Analytics Magazine Analytics Magazine, May/June 2014 | Page 54

ADVEN T U RE S I N C O NS U LT I NG What’s a defense consulting company doing in sports? BY STEPHEN CHAMBAL he Perduco Group is a small defense consulting company in Dayton, Ohio, near Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB). The company specializes in high-end data analytics with core competencies in data architecting, business intelligence and business analytics. Perduco was formed in 2011 and has grown rapidly to 21 employees. Twenty of those employees are working in the defense space, and one, Dr. Jacob Loeffelholz, is the lead for a strategic push into the sports domain. Now, what is a defense consulting company doing with a director for sports analytics? The easy answer is simple: sports are fun. However, the real T 54 | A N A LY T I C S - M A G A Z I N E . O R G answer is more tied to core capabilities, business opportunity, two chance encounters and a willingness to believe in what you’re doing! BIG, UGLY DATA Perduco’s data competency is tied to integrating and aggregating big, ugly data. This includes the use of enterprise data architecting to build the data infrastructure required when solving client problems. On the analytics side, the company specializes in advanced or predictive analytics and has broad-based expertise and experience in the field of operations research (O.R.). This core capability in O.R., coupled with an ability to visualize W W W. I N F O R M S . O R G