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Business Analytics Trends to Look for in 2017

With constant innovations in technology, today’s businesses have an outstanding opportunity to increase their profitability and completely transform their organizations.

They have more and more means of boosting productivity and make better decisions to empower their organizations and lead them towards the top of the corporate ladder.

What makes this possible and more easily achievable than ever are the various business intelligence and analytics tools that keep popping up and enabling businesses to gather and analyze piles of data quickly, easily, and accurately. Analyzing and using data effectively has never been as easy as it is today and, with the help of those business intelligence and analytics tools, not only can businesses set more accurate goals, but they can also enhance productivity and increase their ROI. They can become data-driven businesses and completely turn the tables around.

With this in mind, take a look at the five business analytics trends that are rising as we speak and that are expected to completely change the game and help organizations transform the way they do business.

1. The Growing Network of Connected Devices and Platforms

According to the forecast by IDC (International Data Corporation), 87% of connected devices on the market will be smartphones and tablets, and this is only a prediction for 2017. This shows how quickly these devices are changing the market, and it shows the growing need for strategies and plans to keep up and get the most out of connected devices and platforms.

Another IDC research shows that the worldwide Internet of Things (IoT) market will reach an incredible $3.04 trillion in 2020, and there will be approximately 30 billion connected devices. Businesses have a major opportunity to take advantage of the growing IoT market and significantly increase their revenue if they join the ride and start using all those smart and connected devices to their favor.

The growing network of connected devices and platforms created a trend of unique capabilities for effective business analytics. Social media platforms and a variety of mobile apps, not to mention the rise of video streaming services, allow businesses to gather important data and enhance their ROI. Monitoring all the connected devices with the help of systems based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) allow them to utilize cloud computing and streamline their workload effectively.

Not only is this trend expected to grow, but it is certain to push the boundaries of innovation and open the doors to a much better smart manufacturing. Cloud-based operating systems will emerge, enabling more secure connectivity, as well as more optimized analytics.

2. Cloud-Based Business Intelligence and Analytics Tools

The innovations in cloud computing seem to be ever-evolving, and businesses are now able to utilize business intelligence and analytics tools in ways they never could before. They can become much agiler and make more relevant decisions, ultimately reaching higher productivity and efficiency.

With modern business intelligence and analytics tools, organizations no longer even need to have data warehouses, as these tools provide them with an extremely intuitive and interactive way to analyze and use their data. They offer a visual-based experience that enables more advanced, but at the same time quite simpler, business analytics that considerably helps organizations handle their data.


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The number of cloud-based BI and analytics tools is expected to keep rising, enabling businesses to quickly and easily handle various types of data analysis on a single platform. They will not have to use multiple tools for different data management capabilities, as modern BI and analytics tools will help them deal with storage, integration, statistics and quite a lot of other analyses.

3. The Rise of Artificial Intelligence

According to the IDC Spending Guide, the adoption of AI around the globe will help organizations reach revenues of $47 billion in 2020, which is quite a lot more than the revenues of $8 billion in 2016. According to the Narrative Science survey from last year, 38% of enterprises are already using various AI technologies, while 62% will use them by the year 2018.

These AI technologies include predictive and prescriptive analysis, machine and deep learning, automation of manual and repetitive tasks, automated written reporting and communications, voice recognition and response and various other tasks and types of business analytics.

The rising and evolving AI technologies are becoming the mainstream and more and more businesses are starting to realize the huge potential of adopting them. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is completely redefining the way organizations do business. AI is enabling businesses to use advanced techniques and powerful algorithms for conducting predictive business analytics, helping them collect and process complex data. The future is here.

4. The Shift in Data Management

The way organizations manage their data has changed entirely, and not just because of the rise of AI and similar technologies. The Chief Data Officer role is emerging, emphasizing the enormous significance of data and the impact its proper management can have on organizations.
CDOs need to develop new data strategies to turn the tables around and get ahead of the competition. They need to properly harness their data to gain clear insights into a wide range of opportunities. Apart from creating winning data strategies, they need to establish governance and quality, not to mention accurate analytics and security.

The EU General Data Protection Regulation has changed the data privacy laws, changing the way the companies in the EU approach the processing of personal data. The regulation is designed to protect data privacy, and modern BI and analytics tools are exactly what will help businesses enhance their value propositions and protect their users.

5. The Growing Power of Digital Ecosystems

According to the Gartner’s survey of CIOs (Chief Information Officers), typical CIOs are already spending 18% of their budget on digitalization, which is estimated to reach 28% in 2018. More and more businesses are becoming a part of the rising digital ecosystem, and they continue to build digital relationships with clients, employees and other stakeholders to provide better customer experiences.

As customers are rapidly changing their use of digital channels from human-based to machine-based, that is, from the web to mobile, due to the AI technologies and the Internet of Things, businesses are trying to keep up with the pace by participating in digital ecosystems.

The participation in a digital ecosystem will separate the big guns from the rest of the players. A wide use of various digital ecosystem solutions, such as business intelligence and analytics, is what will help top businesses with the highest performance stand apart from the crowd and amplify their reach.

If you want to stay in the game, it is crucial that you follow these business analytics trends, since not only are they redefining the analytics landscape, but they are certain to grow in popularity for many years to come. We are yet to witness their peak, so make sure you jump on the bandwagon and join the ride.

More importantly, it is vital that you keep track of the performance of your business to gain an insight into how effective it is and how you can generate a higher ROI. The best way to understand how you can improve and grow your organization and ensure all of your efforts and investments pay off, in the long run, is to find the best business analytics solutions and consulting firm that will provide you with impeccable services and help you take full advantage of the latest trends.