FICO Set to Acquire InfoCentricity - Analyst Blog

In an effort to augment its market presence, Fair Isaac Corporation FICO has decided to acquire InfoCentricity, a CA-based private, software-as-a-service SAAS-based predictive analytics software company. Subject to regulatory approvals and fulfillment of customary conditions, the transaction is expected to conclude in Apr 2014. Although the financial details were not disclosed, the transaction is expected to be neutral to the company's 2014 financial results.

The Acquiree

InfoCentricity has a strong portfolio of analytic platforms including Xeno and Strategy Trees product lines. Designed with an adaptable modular structure and user-friendly interface, Xeno conforms to all levels of analytic sophistication, fulfilling the requirements of various risk management and marketing functions across a diverse range of industries. Xeno's state-of-the-art analytics platform accelerates the discovery of critical business insights, without the need for capital investments in software installation, integration and maintenance.

Its Strategy Trees' superior interface increases productivity and permits users to evaluate present lending criteria or segment populations of interest and analyze treatments in decision trees. The online platform can be used to develop diverse strategies from marketing segmentation to collections prioritization. It ensures that prospects and customers are matched with the treatments and outcomes beneficial to engagement and business results.

Demand Drivers

The requirements of progressive mobile consumers, coupled with stringent regulations and emergence of Big Data technologies are making it imperative for companies to incorporate analytics to improve bottom-line performance as well as enhance customer experience. For clients in highly regulated industries, where control and transparency are critical to the analytic development process, InfoCentricity's technology provides a high degree of control over model inputs, a collaboration framework for model developers, and auditable, transparent model results.
 
Key Takeaways

InfoCentricity's platforms will add rich content to Fair Isaac's significant arsenal of analytic development tools which businesses use to unlock the power of data to streamline operations. InfoCentricity's solutions will be integrated into three important Fair Isaac offerings: the FICO Decision Management Platform, the FICO Model Central and the FICO Model Builder.

This collaboration is set to create the most comprehensive Cloud and on-premise offering for predictive analytics modeling, as Fair Isaac leverages InfoCentricity's extensive experience and dominant expertise. The merged faculties of the two entities will bring deep insight, control and clarity to the model-building process, facilitating the creation of exceptional predictive models and decision strategies.

Besides valuable technology, this acquisition also enhances Fair Isaac's blue-chip clientele in financial services, retail and other industries, at the same time augmenting its gifted, skilled team of analytic scientists and developers.

This partnership heralds great opportunities for InfoCentricity as its products will be accessible to an entire spectrum of potential customers, ranging from amateur modelers to veteran business analysts, advanced data scientists and experienced analytics professionals. InfoCentricity's clients and partners will profit from Fair Isaac's global footprint, domain expertise and consulting capabilities, as well as gain access to dominant analytics tools and solutions.

Fair Isaac currently holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other stocks in the industry that look promising include Acxiom Corporation ACXM, Amdocs Limited DOX and GTT Communications, Inc. GTT, all of which carry a Zacks Rank #2.