UNCOVERING NEW BUSINESS ADVANTAGES WITH PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS

Overview of top initiatives, challenges, and lessons learned from users

MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR DATABusinesses must not only be ready to adapt to real-time changes in the needs of their customers, but they must also confidently make decisions for long-term viability. In the last decade, technology has radically evolved. Advanced analytics is now available for all users, not just data scientists and engineers.

Dive into a new data insights age, where predictive analytics can help your business:

• Understand how historical sales, costs, and other key metrics translate to future performance and impact the bottom line. • Optimize business performance based on data-driven results rather than on ad hoc calculations. • Reveal the causes of customer satisfaction and employee turnover in real time for quick resolution.

2

THE EVOLUTION OF PREDICTIVE ANALYTICSDid you know that the average smartphone in 2012 had more computing power than Apollo 11 did when it went to the moon in 1969?1 It’s hard to keep up with all the technological advancements and new players, so you might be surprised by the state of predictive analytics today.

What’s driving predictive analytics mainstream:

• Power increase: The modern business user needs the computer to crunch a lot more, because so much more data exists. The price per CPU has drastically dropped, which makes predictive analytics much more practical from a cost perspective.

• Data age: Nearly 73% of businesses surveyed are using predictive analytics for a Big Data initiative. Data is now seen as the top strategic asset for improving company performance.2

1TDWI, “Predictive Analytics for Business Advantage,” 2014 2Ibid

3

MATURITY OF TODAY’S PREDICTIVE PROGRAMSPredictive analytics has been around for quite some time, but many organizations are struggling to make the most of the solution on an organization-wide scale. More than technology and processes, ensuring the organizational culture can embrace this change is critical for adoption.

The state of predictive analytics reported by surveyed businesses:3

3TDWI, “Predictive Analytics for Business Advantage,” 2014

98%Structured data

(from tables,records)

77%Demographic

data

65%Time series

data

37%Web log

data

35%Geospatial

data

Where would your organization’s initiatives fall in this list?

4

TOP INITIATIVES FOR PREDICTIVE ANALYSIS See where businesses ranked their current predictive analytics initiatives on a 5-point scale of importance (with 1 being extremely unimportant and 5 being extremely important):4

4TDWI “Predictive Analytics for Business Advantage,” 2014

Predict trends

Understand customers

Improve business performance

Drive strategic decision making

Predict behavior

Drive operational e�ciency

Provide targeted products and services

Identify new business opportunities

Improve productivity

Identify risks

Faster response to business change

Competitive di�erentiator

Reduce fraud

3.95

3.93

3.89

3.85

3.85

3.78

3.74

3.73

3.62

3.61

3.5

3.48

3.14

1 2 3 4 5

5

PLAYING THE BIG DATA GAMETechnology should never hold back your business. The main advantage of predictive analytics solutions is their ability to integrate various types of data from various locations. You’ll see that organizations are taking full advantage of diverse data capabilities.

Types of data businesses are using today:5

Only 21% of businesses are using social media text data,6 which could be a critical advantage for businesses wanting to act and react in real time.

5TDWI, “Predictive Analytics for Business Advantage,” 2014 6Ibid

98%Structured data

(from tables,records)

77%Demographic

data

65%Time series

data

37%Web log

data

35%Geospatial

data

6

TRAIN THE WORKFORCE FOR MAXIMIZED RESULTSTechnology is only one piece of the predictive puzzle. The organization has to be ready and willing to jump in. With experience under their belts, here are the skills businesses with current predictive analytics initiatives are looking for to help grow their data efforts:

Necessary skills to perform predictive analytics:7

7TDWI “Predictive Analytics for Business Advantage,” 2014

Predictive analytics solutions that provide visual dashboards and wizard assistance for pattern identification open the door for the entire organization to get involved and draw insights from data.

74%Knowledgeof business

67%Criticalthinking

67%Ability to understand

source data andintegration into

model development

41%Training inpredictiveanalytics

7

MAXIMIZE YOUR CONFIDENCE AND ACHIEVE REAL-TIME RESULTSDecisions shouldn’t be a guessing game, especially in dynamic and competitive markets. Now is the time to take the data you have and cultivate your next competitive advantage from the actionable insights hiding within.

Read the TDWI best-practices report, “Predictive Analytics for Business Advantages,” for the latest predictive analytics data models and strategies that are accelerating business growth and maximizing operations.

DOWNLOAD FREE CONTENT

8