Spotlight: Business Analytics

Ivy Mar 19, 2014 No Comments

Spotlight: Business Analytics

What data should I collect? What does the data tell me?

Why does it show this trend?

What is likely to occur based on what has happened in the past?

How can I optimize outcomes? What will happen if X is changed?

What else does the data tell me that I never thought to ask?

One of the widely advertised job position is that of a Business Analyst, whether by a SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) or a corporate organisation. While roles may differ with the volume of data handled or business goals to be achieved, the job of business analytics is almost universal. It involves continuous exploration of data and analysis, for better insights into business performance, drive business planning and predictive modeling.

Business Analytics has emerged as a specialized domain growing at an annual rate of about 30 per cent. Besides offering a challenging and diversified job role, the pay packet is very lucrative.

The exponential growth of data and the need to sustain competitive edge has made business analytics a specialized domain, used across industries and functions like Banking and Insurance, IT, Human Resource, and others. People, technologies, business processes are deployed for fact-based decisions, problem resolution and predictive as well as prescriptive answers using an analytical approach and special tools and techniques.

  

Tools and techniques for Business Analytics
data mining	pattern matching	data visualization	predictive analysis
A/B testing	multivariate testing	statistical and quantitative analysis	computational modeling
enterprise decision management	predictive science	strategy science	predictive modelling

Defining Business Analytics

Business analytics is comprised of solutions used to build analysis models and simulations to create scenarios, understand realities and predict future states. Business analytics includes data mining, predictive analytics, applied analytics and statistics, and is delivered as an application suitable for a business user. These analytics solutions often come with prebuilt industry content that is targeted at an industry business process, for example, claims, underwriting or a specific regulatory requirement.

(This definition has been taken from Gartner)

What value does Business Analytics bring to an organisation?

Fine-tunes decision-making	Better alignment of resources with strategies
Achieves cost efficiencies	Delivers new, real-time business insights
Improves execution of processes & business outcomes	Manages uncertainty and process variability
Predicts future trend & mitigate risks	Expedites innovation
Complements existing BI tools / Big Data technologies
Optimises all decisions – whether individual /embedded in automated systems
Delivers insights – historic reporting -> real-time analysis -> predictive modeling

 It is an established fact that data-driven organizations are more profitable and productive. By leveraging predictive analytics to anticipate changes in the marketplace, a business gains competitive advantage. This requires integration of descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analytics in its decision-making processes.

Business Analytics for Competitive Advantage -> Develops Data-Driven Approaches to Managerial Decisions using these key Analytics capabilitiesDescriptive Analytics: What happened?

Diagnostic Analytics: Why did it happen?

Predictive Analytics: What is likely to happen?

Prescriptive Analytics: What should I do about it?

 Today, businesses whether big or small, apply a broad-based business analytics driven culture to achieve excellence and growth, make informed and optimised decisions, improve outcomes and manage risk which sets them apart.

 

Suggested read & free demo: Harness Your Machine Data to Gain Valuable Real-time Insights for the Business – Splunk for Business Analytics