| Type | Private Ownership |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software as a Service |
| Founded | 1999 [1] |
| Founder(s) |
Jim Manzi, Chairman[2] |
| Headquarters | Arlington, VA[1] |
| Key people |
Patrick O'Reilly, President & COO[2] |
| Employees | 150 |
| Website | www.predictivetechnologies.com |
Applied Predictive Technologies (APT) is a software company that provides business analytics software, designed to help large, consumer-facing businesses "reduce the risk of any new initiative by systematically testing the idea with a subset of stores, customers, or employees."[3] APT argues that using systematic testing enables companies to measure the true incremental impact of any new initiative.[4] It's "core value proposition is helping clients innovate more effectively through trial and error."[5]
Contents |
APT was founded in 1999 by business consultanting executives Jim Manzi (Oliver Wyman), Anthony Bruce (McKinsey & Company), and Scott Setrakian (Oliver Wyman)[6]. Of founding APT, Manzi explained to The Washington Post that "a lot of the work I was doing as a consultant was very repetitive. I realized how much of it could be put into a software model.”[7] With venture capital from Devon Partners, it took Manzi and Bruce less than a year to develop and launch APT’s software tool. In 2006, the firm was acquired by Accel-KKR, a private equity firm[8].
APT is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia and has regional offices in San Francisco, London, and Taipei.[9]. Recently named one of the top 10 tech companies to watch in 2012 by American Banker,[10] APT's clients span a wide range of industries and include Abercrombie & Fitch, Wendy's, Starbucks, Subway, Kraft Foods, Royal Bank of Canada, and more than 40 of the Fortune 500[11][12].
APT's software takes a statistically rigorous test and learn approach to business analytics, in which proposed changes are tried out on a small scale and then analyzed before being implemented everywhere. APT's approach is follows a larger business trend, evidence-based management, in which the scientific method is applied to business decision making. APT's software automates the cycle described by the Harvard Business Review[13]:
APT's software has been noted for its emphasis on ease of use in test design and analysis[13] and also for its ability to present both a high-level summary of a test and deep analysis of the specific attributes that affect performance in the test[12].
APT's Test and Learn for Sites software has been used for Wawa's tests on adding personnel[12], IHG's tests on capital upgrades and promotional offers[14], and Royal Bank of Canada's in-market tests on distribution operations strategies[15]. APT has also done work with Google in analyzing the impact of online advertising on bricks and mortar stores[16]. APT differentiates itself from competitors by offering a unique approach, emphasizing conducting tests to gather data instead of simply simulating it.
APT's competitors consist of companies like SAS or JDA Software[17], which produce software that can be used for general business analysis. Such packages are typically broad in scope[13], focusing on overall statistical analysis rather than on test and learn experimentation specifically. APT's analytical tools also compete with market research companies such as Nielsen and Information Resources, Inc. and internal analysis tools (like the experiment management solutions that have been developed by companies such as eBay and CapitalOne[13]).
APT sells a number of products, each focused on a particular area of analysis. Test and Learn for Sites is APT's flagship product. APT provides its products as web applications using the software as a service model: companies connect to APT's web servers using login information provided by APT, the computations are run on the servers, and options and results are displayed in the user's web browser[6]. APT's current products include: