Business Analytics

Business Analytics refers to utilizing existing data to make fact-based decisions. Business Analytics utilizes various skills, methods, hardware and software for processing raw data into reports which are beneficial for decision-making. Business Analytics uses statistical analysis extensively.

• Reporting or Descriptive Business Analytics: reports on insights from processing historical data (e.g. totals, means, medians, standard deviations)
• Predictive Business Analytics: uses historical data to forecast the future (e.g. regression analysis)
• Prescriptive Business Analytics: recommends decisions that are dependent on various factors (e.g. what-if-analysis, simulation)
• Controlling Business Analytics: compares the existing against planned performance and, if necessary, recommends corrective actions. This type of Business Analytics relies on “fresh” data.