ customers across 8 vertical

Among them: Airtel, Axis Bank, TVS,

P&G, Suguna Foods

Offices in

Hyderabad (HQ), Bangalore (R&D)

Comibitore (OPs)


About the founders

Gramener was founded by industry veterans J Ramachandran, Naveen Gattu and Anand S who

are alumni from IIT, NIT and IIM, some of the top institutions in the country. They are all leaders

with a business management track record in high-tech Fortune 50 pedigree companies like IBM,

Boston Consulting, Delloitte and Accenture. Guided by innate professional ethics they are

mentors and role models for all aspiring data scientists.

Ram holds a Master's Degree in Technology from IIT Kanpur and is an industry veteran with over 20

years of Technology Services experience. At IBM Global Services USA, Ram led thought and

implementations for Fortune 50 customers, in adoption and implementation of technology.

Ram was also the CEO of a 200 Million Dollar IT Services Company. He now guides Gramener with

the purpose of providing consistent and impacting contributions to the human fraternity through

technology led ethical enterprises.

J Ramachandran, CEO & Co-Founder


About the founders

Naveen is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in the Tech consulting and outsourcing

arena. He has a Bachelors degree in electronics and telecommunication and has done leadership

courses related to Strategic Account Management and Global Management of teams.

He was with IBM, North America for a decade and held various strategic roles for Tier 2 Indian IT

firms. He has been responsible for delivering a number of complex technology led business

transformation programs for Financial Services. He brings this vast experience to Gramener, adding

great value to Sales, Alliance Management, Program Management and Global Delivery.

Naveen Gattu, COO & Co-Founder

Anand has advised and designed IT systems for organizations such as the Citigroup, Honda, ICICI,

IBM, Oracle, RBS, SAP, Tesco, etc. He has an MBA from IIM Bangalore and a B.Tech from IIT Madras.

He has worked at IBM, Lehman Brothers, The Boston Consulting Group and Infosys Consulting.

Anand also blogs at s-anand.net ( a really cool site that will inform and educate you as much as it

will make you smile).

Anand S, Chief Data Scientist & Co-Founder


All the founders of Gramener are first generation entrepreneurs who began their careers in IBM.

They were very successful in their corporate jobs, but always had one thought at the back of their

minds, “ ”. Can't we work for ourselves and have FUN while at it

Deciding to do just this they got together in 2010 and laid the foundation for Gramener. Considering

their consulting experience they decided to get into business analytics. They found that there were

many people doing great analytics but there was no effective way yet of data consumption. They

wanted to create a niche for themselves and hence decided that this is what they would do, make

“Data Consumption” easy and joyful. Thus Gramener was born.

How it all began?

The Gramener Visualization Server is a revolutionary business intelligence product that transforms

large-scale data into visualizations in real-time without human intervention.

The end result helps enterprises effectively consume data through visualizations which help align

mental models amongst all the stakeholders.

The technology is based on a combination of design, statistics and programming. The visuals are

based on cognitive research and presented in a visually appealing and actionable way. The analysis

identifies hidden correlations and predicts trends for the future. The product can connect to

heterogeneous data sources. The entire process of visualizations is automated, and requires no

manual effort.

Recent innovation in the company

While improving their Visualization platform, Gramener is also focusing on building products which

can perform analysis automatically and aid analysts to the extent that they can dedicate more time

towards effective business analytics.

The road ahead

Business Analytics is now functional driven. Hence the key to success is being able to measure the value

you are adding to the business. This must be tangible and whether it is the analytic tools you use or the

analytics insights you garner, they must all be driven in that direction.

As an analyst you need to have a flare for programming. Also remember that today Data Science is a

combination of Statistics, Technology & Design and is a team skill rather than an Individual skill.

Advice for future analysts


A note from Naveen Gattu

Meaningful consumption of data, i.e the discovery, understanding,

correlation and coherent business actions in enterprises has still not

risen to a point where all parts of a business act cohesively, based

on what the data reveals. Diverse understanding of the same data

by various functions, BI projects which are still IT led, lack of skills in

the end user community to seek out relevant data at the speed at

which business demands, have all led enterprises to be sub-optimal

in usage and application of data. The main reason for this is a lack

of simple tools to represent data in a manner in which all

stakeholders will understand coherently and consistently.

How do we add value to our clients?

The very fact that human cognizance is enabled through simple

visualizations helps to have all stakeholders arrive at mental models

that are similar and eliminates the complexity in consuming data

that is most relevant to them. This aids in acting fast and in unison,

led by a common understanding of the data by all.

Gramener creates visualizations which

are not only simple, powerful,

appropriate and relevant to data sets, but

which are also meaningful to functions

and businesses. “


How Gramener Hires?

Hiring Process

Requirements for Ideal Candidate

Good Programming Skills, Flare for statistics and analysis, Team Player

Online Test Interviews

Sources Talents From

Website & Employee referrals, Focus a lot on speaking at various events as that's

a good source to find great talent, Jigsaw Academy

15+Analytics talent hired by

company in 2013

Industry Standard salary range which

varies with experience, skill level &

aptitude

2014Company plans for expansion

as they are expanding into

North America

Salary

An Interview with Kathirmani Sukumar

“Getting a story out of my analysis and presenting it using

appropriate visuals, so that the customer will be able to

consume their data, is what is exciting.“

Data Scientist, Gramener


I was born and brought up in Chennai. My school life went in chasing the high scores

which my sisters achieved in their schooling and that set a standard for me. With the

decent score that I was able to achieve in my +2, I joined Rajalakshmi Engineering

College, Chennai and pursued my electrical engineering. Looking at my interests, my

college Professor Dr.C.Kamala Kannan motivated me to work on few research

projects which later helped me a lot in my professional career.

When I finished my bachelors I had two offers, one to join as a software engineer in a

reputed IT company and another one to work under Dr. Arun K. Tangirala - Associate

Professor at IIT Madras in a research project sponsored by Bhabha Atomic Research

Center (BARC). Considering the exposure that I could get and the technologies that I

could learn, I joined IIT Madras as project associate and worked there for three years.

At IIT Madras I attended courses on 'time series analysis and statistics' which laid the

foundation in analytics for me. My research outcome was published in NDT & E, an

international journal.

Tell us a little about yourself, your academic background?

The article "For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics" from The New York Times

( http:// www.nytimes.com / 2009 / 08 / 06 / technology / 06stats.html?_r=0 ) is what

basically motivated me to pursue my career as a data scientist. This particular

position demanded a blending of programming and statistical background, which

very well matched with my skills.

What got you interested in analytics?

During the end of my project at IIT Madras, Prof. Tangirala advised me to approach

Anand (Founder and Chief Data Scientist at Gramener). Anand interviewed and tested

me with a task and finally it was in May 2012 that I joined Gramener as an intern, and

began my journey as a Data Scientist.

When did you join Gramener?

My job profile at Gramener includes transformation of big data to functional data and

analysis of data. Analysis typically involves summarizing and classifying the data using

techniques like Decision trees, Principal component analysis etc., The analysis is

further automated to present meaningful visualizations. Part of the job profile also

includes designing of new visualizations which adds a unique dimension to my

profile.

What is your job profile?


After 5 years I see myself interacting with many CEOs predicting their company’s

future stock market or pointing out where they should concentrate next.

What is your potential career path? Where do you see yourself

5 years from now?

Analyzing data: This is typically done during the initial stage of a project. Usually we

get sample datasets from the customer and with the help of the concerned domain

experts from the customer side; I understand the nature of the data. Then using tools

like Python, Gramex (our own visualization product), Excel and R, I analyze the data

and derive insights. Analysis usually will be a mix of descriptive statistics,

classifications, causal analysis. Toughest part of the work is creating a visual which

conveys the insights effectively.

Interacting with the customer: After analysis and deriving insights, I am often seen

at the customer premises, educating the customer about my analysis and usage of

our visualizations. This has been the challenging part of my job, because generally the

target audience is top level management and I have been successful in convincing

them which is usually difficult.

Automating: Interesting part in a day is when I spend time automating all my

analysis and visuals using our product and deploy it in the client's machine. Being in-

charge of the journey of raw data to the end product is a fascinating experience

Take us through a typical day in your life?

Getting a story out of my analysis and presenting it using appropriate visuals, so that

the customer will be able to consume their data, is what is exciting and also a tough

job to do. I am not a domain expert, but still I have to understand the business nature

in a short period and think from the customer's perspective which is challenging and

exciting at the same time. Working with a team lead by Anand and Ganes Kesari

(VP Products and delivery) is most satisfying and a great learning experience.

Most exciting thing about your job?


I like to work on media projects where I can take up some public data and tell a story

from it. I am also interested in projects where I can analyse the company's product

performance from their customer reviews using text analytics. In the future I would

like to use my knowledge in machine learning algorithms.

Which kind of projects do you like working on most?

A strong foundation in mathematics and statistics is very essential. My advice would

be to work under a mentor on real time projects before diving into the job.

Any advice for others interested in becoming data scientists?

The whole world knows that Indians are experts in Mathematics, which is a primary

and important skill for any statistician.

What are your predictions for analytics in India?

“With 100% confidence I can say that India will

become a hub for analytics.

Nice Analytics Companies � A report by Jigsaw Academy | pg13

Marketelligent believes that the power of Analytics

cannot be unlocked unless it is developed with a

clear understanding of its business impact. They use

analytics to provide analytical insights and intelligent

marketing solutions that enable smarter decisions.

Marketelligent founded in 2007 has made its mark

in the analytics arena as a niche company that helps

client's unlock the power of their information. They

customize their services depending on the needs of

their client's business, offering them a host of

services from data integration and standardization

to sophisticated analytic models for predictive

modeling and forecasting.

Analytics with Business Sense

E Commerce Co.

Optimally allocate its digital spends to maximize

new subscriber sign-ups

Alcobev Manufacturer

Sales reporting and marketing insights

Leading Publisher

Helped deepen customer engagement via

targeted cross-sell and up-sell

Leading bank

Help validate, maintain and update their

delinquency scorecards

Examples of projects

Marketelligent in a nutshell

Founded

2007

Founders

Roy Cherian

Anunay Gupta

Primary Focus of Work

Helping businesses win by making

the most of their information

No. of Employees

75+

Clients

Across US, India, Middle East and

South-east Asia including several

Fortune 100 companies. Among them

United Breweries, Dell, Times of Money

Offices in

India: Bangalore and New Delhi

USA: New Jersey and New York

Marketelligent


About the founders

Roy Cherian and Anunay Gupta are two respected and highly experienced professionals and

innovators, who founded Marketelligent. Graduates of renowned institutions like IIT, IIM and

NYU Stern these analytics enthusiasts have brought their combined experience in

multinationals across continents and across industries to the analytics arena.

Roy Cherian

Roy has over 22 years of rich experience in marketing, advertising and media in organisations

like Nestle, United Breweries, and FCB. He is known for his passion for innovation, some of

which have been recognized globally at Nestle. His one point agenda at Marketelligent is to

drive business sense into analytics. Roy holds an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and a BTech from

College of Engineering, Trivandrum.

Anunay Gupta

Anunay has over 18 years of industry experience, with a significant portion focused on Analytics

in Consumer Finance. He was a core member of the Risk Management team of American

Express based in New York City, and headed the off-shore Advanced Analytical Solutions for the

US Cards portfolio of Citigroup. He drives the technical rigour into all the analytics we do at

Marketelligent. Anunay holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, a BTech from IIT

Delhi and a PhD from Penn State.

Marketelligent

Essentially they saw the opportunity to help companies monetize their Technology investments.

Over the past 15-20 years, billions have been spent in putting together technical infrastructure to

capture and store various types and forms of data. Roy and Anunay felt that the time was ripe to

help businesses start leveraging these assets to improve business performance. Also, there was a

strong desire to create something tangible from scratch – that was of value to customers, associates

and society at large…..something that every entrepreneur desires of achieving. Though they could

have done this in their corporate careers; the satisfaction of doing it on their own was what spurred

them to start Marketelligent.

How it all began?

Marketelligent has built a few cool tools and products that have delighted both themselves and their

clients. Some of them have been instrumental in helping open doors to new businesses also.

One such tool has been Mosaic, an interactive online dashboard which facilitates strategic decisions

through data visualization. It links statistics with graphics, making information accessible in ways a

spread sheet never could. It is capable of supplying real-time insights to help business decision-

makers arrive quickly at complex decisions and optimizations.

Recent innovation in the company

Marketelligent envisions being in the analytics services area for many years to come. The opportunity

is large and given that they are in the infancy of the data revolution, they are seeking to excel in this

area. However, they also realize the importance of technology and see themselves building a

capability around this in the near future.

The road ahead

Analytics will continue to gain importance over the next 10 years or so; and though the industry is in its

nascent stages Marketelligent forsees a great future ahead. Businesses will continue to invest in data

assets and data discovery. Analysts should spend at least two years learning the fundamentals of

analytics, be very hands-on and understand the business that they are working with.

Advice for future analysts

Nice Analytics Companies � A report by Jigsaw Academy | pg15Marketelligent


A note from Annunay Gupta

We use analytics essentially to solve business problems. We work

with clients across the globe and across functions and industries.

From that perspective, we are truly a global firm. We help clients in

3 key areas – strategic reporting and visualization, business analysis

and predictive analytics. We are today essentially a

services/consulting firm. However, we see opportunities in

expanding into the technology area; especially given the power of

big data and machine learning.

What analytics means to us?

Marketelligent

“We use analytics essentially to solve business

problems.


How Marketelligent Hires?

Hiring Process

Requirements for Ideal Candidate

Good grasp of technical fundamentals, Relates to the business problem being solved from a

technical perspective, Who can communicate clearly and cut through the haze.

Interviews

Sources Talents From

Primarily through referrals from current and past associates, Direct applications. Campus

placements, Agencies, Jigsaw Academy

30+Analytics talent hired by

company in 2013

Industry Standard /

Depends on person and the value

they bring

2014Company plans for expansion

in 2014

Stringent hiring process; typically only 1 in 50 gets an offer

Marketelligent

Salary

An Interview with Eliza Matthen

“Analysis is very important for any business today and in the future we

will see more companies demanding information in real time.”

Data analyst, Marketelligent


I did my schooling from The Lawrence School, Lovedale, OOTY. For 12th I

took Science with Biology. I joined St.Xaviers, Mumbai for BSc. Mathematics

being my favorite subject I took a combination of Mathematics, Statistics and

Economics. I found statistics interesting and I finally did BSc Statistics with

Computer Applications. After finishing my degree in 2012 I joined

Marketelligent as an intern for 6 months after which I am continuing as a

consultant. I also like playing badminton , listening to music and watching

movies etc.

Tell us a little about yourself, your academic background?

An analytic company came to St.Xaviers for placement and spoke about their

work which I found very exciting and I thought it is the right platform where I

could put to good use my subject knowledge and skills.

What got you interested in analytics?

I joined in June, 2012.

I am a Business Analyst and I handle the data download,

processing/cleaning, I analyze the data and come up with actionable insights.

The data is then represented in a dashboard format. I also interact with

clients.

When did you join Marketelligent, and what is your job profile?

I would like to gain few year’s experience and then do my Masters in

Business Analytics. I hope to make a career in this field and excel in what I do

5 years from now .

What is your potential career path? Where do you see

yourself 5 years from now?

Marketelligent


On a normal day I come to office around 10am, I download the required data

and process the data in the required format for which I use SAS or SQL. Then

I create reports using Xcelsius or PowerPoint to make it visually appealing

and also provide insights/summary on the reports. This normally ends

around 6.30 pm.

It all really depends on our client needs. Some days it might go on a little

longer as we have calls with our US based clients. We also have team

meeting on some days where each team gives updates about their projects.

There are also training/knowledge transfer that happens simultaneously with

our usual work.

Take us through a typical day in your life.

I am exposed to a lot of modelling techniques, variety of analytical tools, and

the most exciting thing is to be able to implement all that into my work.

Most exciting thing about your job.

I like being part of projects that involve forecasting / predicting and also

working on-site.

Which kind of projects do you like working on most?

Having basic knowledge about SAS, SQL and Excel would help you a lot to

catch up in the field. Do expect yourself to stretch more than the usual

working hours as you might be working with overseas clients.

Any advice for others interested in becoming data scientists?

Analysis is very important in for any business today and in the future we will

see more companies demanding information in real time. This will give them

an edge and help in improving, monitoring and conducting their business, as

well as identifying further opportunities.

What are your predictions for analytics in India?

Marketelligent

Jigsaw academy is the brainchild of Gaurav Vohra and Sarita Digumarti who

together have over 20 years of experience in the analytics industry. Realizing

the great potential of analytics and the boom that is still in a nascent stage,

they founded Jigsaw Academy with the aim of playing a crucial role in the

identifying and nurturing of analytic talent in India and abroad.

Jigsaw Academy provides training to professionals and students on the

latest tools and techniques in the field of analytics. Their unique online

platform provides the best learning experience through a combination of

virtual classroom and labs. The trainers are industry experts who have

applied analytics to solve a variety of business problems in diverse domains

and who bring a wealth of practical experience into the classroom.

Students can opt for live (virtual) classroom training or self-paced video

based courses.

“

www.jigsawacademy.com

www.analyticstraining.com

www.jigsawacademy.com/faqs

[email protected]

+91 98805 44099, 90080 17000

About Jigsaw Academy

Nice Analytics Companies � A report by Jigsaw Academy | pg21About Jigsaw Academy

Nice Analytics Companies � A report by Jigsaw Academy | pg22Annexure - List of analytic companies in India

Niche Analytic Companies in India

We have compiled the following list of niche analytics companies in India based on internet research and interviews with industry

professionals. If we have missed any, please do let us know, so we can update the list in future.

AbsolutData (consumer behaviour analytics) – www.absolutdata.com

Activecubes (sales, marketing, supply chain, operations) – www.activecubes.com/analytics.php

Aegis Global (general – focuses on broad areas) –

www.aegisglobal.com/section_level3.aspx?cont_id=eLxpcOMCwVY=

Affine Analytics (marketing analytics) – www.affineanalytics.com

Bridge i2i Analytics (behavioural modeling & resource planning) – www.bridgei2i.com

Capillary Technologies (retail analytics) – www.capillarytech.com

Cross Tab Analyticshttp (survey analytics, data mining, big data) - www.cross-tab.com/analytics.php

Cytel (clinical & pharma Analytics) – www.cytel.co.in/index.shtml

Data Monitor (general – serves broad areas) – www.datamonitor.com

Datamatics (financial, insurance) – www.datamatics.com/services/information-management/business-

intelligence-analytics

Decidyn(marketing, risk and fraud analytics) - www.decidyn.com/marketing_analytics.php

DecisionCraft(revenue management) - www.decisioncraft.com/data_analtytics.htm

Denuosource (big data management, advanced analytics) - www.denuosource.com

Dexterity (CMI, CRM analytics) - www.dexterity.in/Marketing_&_Customer_Intelligence/Analytics.htm

Dunhumby (retail analytics) – www.dunnhumby.com/in

EVALUESERVE (financial, life sciences analytics) – www.evalueserve.com

EXL Services (acquired Inductis) (general – focuses on broad areas) – www.exlservice.com

Fractal Analytics (customer loyalty, operations) – www.fractalanalytics.com

Gramener (visualization, data analysis) - www.gramener.com

Global Analytics (credit risk, financial, lending) - www.global-analytics.com

Hansa Cequity (data management, customer analytics - www.hansacequity.com

ICRA Technology Services (general – serves broad areas) – www.icteas.com/business_analytics.php

iCreate (banking analytics) – www.icreate.in

Indix (product intelligence) - www.indix.com

Inductis (operations, risk, marketing analytics) - www.exlservice.com/analytics.html

inTouch analytics (customer, talent analytics) - www.be-in-touch.com

Ipsos (marketing analytics) – www.ipsosasiapacific.com

Kiesquare Analytics (marketing, customer, risk analytics) - www.kiesquare.com

Latentview Analytics (marketing, risk analytics) - www.latentview.com

Manhattan Systems (retail analytics) - www.manthansystems.com

Nice Analytics Companies � A report by Jigsaw Academy | pg23Annexure - List of analytic companies in India

Niche Analytic Companies in India

Marketelligent (CPG, Finance, Telecom Analytics) – www.marketelligent.com/home

Meritus (marketing, customer analytics) – www.meritusglobal.com

Modelytics (financial, lending, collections, recovery, retail banking) –

www.modelytics.com/integrated/index.htm

Mu-Sigma (BFSI, retail, healthcare) - www.mu-sigma.com

Nabler (online retail analytics) – www.nabler.com

NettPositive Analytics (marketing, credit risk analytics) – www.nettpositive.com

Neural Techsoft (financial & risk analytics) – www.neuraltechsoft.com

Opera Solutions (general – serves broad areas) – www.operasolutions.com

SilverPush (advertising and mobile analytics) - www.silvrpush.com

SmartAnalyst (life science, healthcare analytics) - www.smartanalyst.com

TNS Global (marketing analytics) - www.tnsglobal.com

Transunion (financial, healthcare analytics) - www.transunion.com/corporate/business/business.page

Vehere Interactive (telecom, financial) – www.vehereinteractive.com

White Capers (risk and fraud) - www.whitecapers.com

WNS Analytics (acquired Marketics) (marketing, consumer behaviour analytics) –

www.wns.com/Services/Cross-Industry-Solutions/Research-and-Analytics.aspx

GMID Associates (finance, risk, marketing) - www.thegmid.com

Market Equations (Finance, marketing) - www.marketequations.com

jigsaw report niche companies

Documents