Analytics is Changing the Game from Retrospective to Future Forward

Advanced analytics deliver 2.2 times more ROI than traditional analytics and business intelligence (BI) apps. This was the finding from a December report authored by Anne Moxie, our analytics analyst. At face value, this is not so surprising. Don’t get me wrong, a jump from 334 percent up to 746 percent ROI is impressive, just not unexpected.

I mean, advanced applications are supposed to deliver more value. The latest CRM, supply chain, HCM or ERP apps should all deliver better results than the legacy app. And we all look forward to upcoming gadgets, smart devices and cool features in the latest car models. It’s how this works.

I was a little surprised to see how much attention that report has been getting lately, with a number of companies seeking advice as they reevaluate their analytics strategies. A closer look indicates that the word ‘advanced’ for analytics might be an understatement. Or perhaps an overstatement for other solutions.

Where advanced CRM typically means incremental improvements – perhaps more social capability or faster reporting – advanced analytics is a quantum leap. It’s a jump from daily analytical capabilities to understand historical data for reporting and retrospective analysis to predictive capabilities and prescriptive modeling. A seismic shift from the past into the future. And this is where the excitement around analytics is coming from.

In fact, an ROI boost by a factor of 2.2 is just the beginning. Advancements in ‘advanced’ analytics will continue to drive that number up. The ability to predict business needs and opportunities along with prescriptive modeling to simulate complex use cases and play out future outcomes has the ability to transform business as we know it.

And analytics has the capability to ‘advance’ other applications too. Considering the trend to integrate most business applications with analytics, we’ll start to see CRM, the supply chain, ERP and HCM apps get more predictive. That’s where this gets very interesting. I don’t need advance analytics to predict that ROI will only get higher going forward.