Next-Generation Analytics: Four Findings from TDWI’s Latest Best Practices Report

I recently completed TDWI’s latest Best Practices Report: Next Generation Analytics and Platforms for Business Success. Although the phrase “next-generation analytics and platforms” can evoke images of machine learning, big data, Hadoop, and the Internet of things (IoT), most organizations are somewhere in between the technology vision and today’s reality of BI and dashboards. For some organizations, next generation can simply mean pushing past reports and dashboards to more advanced forms, such as predictive analytics. Next-generation analytics might move your organization from visualization to big data visualization; from slicing and dicing data to predictive analytics; or to using more than just structured data for analysis. The market is on the cusp of moving forward.

What are some of the newer next-generation steps that companies are taking to move ahead?

• Moving to predictive analytics. Predictive analytics is a statistical or data mining technique that can be used on both structured and unstructured data to determine outcomes such as whether a customer will “leave or stay” or “buy or not buy.” Predictive analytics models provide probabilities of certain outcomes. Popular use cases include churn analysis, fraud analysis, and predictive maintenance. Predictive analytics is gaining momentum and the market is primed for growth, if users stick to their plans and if they can be successful with the technology. In this case, 39% of respondents stated they are using predictive analytics today, and an additional 46% are planning to use it in the next few years . Often organizations move in fits and starts when it comes to more advanced analytics, but predictive analytics along with other techniques such as geospatial analytics, text analytics, social media analytics, and stream mining are gaining interest in the market.
• Adding disparate data to the mix. Currently, 94% of respondents stated they are using structured data for analytics, and 68% are enriching this structured data with demographic data for analysis. However, companies are also getting interested in other kinds of data. Sources such as internal text data (today 27%), external Web data (today 29%), and external social media data (today 19%) are set to double or even triple in use for analysis over the next three years. Likewise, while IoT data is used by fewer than 20% of respondents today, another 34% are expecting to use it in the next three years. Real-time streaming data, which goes hand in hand with IoT data, is also set to grow in use (today 18%).
• Operationalizing and embedding analytics. Operationalizing refers to making analytics part of a business process; i.e., deploying analytics into production. In this way, the output of analytics can be acted upon. Operationalizing occurs in different ways. It may be as simple as manually routing all claims that seem to have a high probability of fraud to a special investigation unit, or it might be as complex as embedding analytics in a system that automatically takes action based on the analytics. The market is still relatively new to this concept. Twenty-five percent have not operationalized their analytics, and another 15% stated they operationalize using manual approaches. Less than 10% embed analytics in system processes to operationalize it.
• Investing in skills. Respondents cited the lack of skilled personnel as a top challenge for next-generation analytics. To overcome this challenge, some respondents talked about hiring fewer but more skilled personnel such as data analysts and data scientists. Others talked about training from within because current employees understand the business. Our survey revealed that many organizations are doing both. Additionally, some organizations are building competency centers where they can train from within. Where funding is limited, organizations are engaging in self-study.

These are only a few of the findings in this Best Practices Report.  To download the complete report click here.

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