Lone Star Analysis : Leveraging Business operations with Powerful Solutions

Steve Roemerman, Chairman

Headquartered in Texas, Lone Star Analysis provides cutting-edge predictive and prescriptive analytics to improve operational performance. In an interview with CIO Applications, CEO Steve Roemerman shares insights about trends in the market, and how his company is positioned.

What is Lone Star’s formula for success?

Our solutions are transparent. Doing glass box analysis, avoiding black boxes, is a mantra for us. Transparency makes it easier for executives to see deeply into the analytics from our solutions. Our clients deploy true cause-and-effect operational solutions at their point of need.

What are the recent trends impacting the industry and how is Lone Star aligning to them?

The most important trend is shifting from pilot programs to real value creation. Customers are defining use cases with significant value. We call this “Return on Analysis.” ROA paybacks are big multiples; not just a few percent.

Enterprises also want to move beyond simple extrapolation of trends. They want sophisticated prediction, and want ‘prescriptions’ providing foresight of upcoming challenges along with remedies. They want to take the right action at the right time.

All three trends are supported by our solution platforms, AnalyticsOS and TruNavigator (TruNav). They help customers gain visibility into their operations. Real prescriptive analytics help see through silo boundaries.

Third would be releasing value trapped between enterprise silos. As that value is unlocked, organizational lines become fuzzy. Blurring of boundaries is both an opportunity and a challenge for CIOs entering the domains of other C-level executives.

Doing glass box analysis and avoiding black boxes is a mantra for us

Generating significant Return on Analytics helps with corporate cultural challenges.

How do your solutions work?

We believe Return on Analysis should be big and fast.

Our processes leverages knowledge within an enterprise. We map their causes and effects with terms they prefer. Their analysis inputs and outputs are easy to understand even when facing real uncertainty. We provide training to help clients leverage their new applications. This approach begins delivering value in just a few weeks.

Both AOS and TruNav leverage cause-effect relationships, but there are differences. AOS is designed to incorporate real-time data feeds from IoT sensors. For TruNav, the “Point of Need” is usually a human. TruNav solutions allow different enterprise users to have their own input and output dashboards.

For IoT solutions in AOS, the “Point of Need” is more likely to be where analytics take place. A remote oil pad may have limited network access, so doing analytics on a gateway there might be best.

Both are designed to deliver prescriptive results at the Point of Need. Return on Analytics should be big, fast, and where it’s needed.

How does Lone Star plan to thwart the market competition?

One competitive weapon is operational focus. We believe analytics must solve real problems for CMOs who drive top line growth, and for COOs who own the bottom line. That gives us a different DNA than teams with IT or accounting backgrounds.

Our approach is pragmatic. Some predictive analytics platforms have an academic perspective; what data ought to be collected, how complete and clean it should to be. In ivy-covered buildings it sounds wonderful. But the real world is messy. Customers can tell the difference between our approach and theory.

What does the future hold for your organization?

We are constantly upgrading both platforms. We are also developing new off-the-shelf solutions for both platforms. We have contracted for a third facility expansion later this year. We have recently opened an office in Houston (aimed at the energy industry).