Only a few years ago, analytics was considered a buzzword. In sports, it ignited new arguments pitting the geeks with spreadsheets against the old guard that cherished the concept of the eyeball test when assessing player and team performance. But just like with everywhere else, the geeks have asserted their dominance in the front offices of the professional sports world.
In business, however, the eyeball test was never so revered, and the value of analytics was never really a question, but the advent of cloud-based business software unleashed its scalability…and now every business—SMB to enterprise level—wants to get in on the fun!
Benefits of Making Analytics-Driven Business Decisions
Insights gained from business analytics allows companies to automate and optimize their business processes. The resulting competitive advantages include:
- The ability to mine data to explore a wide range of patterns and relationships
- The capability to conduct statistical and quantitative analyses
- The option to conduct A/B split testing and multivariate testing—especially useful in gauging the
effectiveness of marketing tactics - Using predictive modeling and analytics for financial forecasting
- Automation of certain types of decision-making
- Support and “reality checks” for tactical and strategic decisions
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for implementing business analytics, and it’s usually not a quick process. However, there are some best practices that have emerged. Here are three of the most important ones:
- Define and understand your business use case for analytics and the goals you have for your business analytics program.
- Be clear on your metrics for success.
- Understand the strengths and weaknesses of the business analytics methodologies you choose, and be aware of the data and relevant internal and external factors.
Business analytics is no longer an option for success in the modern business world—even for SMBs. At Imaging Office Systems, we understand the full scope of the factors involved, and we’re ready to help you do the same and implement a cloud-based business analytics infrastructure for your company.