Companies continuously strive for ways to build capital and improve on business strategies that can further success. Using innovative software programs, like business analytics, has become the cornerstone of competition, marketing and goal assessment for many companies.
Business analytics allows companies to aggregate companywide data and shape figures into charts and statistics that help leaders in the decision-making process. Marketing departments can survey customers and sales trends to determine how to better appeal to their target audience, accounting teams can look at a snapshot of company finances to save money and managers can combine salary data found with analytics to implement new incentive compensation management strategies (ICM).
Here are a few ways companies are using business analytic software to implement strategies for success:
Data in real time: Business analytics software aggregates data in real time in order to provide a quick look at the whole picture of the company’s operations. Especially for retailers or vendors with an array of products in inventory, knowing what customers are buying minute-by-minute is sure to have an impact on daily operations, according to Tech Republic.
What’s more is that the majority of current analytical tools only offer end-of-day reports, with few companies taking advantage of focusing on the now, according to Forbes. However, the emphasis should be placed on the software’s ability to not only offer quick, real-time data but also clear forms of that data so users can better know how to use it to implement changes. For example, managers who know what items are more popular on a day-by-day basis can have the competitive edge of offering special promotions, sales or rearranging displays for hot-ticket items their competitors may not discover are selling well until reports are run at the end of the day.
Consolidating reports and data sheets: Spreadsheets, reports, surveys and a seemingly endless trail of paperwork are all important and necessary documents to run a business, however they can add to clutter and easily get lost. Analytics allows users to turn that data into more technologically advanced and accessible forms that are user-friendly.
“I have yet to talk to a business analytics vendor that doesn’t incorporate Excel spreadsheets as an option in its report-building process,” Mary Shacklett, president of technology research and market development firm Transworld Data, wrote in Tech Republic[check source name]. “Vendors recognize that these spreadsheets are a de facto reporting standard in most companies and that little training is required for staff to use them effectively.”
This allows companies to take what they need and leave the rest, meaning hard data for business decisions can be consolidated without the extra paper, space, training time or additional, non-relevant information, culminating in a more streamlined workflow.
Boosts business literacy: Perhaps one of the best qualities of business analytics is its accessibility across all skill sets and strengths. Traditionally, although most employees deal with math on some level, most are not well-versed in corporate jargon or understand the large-scale implications of those numbers, and generally, the complex technical explanation behind a statistic is unnecessary for many positions. But what if all roles were able to understand the statistical implications without extensive math training? That’s where analytic software comes in.
Business analytics turns complicated figures with no apparent meaning into a painting of what the bigger picture looks like, and how decisions today can change that. Charts, figures and infographics compiled by the software convey the overarching messages without mathematical savvy being an tool necessary for understanding and implementing them, Forbes said.
Ultimately, this means more people in the company will be able to use business data to improve overall operations more now than ever before.
As companies move forward and begin to identify target goals for the upcoming year, business analytics will be an important component for success.
