Analytics continues to play a critical role in helping organizations evolve. Nine in 10 business and enterprise analytics professionals consider analyzing data to be key to their companies’ digital transformation initiatives, according to a recent MicroStrategy reportOpens a new window .
And this only looks set to swell in the coming year, with an estimated 2.7 million current job postings for roles based around data science and analyticsOpens a new window .
But analytics trends come and go. You can gain a competitive edge by planning strategies and investing in the right analytics technologies if you know what trends are coming your way in the next 12 months.
So, with that in mind, here are six of the top analytics trends right now.
1. Self-Serve Analytics
“Users want tools with self-service capabilities,†says Rod Johnson, general manager and head of the Americas for ERP maker InforOpens a new window . “They don’t have the time or resources to ask the IT team to create customized reports.â€
Organizations can expect to see more industry-based and role-based data models and analytics which can save them weeks, if not months, of work developing analytics from scratch, according to Johnson.
The growth of self-serve analytics will empower businesses with a time-saving, cost-effective way to evaluate data. This will allow SMBs to gain deep insights into their performance, customer behavior, and issues without the need for in-house experts.
This growing emphasis on self-serve analytics will make forecasting simpler as artificial intelligence becomes more widespread. Reducing the amount of human input required in gathering and interpreting data will help users make better data-driven decisions in less time.
“Machine learning and AI will play key roles in supporting and expanding the power of predictive and prescriptive analytics, which will give businesses the ability to construct new analysis and determine how to resolve issues,†adds Paul Farrell, vice president of product management at NetSuiteOpens a new window .
2. Mobile Analytics
“Mobile delivery of analytics is becoming increasingly important, whether it is to support the manager on the factory floor making real-time decisions or to support executives as they travel to see customers and suppliers,†says Johnson. “Data must be consumable and digestible, able to be transformed into action.â€
Mobile should be a priority for businesses and organizations focused on delivering the most comprehensive, convenient experience. The United States will be home to an estimated 275 million mobile internet usersOpens a new window by 2022.
And by 2025, almost 75 percent of the world’s population will just use their smartphones to go onlineOpens a new window .
This makes analyzing user and customer experiences via mobile platforms crucial to gain a true insight at any place, any time. Decision makers can make pivotal choices when they need to be made without having to wait until they’re back in the office or at a computer.
3. Analytics by Context
Analytics enables users to take action, and emphasizing contextual design will make the process more streamlined and intuitive. Businesses should have access to the data they need for a specific application when they need it.
This is where machine learning is a core benefit. Machine learning is not only driving innovative platforms to analyze data with reduced manual input, but it is contributing to valuable insights too.
“Always on and working in the background, machine learning is continuously studying input data, increasing accuracy over time and allowing the system to unlock patterns, predict trends and provide unbiased recommendations,†notes Ash Baipai, senior director of product management for ERP and SCM analytics at OracleOpens a new window .
4. Process Automation Analytics
Tools which automate tasks and processes have become increasingly prevalent in the past decade, with everything from marketing emails to customer support becoming automated.
But analytics applications will handle extra heavy lifting by recommending specific actions based on insights. Patterns inherent in historical data will enable the application to recognize the next step in processes and take that action, saving users time.
For example, augmented domain analytics applications might recommend that an HR manager enroll employees into specific training programs based on early attrition-detection insights, according to Baipai.
5. AI to Clarify and Simplify Company Data
“Organizations now have a good grasp on big data,†says Chris Devault, a consultant at Panorama ConsultingOpens a new window . “Business intelligence is helping organizations paint a full picture of the business and make better-informed decisions in real time. Predictive analytical tools are more mature these days and provide an organization the ability to look into the future through many different lenses.â€
Businesses need to understand their current position and how this may change in the face of oncoming trends or market shifts. This forecasting helps leaders determine which actions they have to take to succeed, or at least minimize issues.
“Predictive analytics will lead to system-generated recommendations to support decision making,†adds Sven Denecken, senior vice president of product management and co-innovation at SAPOpens a new window .
6. Native Analytics in ERP
“Analytics are being increasingly embedded into ERP systems, so that users don’t have to navigate to a separate system,†says Jonathan Gross, managing director for Pemeco ConsultingOpens a new window .
Switching from one system to another to view analytics and insights is an inconvenience teams can do without, which has made native analytics baked into ERP a growing trend.
Integrating analytics tools reinforces ERP’s role as an all-in-one solution for businesses to stay connected, on track, and adaptive to oncoming change. Decision makers can pull data from all areas of the business and digest analytics without leaving their ERP system.
These six analytics trends demonstrate how vital automation, machine learning, and contextual functionality is becoming for businesses looking to make data-driven choices.
Companies on all scales have the means to deliver the standard of products, services and support their target clients are looking for. This means there will be less reason to fall short of expectations in the coming year and beyond.