Data is the hottest topic in business today. In discussions that range from understanding performance to predicting future outcomes, data is at the core. However, data has a bad reputation. Because businesses have been collecting data for decades, the amount that we must analyze can seem insurmountable. Simply saying “data” is enough to conjure images of someone poring over a thick stack of spreadsheets, manually going through row after row to identify performance, trends and figure out what to do with them.
This intimidating view is all too common. It’s not enough to just have “beautiful reports.” You want the right data, with accurate insights, so you can put them to work for you. Your analytics solution has to have the smarts to help you make your plans, answer your questions, and surface related insights from questions you didn’t even know you should ask. But why stop there? Operationalize your insights back into your business processes.