Business analytics can make a huge difference in the productivity of a business. Fortunately, modern businesses have more information than ever thought possible before the Internet, which they can analyze and harness in order to achieve the productive systems, processes and results they desire. Unfortunately, many businesses and organizations are still not devoting nearly as much time and resources to strategic analytical measures as they could (or should). With so much information available in the digital age, there is really no good excuse for ignoring the possibilities for better understanding business performance, and acting accordingly, based on hard evidence and statistics. Keep reading to see why this is important to you and your business.

What We Mean by Analytics
The types of analytics we’re talking about are those that are aimed at gaining insights into a business’ performance levels in order to assist them in making better and more strategic decisions. These analytics involve a wide range of applications, best practices, skills, resources, tools and technologies. Thanks to the massive amounts of data that businesses are able to capture on a daily basis with Internet technology, cloud computing and other modern tools, businesses and organizations have more resources to form statistics, look at trends, see where they can cut costs and examine where they need to devote more resources. This means it is more important than ever to put effective analytics programs in place at your organization, if you haven’t already. Your ability to remain competitive in the future might depend on it.

Modern Analytical Tools for Businesses
Big data is a big deal for modern businesses, and for good reason. Businesses ranging from retailers and manufacturers to healthcare providers and payers are in possession of massive assemblies of data that are so large they must be collected, stored, categorized, accessed, analyzed and transferred using more robust processing technology than was imaginable even a decade ago. This data can be immensely useful for a company that does large volumes of business, but only if they have the right tools to analyze it, make more strategic decisions and develop more effective and productive processes as a result. This is why a business analytics consultant can be one of the most valuable tools for a productive business. They have the knowledge, experience and resources to sort through the big data, guide your company through the analytical process, spot the trends and develop more effective programs to achieve your organizational goals as a result.

The Kinds of Tools a Consultant Can Offer
Investing in business analytics consulting can help an organization gather and leverage the right information in such a way that they are able to make their enterprise more productive and ultimately more profitable. While working with a consulting firm, you can expect to learn new methodologies for parsing information from within the company and from the outside business market, resulting in enhanced value for the organization. A consultant can offer the following kinds of tools to achieve these goals:

• Business Analytics
• Customer Analytics
• Marketing Analytics

Customer interactions provide one of the most valuable opportunities for business analytics, because any company that deals directly with the consumer should be striving to create more positive experiences with every interaction. The best way to be sure a service-oriented business is succeeding in its objectives of inspiring customer loyalty and earning higher profits is to analyze the relevant, segmented data with appropriate metrics and use the resulting information to develop more customer centric programs. Analytics for an untapped consumer market, an industry full of competitors and the processes and initiatives within a company can also be beneficial beyond belief. When you begin working with a qualified consulting team, they will be able to determine the best course of action to analyze your most precious data and make your business more productive.

About the Author

Rick Ruiz is the Director, Practice Leader Information Integration & Analytics for Paragon Solutions. Paragon Solutions is an advisory consulting and systems integration firm that specializes in business analytics consulting services across various industries. For more information on business analytics consulting, contact[email protected]