Constrained optimization results in dramatic improvements in the accuracy and quality of your data analysis. That means you make the most informed, insightful business decisions possible.
So why isn’t everyone using constrained optimization? Assuming your business is large enough to need it, that is.
First, let’s talk about assumptions and business. Since enterprises have invested so much in big data and IT, the primary assumption they may have is that the reporting and analysis are already in place to make the most informed possible decisions.
That’s not necessarily the case.
Many organizations don’t have the analytic tools they need to manage large volumes of data and may be missing a very important technique, constrained optimization, to make better decisions for their business.
Why Constrained Optimization is the Missing Link
There are many reasons for this limiting assumption, but let’s focus on the top three: the way we’ve always done it, growing data volumes, and accuracy, or the lack of.
1. The way we’ve always done it.
We’ve used paper and calculators, spreadsheets, and more recently business intelligence systems to analyze our information. These tools deliver results that end up being presented to management or decisions makers. Then folks debate the data and what it means, from their unique perspectives.
That’s the problem. People continue to think and do the way they’ve always done it and assume it’s enough. What’s even more of a problem is that constrained optimization techniques can give you the results that show you the obvious decisions, no debate, no personal filters.
That’s why we call Qatalyst quantum optimization software, not quantum you figure it out software.
Quantum-ready optimization software delivers a range of solutions that meet all of your constraints while meeting or exceeding your objectives. You still get to review and make the decisions, but the software gives you the expanded options you never would have found if you only used humans and perceptions looking at dashboards, reports, or spreadsheets.
2. More data, more insights, more complexity.
We all know that more data means better insights, right?
Not really.
It is true if you can actually analyze the data. Which is the problem today, and the increasing problem every day hereafter.
Classical computing systems can’t process the volumes of data we are collecting. They weren’t designed for it. Instead, analysts have to compress and reduce the data to run a computation, which means the results are not as good as they should be. It means they can’t use all the volumes of data we are collecting to get those better results.
That’s why quantum computing is such a top-of-mind conversation in IT and business circles these days. Quantum computers will solve the issues of big data. They process in a way that simulates the world we live in.
They will process large data models to simulate what would actually happen in the real world if you changed different things in your business. They will model all your potential outcomes to show you the best decisions you can make – more effectively using ALL of your data.
3. How accurate is accurate?
We’ve always assumed that a computer is the most accurate method to do any form of analysis. That’s changing, thanks again to big data.
The computers we use today, classical computers, are designed to process binary bits (1s or 0s) serially. Their hardware processors have gotten faster and faster, but that’s not enough. The massive data volumes, combined with the interrelationships between all of our data, have outpaced our classical computers.
Not only do they struggle to process the large volumes. They also struggle to give accurate, high-quality answers to optimization requests. If they don’t falter completely, they often give only a single probable answer, and it may or may not be accurate.
Enter quantum computers.
Quantum computers process data in a three-dimensional space using multi-faceted qubits. More simply, Quantum computers simulate our real-world. They process data and relationships in 3 dimensions, just as we live.
That means they will be able to process much larger volumes of data, even as they simulate all of the inter-relationships between data as they exist, or could exist, in reality.
For optimization, quantum computers map your data into a 3 dimensional, real-world simulation that depicts the individual data elements and all the relationships. They then simulate probable situations that will result from potential changes in that data. These situations reflect the results you’d experience in the real world.
But quantum computers will deliver more than highly accurate solutions for optimization. They will also deliver a diversity of solutions, any of which meet the goals of your optimization. You will get more solutions that are more accurate, using all of the data you’ve paid so much to collect and store. And your business will thrive.
The Bottom Line
One of the biggest challenges in business is our mindsets and assumptions. That’s especially true when it comes to assumptions that have been true in the past, but which are waning thanks to changes in our dynamic world.
Business optimization has the opportunity to take advantage of powerful new technologies and approaches to fuel your business efficiency and increase bottom lines.
Constrained optimization, using quantum-ready software, is one new approach that is ready for your business growth, right now. What are you waiting for?
