Citation for the Ranyard Medal 2022
Shylu John, Bhavin Shah, Varun Dixit & Amol Wani
An integrated approach to renew software contract using machine learning.
As its title suggests, improving the rates of software contract in a b2b setting is an important element in improving profitability. While the topic is not new, its focus on resellers and the effective use of limited data in developing a model that targets resellers for interventions is novel.
The paper’s strength lies in the careful identification of the factors affecting contract renewal that by using cluster analysis establishes profiles of four groups of resellers with very different success rates. With limited resources only the poorer performing resellers could be helped to improve through for example earlier timely customer contact.
The analysis has been implemented through a R software tool, with graphic interface and has led to improvements of 4-7 percent in the renewal rate.
Overall, the paper is an effective demonstration of all aspects of business analytics, from problem structure through to software implementation.
Journal of Business Analytics, Volume 4 (1) 14-25
https://doi.org/10.1080/2573234X.2020.1863749