Business Intelligence Data Analytics Survey 2016: Types of Data Businesses Value

Throughout the past three years, there’s been a lot of chatter about data – specifically big data and business intelligence (BI) data.

Big data is defined by three key characteristics: 1.) a large volume of data, 2.) an array of data types, and 3.) an urgency to process the data quickly.

BI data refers to the process and tools used to analyze data, usually in the hope of helping businesses make more informed decisions.

For example, Amazon’s Dash Buttons, which allow consumers to order household products with the click of a portable button, have proven more successful as data-gathering rather than profit-building tools. The Dash Buttons allow Amazon to see the bigger picture of people’s buying habits and in turn, cater more resources to meeting their audience’s demands and improving the online shopping experience.

What types of data are businesses collecting? What tools do they use to analyze it?

To answer these questions, we surveyed 291 employees who use BI data analytics tools for their jobs.

Key Findings

• Data analytics users look to BI tools primarily for statistical analysis (25%), data management (22%), and predictive analytics (13%).
• Businesses collect and analyze the accessible data types more than unstructured forms of data, such as IoT and social networks data.
• 65% say internal data is more valuable than external data.
• 83% say structured data is more valuable than unstructured data.
• 65% say business systems data is more valuable than IoT and social networks data.

Recommendations

• Before selecting a BI analytics tool for your company, take the following three steps. 1.) Define the degree of data analysis you want from the solution, 2.) identify the level of technical expertise available on-staff, and 3.) determine whether you want to integrate existing platforms with the tool.
• Create a clear, detailed data strategy before investing in BI tools for your company.
• Establish robust metrics to track and prove your data’s value to company executives.

About the Author

Sarah Anyan Director of Product at Clutch

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