The Challenge

Peregrine Systems decided to develop groundbreaking predictive software to help CIOs determine in advance how staffing and infrastructure changes would affect their businesses. Combining data analytics, simulation, and optimization the software would support “what-if” scenarios and actually learn from real and simulated input.

The Solution

The project required a team of data analytics professionals and software developers who could accomplish something as yet unknown in the industry. Working directly with Peregrine executives and engineers in San Diego, Elder Research developed an analytic engine to simulate and optimize the effects of changing staffing levels, organization structure, hardware, software, and service levels. Determining the optimal staffing solution required decisions across many dimensions (pink area shows the optimal operating point for a given set of constraints).

Peregrine 4Results

The challenging development goals for the project were met on time and under budget. The concept, which Peregrine named DecisionCenter, proved revolutionary, and some industry analysts believe it played a key role in Hewlett Packard’s decision to acquire Peregrine. According to Tom Tobin, former VP of Product Development, “Elder Research’s experience in financial and marketing analytics gave them the ability to solve our complex optimization problems from a unique perspective and helped Peregrine establish thought leadership in our market.”

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