sascom
Reprinted from
8 business analytics
essentials
Find out what business analytics can do for you
– and how to get started
L
eading banks use business analytics
to predict and prevent credit fraud,
Anne Milley, sas
saving millions. Retailers use business
analytics to predict the best location for
s t o re s a n d h o w t o s t o c k t h e m .
Pharmaceutical firms use it to get life-saving
drugs to market more quickly. Even sports
teams are getting in on the action, using
business analytics to determine both game
strategy and optimal ticket prices.
But these advanced business
applications tell only part of the story.
What’s going on inside these market-
leading companies that sets them apart?
They have committed to deploying
Greg Wood, sas their people, technologies and business
processes in new ways. They have
committed to a culture that is based on
fact-based decisions – which helps them
anticipate and solve complex business
problems throughout the organization.
In Competing on Analytics, researchers
Tom Davenport and Jeanne Harris
demonstrate how organizations as diverse
as the Boston Red Sox, Netflix, Amazon.
com, Capital One, Harrah's Entertainment
and Procter & Gamble are using business
analytics to trump rivals. By embracing
an analytical approach, these companies
identify their most profitable customers,
accelerate product innovation, optimize
supply chains and pricing, and identify the
true drivers of financial performance.
®
magazine
Second quarter 2010 issue
And you can too. Begin by using
Davenport's 5-stage rating system to
assess where you are and where you need
to go:
Stage 1: Analytically impaired. Your
organization is “flying blind,” plagued by
missing or poor-quality data and poorly
integrated systems.
Stage 2: Localized analytics. Your
analytic efforts are isolated, opportunistic
and function-specific. Your organization
collects transaction data efficiently but
often lacks the right data for better
decision making.
Stage 3: Analytical aspirations. Your
organization has executive support for
Top benefits
of business analytics
Why is business analytics so vital to success?
Here are the key benefits identified in a
Computerworld survey of 215 IT and business
professionals:
 Improving the decision-making process.
 Speeding up the decision-making process.
 Better alignment of resources with
strategies.
 Realizing cost efficiencies.
 Responding to user needs for availability
of data on a timely basis.
� www.sas.com/sascom-babenefits
 By embracing an analytical approach, these companies identify their most
profitable customers, accelerate product innovation ... and identify
the true drivers of financial performance.

analytics and a proliferation of business
intelligence tools and data marts, but
m o s t d a t a re m a i n s u n i n t e g r a t e d ,
nonstandardized and inaccessible.
Stage 4: Analytical companies. Your
organization begins to develop an
enterprisewide analytics capability with
high-quality data, an enterprisewide
analytical plan and governance principles.
Stage 5: Analytical competitors. Your
organization is routinely reaping big benefits
from its full-fledged, enterprisewide analytics
architecture, which is fully automated and
integrated into processes.
Now that you know where you stand,
get started with business analytics by
taking these eight essential actions:
Improve the flow and
flexibility of data
 High-quality data must be integrated
and accessible across your organization. It
should also be structured in a flexible way
that allows your analysts to discover new
insights and provide leaders the information
they need to adjust strategies quickly.
Get the right technology in place
 Take an enterprise approach to
data management and analytics to effect
better decisions. Remove disconnected
silos of data, technology or expertise. Your
technology portfolio should include:
• Optimized data stores to support core
business processes and discovery.
• Data integration and data quality
software.
• Analytical software with the means to
effectively deploy, explore and share
results in a meaningful way.
Develop the talent you need Transform the culture
 Develop or recruit analytic thinkers
who seek and explore the right data to
 A strong analytical culture has
executive sponsorship and encourages
make discoveries. To make analytics work, creativity. Experimentation should be seen
analysts must also be able to communicate as part of learning, and employees should
effectively with leaders and link analytics to be given permission to fail as they learn
key decisions and the bottom line. from trying new things.
Demand fact-based decisions Revise your strategies – often
 An analytical company makes a wide
range of decisions. Some are ad hoc; some
 Your competitors will often duplicate
your analytical initiatives. Staying ahead
are automated; some are transformative. requires continuous review of strategy and
The common thread? Evidence backs development of new skills and capabilities.
them all. Managers encourage asking the
right questions of the data to get maximum Get started now
insight. Find important questions that need to be
answered and problems that need to be
Keep the process transparent solved. Answer these questions, solve
 The value delivered from an
investment in business analytics must be
these problems and create value for the
organization. By creating small wins in any
visible and measureable. Who the analysts
are and what they’re seeking to accomplish
business, function or department, over time
your company will become an analytical
should be clearly communicated to the competitor. n
business, as should their findings. [author bio]
Anne Milley is a Senior Director in
Develop an analytical center of Technology Product Marketing for SAS.
anne.milley@sas.com
excellence
 Create an analytical center of
excellence (ACE), which promotes the use
Greg Wood is a Regional Product
Marketing Manager for SAS Asia Pacific.
greg.wood@sas.com
of analytics and associated best practices.
The most effective ACEs address all �nline
elements of the organization’s analytic Tom Davenport “Competing
on Analytics” article:
infrastructure: people, process, technology
www.sas.com/sascom-davarticle
and culture to support the business’
strategy and operations.

SAS Institute Inc. World Headquarters   +1 919 677 8000

To contact your local SAS office, please visit: www.sas.com/offices
sascom is published quarterly by SAS Institute Inc. Copyright 2010 SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA. SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service
names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product
names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2010, SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved. 104444_S54254.0310