What Is Business Analytics? Defined In 200 Words

Business analytics (BA) is the iterative, systematic investigation of a company’s data, with a prominence on statistical study. It is used by organizations that are dedicated to taking data-driven choices.

BA looks interchangeable with Data Science or Business Intelligence, but it is not.

Types of Business Analytics

Descriptive Analytics

Offers picture-perfect visual synopses and insights into business data by looking at past data through patterns, trends, matrices, reporting, score cards, clustering, dashboards and analytical reports.

Predictive Analytics

Offers a foresight into the future movements, a look into the predictive score of each element, an in-depth and real-time analysis of business information with predictive modeling and machine learning methods

Prescriptive Analytics

Goes a step ahead of the other two. Suggests multiple likely actionable items by taking advantage of predictions, with optimization and simulation. Prescribes variety of options for solutions and corresponding guidelines.

Business Analytics Tools Must Be

• Instinctive, easy-to-use and customizable
• Natural language interface and API-driven
• Capable of finding patterns in data and recommending visualizations
• Able to combine multiple sources of complex data
• Supportive for large-scale data analysis techniques

Popular BA Tools

SAS business analytics, R, Python, Apache Storm, Apache Spark, Tableau, Qlikview, Dundas BI etc.