Deloitte acquires Pathfinder Solutions
11th February 2010
Professional services firm Deloitte today announced an expansion of the Deloitte Analytics group with the acquisition of leading marketing and business insights specialist boutique firm Pathfinder Solutions (Pathfinder).A team of 15 from Pathfinder, comprising eight senior business analysts in Melbourne, six in Sydney and one in New Zealand will join Deloitte in mid February. The integration will increase Deloitte’s Analytics and Information Management practices, the largest in Australia, from an existing national group of 155 to 170 professionals.
This acquisition will ensure that Deloitte now offers a full suite of data analytic, information management and consulting services in the areas of strategy, operational improvement, human capital, forensics, and technology.
Deloitte’s CEO Giam Swiegers highlighted the firm’s belief that the future would revolve around information and data management. Yet the majority of organisations in Australia had data available that was not being used to answer some of their most difficult and long held challenges.
“Over the last three years Deloitte have made a number of strategic acquisitions that have firmly positioned us as the largest business-centric data analytics and information management provider in Australia,” he said.
“This recent acquisition will increase Deloitte’s capacity to assist organisations in highly advanced customer segmentation approaches in such sectors as financial services, retail, telecommunications and FMCG, in insurance pricing and risk management and with the efficient targeting of sales force teams.
“Advanced data analytics methodologies are increasingly providing the means by which organisations better use the huge volumes of data available to them more effectively in their decision making processes. It minimises “gut instinct decisions’ by giving clarity based on substantial empirical evidence.
“Data analytics or predictive analytics provides insights into cost and revenue drivers by sourcing and optimising data, analysing and interpreting the result, and then modelling and predicting scenarios.”
The Pathfinder team will bring to Deloitte its market leading business insights based on advanced analytics by including factors such as:
- Census data projected to current year
- Household expenditure data projected to current year
- Daytime population
- A world class Geodemorgraphics neighbourhood classification system to profile, compare and rank customer bases in Australian and New Zealand organisations
- World-leading methodologies for the pricing of insurance risk and climate change forecasting scenarios.
Anthony Viel, head of Deloitte Analytics said, “Organisations are increasingly demanding data management, modelling and insight solutions to better address marketing, consumer demand, fraud, strategic procurement, asset management and employee management challenges, as well as the competitive influx of the global economy.
“This acquisition ensures Deloitte is well positioned to efficiently and effectively help large financial institutions, retailers, telecommunication companies, energy providers and other organisations with large data sets,” he said.
Expanded customer behaviour modelling
“In particular, this move strengthens Deloitte’s sales and marketing analytics offerings, such as buyer behaviour analysis, identifying possible sources of opportunity or risk, developing strategies for ‘win back’ of market share, customer needs analysis and understanding the best channels to key customer segments,” added Mr Viel.
Pathfinder Solutions has had a highly regarded track record in providing customer behaviour modelling services, data solutions, Geodemorgraphics and marketing experience.
Pathfinder Solution founding Director David McCloskey said his nine year old firm decided to integrate with Deloitte to access the global resources needed to extend its client service offering.
“Deloitte Analytics has a highly regarded track record in providing financial crime detection, supply chain logistics, customer behaviour modelling services, credit risk profiling and strategic marketing experience,” said Mr McCloskey.
“We also share a fundamental cultural and strategic vision: to stay at the forefront of business analytics. Not only does Deloitte work with some of Australia’s biggest companies and their disciplines, but its technologies and analytics team deliver premium data analytic and consulting services to clients around the globe.
“This is a journey we want to be part of,” said Mr McCloskey.
