Analytics Types
I had to visit my doctor last month and
- after basic check-up he has DESCRIBED my situation (I had blood pressure).
- He suggested me to do further tests and with the results he DIAGNOSED the possible reasons, then
- He PREDICTED, if do not act now, the future will be not so healthy.
- To solve the issue, he PRESCRIBED some steps which I need to follow to come out of it.
If you have understood the above 4 statements and can enact those 4 key VERBS then the following would be easy.
As an Analytics professions, we say Analytics is of 4 kinds namely,
1. DESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS where we DESCRIBE the situation (what has happened). This is based on the current and some historical data.
2. DIAGNOSITC ANALYTICS where we DIAGNOSE the situation as to why it has happened by running historical analysis and good number of drill down reporting.
3. PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS where we PREDICT the future if we refrain from acting. This is achieved by checking Historical data analysis followed by extrapolation of current situation and
4. Finally, PRESCRIPTIVE ANALYTICS where we PRESCRIBE, what actions do we need to perform now to avoid future issues or what actions do we need to perform now to have a future of our liking.
These types/levels are analytics prevail in all the industries whether you want to know about your machines and their preventive maintenance or to understand your SALES or CUSTOMER churn or Online GAMES or even ORAGNIZATION POSITION
There are many organizations that are still struggling to get the DESCRIPTIVE Analytics right with the use of SUMMARIZED DATA MARTS and some have crossed to the next level to DIAGNOSTIC Analytics with Enterprise Data Warehouses which has historical and cross functional data.
Use of Data Mining/Data Science has brought out the PREDICTION PART mostly in the form of Linear Regression. PRESCRIPTION is very tricky where vast amount of historical analysis (similar situations) followed by frequent continuous checking of current situation/position is needed. It is always suggested to have a sequential movement from one to another rather than skipping one or the another.
