Using analytics to 'hit it out of the ballpark': no longer just for the fortune 1000 companies, today's analytics solutions provide access to highly accurate, trustworthy data that helps shape conclusions--making users more agile and better informed about all their market conditions.

AuthorCorden, John
PositionAnalytics

When a baseball player gets on a hot streak, he can hit any pitch and he'll rarely strike out. Whether hitting singles, doubles or home runs, a player's productivity is as efficient and reliable as a well-run business. When asked to comment on a hot streak, a player might respond: "I'm just seeing the ball so well, it's like swinging at a basketball."

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If you follow the analogy, the same scenario applies to CFOs and financial executives when they deploy effective business analytics software. The only difference: success, when achieved, isn't streaky--it's consistent.

Analytics solutions empower financial executives to "see the ball," or in this case the data, with a scope and detail previously unattainable. It's the business world's equivalent of "swinging at a basketball." With an integrated analytics solution in place, budgeting becomes more accurate and effective, and planning and forecasting is conducted with dramatically fewer complications. With analytics deployed, you know your business inside-out; you are in complete control, and you can respond to all organizational challenges as they occur.

This is a primary reason why corporations across North America are deploying analytics solutions at a torrid pace. Unquestionably, the cost-savings and efficiency gains delivered by analytics tools offer a rapid return on investment (ROI); productivity gains make this deployment even more enticing. U.S. analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC) recently concluded that the average company realizes a massive 431 percent ROI on analytics systems over a five-year period.

What Do Analytics Solutions Do?

While the future is uncertain, business executives are less tentative if they can circumvent uncertainty and quickly adapt to evolving market and customer dynamics. To make this possible, companies must be able to improve their ability to identify, classify and intelligently analyze all available information. To do this, companies need solutions that go beyond conventional query and reporting tools.

Analytics solutions provide corporations with the much-needed ability to leverage their existing IT investments, no matter what they are, in a manner that facilitates greater intelligence. If an effective analytics solution is deployed, the financial team can bridge all known and unknown data gaps between all IT systems--including computing platforms, ERP packages, CRM, HR, financial software and legacy systems.

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