These are the presentations made by the IBM Decision Optimization team at INFORMS Analytics, California, April 2015

Arnold Mark Wells Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics. An Example: Advanced Sales and Operations Planning
See how descriptive and prescriptive analytics come together in an end-to-end business solution.
Analytics2015_PredictivePrescriptiveAnalyticsSOP

Susara van den Heever Introducing Decision Optimization Cloud (beta)
Learn how to leverage IBM Decision Optimization on Cloud, including

• DropSolve to solve your models on the cloud with a 1-step drag-and-drop.
• DOcloud API to embed CPLEX Optimizer on the cloud in your business application.

Analytics2015_DOcloud

Michel Jaczynski How to Leverage IBM Decision Optimization on Cloud (beta). DOcloud API and Architecture Tutorial
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to leverage IBM Decision Optimization on Cloud in your business, and specifically how use the DOcloud API to embed optimization functionality into your application. You will take the role of the IT lead working for a shipping company. Your goal is to use IBM Decision Optimization on Cloud to reduce the cost of software and hardware ownership for your business, as well as access CPLEX Optimizer on powerful servers on the cloud. You are in charge of an application to assign trucks to shipping routes, so as to minimize transshipment costs and meet volume requirements. Topics covered in this tutorial and illustrated via the example, include:

• The benefits of using IBM Decision Optimization on Cloud
• Accessing the service (API keys and security)
• Preparing your OPL project and using the JSON data format
• Using the Java client and REST API to integrate with your application
• Accessing documentations, samples, and the community

Analytics2015_DOcloudAPI

Susara van den Heever How to Leverage Optimization in a New Generation of User-Centric Analytics Platforms
Even though many Line-of-Business users emphasize the importance of analytics, several of them identify significant obstacles in applying analytics effectively, such as complexity of available tools, limited access to data, and limited time. Recent advances in cloud and cognitive computing made possible a new generation of analytics platforms which focus on delighting users and simplifying collaboration, without requiring in-depth knowledge of underlying analytics techniques.
In this talk, you will learn:

• How we envision optimization as part of this user-centric analytics experience, together with descriptive and predictive analytics.
• How advances in natural language processing, cognitive computing, visual tools, and mobile and social sharing combine for a more delightful optimization experience.
• How these new platforms could expose self-serve optimization to a wider range of business functions.
• Through a case study involving a sales manager, how to use these platforms to tell a compelling end-to-end analytics story, highlighting the benefits of optimization.

Analytics2015_OptimizationInUserCentricAnalytics

Mary Fenelon Model Development and Solving with CPLEX Optimization Studio
Model development proceeds from problem definition to a mathematical model to solution and then presentation of results. CPLEX Optimization Studio supports this process and the revision cycles that inevitably follow through its integrated modeling language, profiling, tuning, infeasibility analysis, and batch solving features. This process is illustrated with a marketing campaign optimization model which takes as input the results from an SPSS Modeler predictive model. An update on the CPLEX Optimizers is also included.
Analytics2015_CPLEX