Analytics Trends 2017

Five analytics trends that organizations should track—and consider applying—in the year ahead.

While advanced analytics functionality continues to progress at a breathtaking pace, the race to succeed must be tempered by an ongoing focus on the fundamentals. Now is the time to set the stage by designing defined analytics use cases, building the right analytics capabilities, and adopting governance frameworks for the ethical use of data.

With each passing year, organizations are raising their game in their efforts to reap the rewards of data-driven decision-making. Rather than occupying the realm of science fiction, technologies like artificial intelligence, cognitive computing, and machine learning are being applied in real-world settings—vastly altering the ways in which organizations interact with their customers, employees, and other stakeholders.

However, jumping in two feet may hamper an organization’s aim of achieving an effective return on these technology investments. To realize the transformational potential inherent in this shift, organizations must first lay the groundwork for success. Here are five key analytics trends that can help organizations find this balance—and position themselves to capture the benefits of moving up the analytics maturity ladder.