Professional services firm Deloitte is expanding its Analytics group with the acquisition of marketing and business insights specialist boutique firm Pathfinder Solutions.

A team of 15 from Pathfinder, comprising eight senior business analysts in Melbourne, six in Sydney and one in New Zealand will join Deloitte. The integration will increase Deloitte’s Analytics and Information Management practices, from an existing national group of 155 to 170 professionals.

Deloitte's $10 million investment in a Sydney data centre will support the operations of Analytics, forensics and ediscovery.

Deloitte CEO Giam Swiegers said the majority of organisations in Australia had data available that was not being used to answer some of their most difficult and long held challenges.

“Over the last three years Deloitte have made a number of strategic acquisitions that have firmly positioned us as the largest business-centric data analytics and information management provider in Australia,” he said.

“This recent acquisition will increase Deloitte’s capacity to assist organisations in highly advanced customer segmentation approaches in such sectors as financial services, retail, telecommunications and FMCG, in insurance pricing and risk management and with the efficient targeting of sales force teams.

“Advanced data analytics methodologies are increasingly providing the means by which organisations better use the huge volumes of data available to them more effectively in their decision making processes. It minimises “gut instinct decisions’ by giving clarity based on substantial empirical evidence.

“Data analytics or predictive analytics provides insights into cost and revenue drivers by sourcing and optimising data, analysing and interpreting the result, and then modelling and predicting scenarios.”

Pathfinder has developed its own methodologies for providing "geodemographic" neighbourhood classification and the pricing of insurance risk and climate change forecasting scenarios.

Anthony Viel, head of Deloitte Analytics said, “Organisations are increasingly demanding data management, modelling and insight solutions to better address marketing, consumer demand, fraud, strategic procurement, asset management and employee management challenges, as well as the competitive influx of the global economy.

“This acquisition ensures Deloitte is well positioned to efficiently and effectively help large financial institutions, retailers, telecommunication companies, energy providers and other organisations with large data sets,” he said.

“In particular, this move strengthens Deloitte’s sales and marketing analytics offerings, such as buyer behaviour analysis, identifying possible sources of opportunity or risk, developing strategies for ‘win back’ of market share, customer needs analysis and understanding the best channels to key customer segments,” added Mr Viel.