Business analytics involves using data analysis tools and techniques to gain insights and make data-driven decisions
within an organization.
It encompasses various approaches such as statistical analysis, predictive modeling, data mining, and data
visualization to understand patterns, trends, and correlations in business data. It's a crucial aspect of modern business
operations, helping companies optimize processes, improve efficiency, and identify new opportunities for growth
Data analytics can be sourced from various internal and external sources:
Internal Data Sources
Sales Data: Transaction and revenue information.
Financial Data: Accounting records and financial reports.
Operational Data: Supply chain, inventory, and production metrics.
Employee Data: HR records and payroll.
Customer Data: CRM and feedback.
Marketing Data: Campaign performance metrics.
External Data Sources
Market Research: Industry and competitor analysis.
Government Data: Public records and economic reports.
Social Media: Trends and customer sentiment.
Third-Party Data: Purchased demographic and behavioral insights.
News Media: Industry news and press releases.
Partner Data: Information from business partners and suppliers.
Business analytics employs various techniques to extract insights from data. Some common techniques include:
1. Descriptive Analytics: Examines past data to understand what has happened in the business, often using techniques like
data aggregation, data mining, and data visualization.
2. Predictive Analytics: Utilizes statistical models and machine learning algorithms to forecast future trends and outcomes
based on historical data.
3. Prescriptive Analytics: Recommends actions or decisions based on predictive models to optimize outcomes. It involves
identifying the best course of action to achieve specific business objectives.
4. Diagnostic Analytics: Investigates data to understand why certain events occurred, identifying root causes and factors
contributing to specific outcomes.
5. Text Analytics: Analyzes unstructured textual data, such as customer reviews, social media posts, and survey responses,
to extract insights and sentiment.
6. Data Mining: Explores large datasets to discover patterns, relationships, and anomalies using statistical techniques and
machine learning algorithms.
7. Machine Learning: Utilizes algorithms to analyze data, learn from it, and make predictions or decisions without explicit
programming instructions.
8. Optimization Techniques: Applies mathematical optimization methods to find the best solution to a problem given
constraints and objectives, such as linear programming or integer programming.
METHODS
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a group creativity technique designed to generate a large number of ideas for the solution to a problem.
Idea Generation: Encourages the free flow of ideas without immediate criticism.
Collaboration: Involves multiple participants to leverage diverse perspectives.
Quantity Over Quality: Focuses on generating a large volume of ideas first, which can later be refined.
Free Association: Allows participants to build on each other’s ideas.
Facilitation: Often guided by a facilitator to keep the session focused and productive.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning tool used to identify an organization’s internal Strengths and Weaknesses, and
external Opportunities and Threats.
Strengths: Internal advantages.
Weaknesses: Internal disadvantages.
Opportunities: External favorable conditions.
Threats: External risks.
MOST Analysis
MOST Analysis is a framework for setting and aligning an organization’s strategy by defining its Mission, Objectives,
Strategy, and Tactics.
Mission: The overall purpose of the organization.
Objectives: Specific, measurable goals.
Strategy: The plan to achieve the objectives.
Tactics: Actions to implement the strategy.
Business Process Modeling
Process improvement is the focus of business process modeling and is one of the most important business analysis
investigation techniques. Although it is a legacy process, it is frequently used as a business analysis technique to
understand or assess the gaps between the current and new business processes that the organization chooses.
There are four steps in this technique:
➢ Plan strategically
➢ Analyses of business models
➢ Describing and creating the procedure
➢ Technical evaluation of advanced business solutions
This method is preferred by many businesses, particularly the IT sector, because it is a clear, concise way to illustrate the
steps of the execution process and demonstrate how it will function in various roles.
Tools
1. Microsoft Power BI: Think of Power BI as a tool that helps you create clear and interactive charts and graphs from
your data. It’s like turning numbers into pictures that are easy to understand. It works well with other Microsoft
programs like Excel.
2. Tableau: Tableau is another tool that helps you visualize data. Imagine you have a lot of data in a spreadsheet;
Tableau helps you turn that data into beautiful and interactive visual stories, like dashboards, which make it easier
to spot trends and insights.
3. Google Analytics: If you have a website, Google Analytics is essential. It tracks and reports on website traffic,
showing you how many people visit your site, what pages they look at, and how they found your site. This helps
you understand and improve your online presence.
4. Excel: Excel is a spreadsheet tool that almost everyone uses. It’s great for organizing data, performing calculations,
and creating basic charts and graphs. Many people start with Excel because it’s versatile and widely used.
5. SAP Business Objects: This is a suite of tools that helps big companies create reports and analyze data. It’s like a
one-stop shop for turning large amounts of business data into useful insights.
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is software that integrates various business processes into one system.
It helps manage finance, HR, supply chain, sales, and more, providing real-time data and improving
efficiency. Popular ERP systems include SAP, Oracle ERP Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and NetSuite.
6. Qlik Sense: Qlik Sense helps you explore and visualize data in a very interactive way. It allows you to ask questions
of your data and get instant visual answers, which makes finding patterns and insights easier.
7. IBM Cogon’s Analytics: This is a powerful tool for creating detailed reports and visualizations. It’s used by large
organizations to make sense of complex data and to help make informed business decisions.
8. Looker: Looker is a tool that helps you explore your data and create reports and dashboards. It’s easy to use and
connects to various data sources, making real-time data analysis straightforward.
9. SAS Programming Language is defined as the science of data-driven decision making. Technology can bring
us from raw data to structured readable data; it even predicts many solutions to a problem. But it is ultimately
the call of humans to make the final decision. It uses the repetitive and procedural exploration of past data
to handle business decisions.
SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is a software used for statistical analysis. It is widely used in
social sciences, business, and healthcare for tasks like:
1. Data Management: Importing, organizing, and preparing data for analysis.
2. Descriptive Statistics: Summarizing data using measures like mean, median, and standard deviation.
3. Inferential Statistics: Conducting hypothesis tests, regressions, and ANOVA to make predictions or inferences
about a population.
4. Visualization: Creating charts, graphs, and tables to display data findings visually.
SPSS is user-friendly with a GUI and also supports scripting for advanced users.
These tools help businesses make sense of their data, turning raw numbers into visual stories that can inform better decision-
making. Whether you’re tracking website visitors, analyzing sales data, or just organizing your information, these tools can help
you see and understand your data more clearly.
JOB ROLES AND REQUIREMENTS :
