What is Business Analytics? From manual effort to machines, there has been no looking back for humans. In came the digital age and out went the last iota of doubt anyone had regarding the future of mankind. Business Analytics, Machine Learning, AI, Deep Learning, Roboties, and Cloud have revolutionized the way we look, absorb, and process information. While there are still ongoing developments happening in several of these advanced fields, business analytics has gained the status of being all-pervasive across functions and domains. There is no aspect of our lives untouched by Analytics. The mammoth wings of analytics are determining how we buy our toothpaste to how we choose dating partners to how we lead our lives. Read on to know what is Business Analytics. Moving on to a more technical definition of business analytics, Gartner says, “Business analytics is comprised of solutions used to build analysis models and_ simulations to create scenarios, understand realities and_predict future states. Business analytics includes data mining, predictive analytics, applied analytics and statistics, and_is delivered as an application suitable for_a business user. These analytics solutions often come with prebuilt industry content that is targeted at an industry business process (for example, claims, underwriting or a specific regulatory requirement).” Business Analytics is interchangeably used with data analytics, The only difference being that while data analytics is the birth child of the data boom, business analytics represents a coming of age that centres data insights at the heart of business transactions. Nearly 90% of all small, mid-size, and large organizations have set up analytical capabilities over the last 5 years in an effort to stay relevant in the market and draw value out of the insights that large volumes of data recorded in the digital age can provide Components of a Business Analyties + Data Aggregation: Before you start the process of analysis, you are required to gather, organise and filter data through transactional records + Data Mining: The process of data mining refers to sorting through a large volume of datasets using statistics, machine learning. This helps in identifying trends and establishing relationships + Association and Sequence Identification: We must then identify actions that are performed in relation to other actions or in a particular sequence + Text Mining: This allows us to explore a large volume of unstructured text datasets. This is done for qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data + Forecasting: Forecasting is done in order to analyse historical data. This data can be from a specific time period. It allows us to make informed estimates and determine future behaviour+ Predictive Analytics: This allows us to use various statistical tools and techniques to create a predictive model. This model extracts information from different datasets and provides information regarding patterns ‘+ Optimization: After all the trends have been identified, and once all the predictions have been made, businesses must engage in simulation techniques that allow us to test the best-case scenarios + Data Visualization: provides visual representations in the form of charts or graphs. This ensures quick data analysis Difference Between Business Analytics and Business Intelligence Business Intelligence Business Analytics While Bl is more about using data collected over a period of time from different sources to create dashboards, reports, and documentation BA focuses on the implementation of data insights into actionable steps Business intelligence focuses on descriptive analytics Business analytics focuses on predictive analytics Business Intelligence focuses on Diagnostic Analytics Business Analytics focuses on Prescriptive Analytics Both BI and BA focus on presenting and organising data for visualization Both BI and BA focus on presenting and organising data for visualization Deals with what happened Deals with the why's of what happenedTypes of Business Analytics There are mainly four types of Business Analytics, each of these types are increasingly complex. They allow us to be closer to achieving real-time and future situation insight application. Each of these types have been discussed below. 1. Descriptive Analytics 2. Diagnostic Analyties 3. Predictive Analytics 4. Prescriptive Analytics 1. Descriptive Analytics It summarizes an organisation's existing data to understand what has happened in the past or is happening currently. Descriptive Analytics is the simplest form of analytics as it employs data aggregation and mining techniques. It makes data more accessible to members of an organisation such as the investors, shareholders, marketing executives, and sales managers. It can help identify strengths and weaknesses and provides an insight into customer behavior too. This helps in forming strategies that can be developed in the area of targeted marketing. 2. Diagnostic Analytics This type of Analytics helps shift focus from past performance to the current events and determine which factors are influencing trends. To uncover the root cause of events, techniques such as data discovery, data mining and drill-down are employed. Diagnostic analytics makes use of probabilities, and likelihoods to understand why events may occur. Techniques such as sensitivity analysis, and training algorithms are employed for classification and regression. 3. Predictive Analytics This type of Analytics is used to forecast the possibility of a future event with the help of statistical models and ML techniques. It builds on the result of descriptive analytics to devise models to extrapolate the likelihood of items. To run predictive analysis, Machine Learning experts are employed. They can achieve a higher level of accuracy than by business intelligence alone. One of the most common applications is sentiment analysis. Here, existing data collected from social media and is used to provide a comprehensive picture of an users opinion. This data is analysed to predict their sentiment (positive, neutral or negative). 4. Prescriptive Analytics Going a step beyond predictive analytics, it provides recommendations for the next best action to be taken. It suggests all favorable outcomes according to a specific course of action and also recommends the specific actions needed to deliver themost desired result. It mainly relies on two things, a strong feedback system and a constant iterative analysis. It learns the relation between actions and their outcomes. One common use of this type of analytics is to create recommendation systems. Business Analytics Tools Business Analytics tools help analysts to perform the tasks at hand and generate reports which may be easy for a layman to understand, These tools can be obtained from open source platforms, and enable business analysts to manage their insights in a comprehensive manner. They tend to be flexible and user-friendly. Various business analytics tools and techniques like Python, R, SAS, Tableau, Statistical _concepts, and building of analytical models are required to be able to apply for business analytics roles. A working knowledge of business analytics and business intelligence tools is a key differentiator for professionals competing for business analytics jobs. The relevance of data analysis tools is determined by the project and client requirements. Python, R, SAS, Excel, and Tableau have all got their unique places when it comes to usage. According to the Great Learning Skills Report 2018, SQL is the top requirement to excel in the field of data science, followed closely by Python and Java, Hadoop, R, and SAS have also climbed up the ladder to be among the top 10 skills required as per data from Indeed.com. Let’s take a closer look at some of these business analytics tools- Tableau Python ~Python has a very regular syntax as it stands out for its general-purpose characteristics. It has a relatively gradual and low leaming curve for it focuses on simplicity and readability. Python is very flexible and can also be used in web scripting. It is mainly applied when there is a need for integrating the data analyzed with a web application or the statistics is to be used in a database production. The IPython Notebook facilitates and makes it easy to work with Python and data. One can share notebooks with other people without necessarily telling them to install anything which reduces code organizing overhead, hence allowing one to focus on doing other useful work. Python offers several libraries for visualization like Boken, Pygal, and Seaborn which may, in tum, be too many to pick. And unlike R, its visualizations are convoluted and not attractive to look. 2. SAS - SAS is widely used in most private organizations as it is a commercial software which also ensures that it has a whole lot of online resources available. Also, those who already know SQL might find it easier to adapt to SAS as it comes with PROC SQL option. The tool has a user-friendly GUI and can churn through terabytes of data with ease. It comes with an extensive documentation and tutorial base which can help early learners get started seamlessly. SAS has two disadvantages: Base SAS is struggling hard to catch up with the advancements in graphics and visualization in data analytics. Even the graphics packages available in SAS are poorly documented which makes them difficult to use. Also, SAS has just begun work on adding deep learning support while its competition is far ahead in the race. 3. R—Ris an open source software and is completely free to use making it easier for individual professionals or students starting out to learn. While several forumsand online communities post religiously about its usage, R can have a very steep learning curve as you need to learn to code at the root level. Graphical capabilities or data visualization is the strongest forte of R with R having access to packages like GGPlot, RGIS, Lattice, and GGVIS among others which provide superior graphical competency. R is gaining momentum as it added a few deep learning capabilities. One can use KerasR and Keras package in R which are mere interfaces for the original Keras package built on Python. 4. Tableau — Tableau is the most popular and advanced data visualization tool in the market. Story-telling and presenting data insights in a comprehensive way has become one of the trademarks of a competent business analyst. It offers a free public version but a paid version is required for those who would like to keep their reports and data confidential. Tableau is a great platform to develop customized visualizations in no time, thanks to the drop and drag features. Tableau can be easily integrated with most analytical languages and data sources and visualizations created are platform and screen-size independent The downside of Tableau is that it comes with a cost especially for large enterprises and there are no version-control options yet. Business analytics use cases More and more departments are trying to better understand how their decisions and budgets affect the business at large. With business analytics software, it's possible to use data to drive strategic decisions, regardless of task or department: Marketing: Analytics to identify success and impact Which customers are more likely to respond to an email campaign? What was the last campaign's ROI? More and more marketing departments are trying to better understand how their programs affect the business at large. With Al and machine learning powering analysis, it's possible to use data to drive strategic marketing decisions Human Resources: Analytics to find and share talent insights What actually drives employee decisions regarding their career? More and more HR leaders are trying to better understand how their programs affect the business at large. With the right analytical capabilities, HR leaders are able to quantify and predict outcomes, understand recruitment channels, and review employee decisions en masse, Sales: Analytics to optimize your sales What is the critical moment that converts a lead to a sale? In-depth analytics can break down the sales cycle, taking in all of the different variables that lead to a purchase. Price, availability, geography, season, and other factors can be the turning point on the customer journey—and analytics offer the tool to decipher that key moment. Finance: Analytics to power predictive organizational budgets How can you increase your profit margins? Finance works with every department, be it HR or sales. That means that innovation is always key, especially as finance departments face larger volumes of data. With analytics, it's possible to bring finance into the future for predictive modelling, detailed analysis, and insights from machine learning Challenges for Business Data AnalyThe following are some of the challenges that organizations may face with business data analytics: + Business alignment and priorities from a data perspective can be difficult to define. + Making decisions on topic, scale, or scope for a data initiative can be tricky. + Determining which data to measure and capture to achieve business objectives can prove challenging. inding data that creates value may be difficult; not all data helps make better decisions ven when the data source is identified, defining the specific subset of data needed can be complex. + Poor or unknown quality of data, especially historical. + Data integration and accessibility. Data being placed in disparate systems, and of varying format and quality. + Business stakeholders not being comfortable with the rapid changes occurring in the business data analyties space. * Difficulty bringing business stakeholders to a shared understanding on value when sharing data assets across business domains. + Lack of experience or knowledge for those completing the analysis as well as the managers receiving the results. + Change in organizational culture required to trust insights gleaned from data over experience and intuition. + Business managers finding it challenging to structure data teams. + Difficulty finding the right tools. DATA SCIENCE & DATA ANALYTICSData science is the study of data to extract meaningful insights for business. It is a multidisciplinary approach that combines principles and practices from the fields of mathematics, statistics, artificial intelligence, and computer engineering to analyze large amounts of data. analysis helps data scientists to ask and answer questions like what happened, why it happened, what will happen, and what can be done with the results. Data science is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses statistics, scientific computing, scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge and insights from noisy, structured, and unstructured data Data science also integrates domain knowledge from the underlying application domain (¢.g., natural sciences, information technology, and medicine). Data science is multifaceted and can be described as a science, a research paradigm, a research method, a discipline, a workflow, and a profession. Data science is a "concept to unify statistics, data analysis, informatics, and their related methods" in order to "understand and analyse actual phenomena" with data, It uses techniques and theories drawn from many fields within the context of mathematics, statistics, computer science, information science, and domain knowledge. However, data science is different from computer science and information science. Turing Award winner Jim Gray imagined data science as a "fourth paradigm" of science (empirical, theoretical, computational, and now data-driven) and asserted that “everything about science is changing because of the impact of information technology” and the data deluge. Why is data science important? Data science is important because it combines tools, methods, and technology to generate meaning from data. Modern organizations are inundated with data; there is a proliferation of devices that can automatically collect and store information. Online systems and payment portals capture more data in thefields of e-commerce, medicine, finance, and every other aspect of human life. We have text, audio, video, and image data available in vast quantities. History of data science While the term data science is not new, the meanings and connotations have changed over time. The word first appeared in the ’60s as an alternative name for statistics. In the late 90s, computer science professionals formalized the term. A proposed definition for data science saw it as a separate field with three aspects: data design, collection, and analysis. It still took another decade for the term to be used outside of academia. Future of data science Artificial intelligence and machine Jearning innovations have made data processing faster_and more efficient. Industry demand has created an ecosystem of courses, degrees, and job positions within the field of data science. Because of the cross-functional skillset and expertise required, data science shows strong projected growth over the coming decades. What are the benefits of data science for business? ata science is revolutionizing the way companies operate. Many businesses, regardless of size, need a robust data science strategy to drive growth and maintain a competitive edge. Some key benefits include: iscover unknown transformative patterns Data science allows businesses to uncover new patterns and relationships that have the potential to transform the organization. It can reveal low-cost changes to resource management for maximum impact on profit margins.For example, an e-commerce company uses data science to discover that too many customer queries are being generated after business hours. Investigations reveal that customers are more likely to purchase if they receive a prompt response instead of an answer the next business day. By implementing 24/7 customer service, the business grows its revenue by 30%.Innovate new products and solutions Data science can reveal gaps and problems that would otherwise go unnoticed. Greater insight about purchase decisions, customer feedback, and business processes can drive innovation in internal operations and external solutions. For example, an online payment solution uses data science to collate and analyze customer comments about the company on social media. Analysis reveals that customers forget passwords during peak purchase periods and are unhappy with the current password retrieval system. The company can innovate a better solution and see a significant increase in customer satisfaction. Real-time optimization Iv’s very challenging for businesses, especially large-scale enterprises, to respond to changing conditions in real-time. This can cause significant losses or disruptions in business activity. Data science can help companies predict change and react optimally to different circumstances. For example, a truck-based shipping company uses data science to reduce downtime when trucks break down. They identify the routes and shift patterns that lead to faster breakdowns and tweak truck schedules. They also set up an inventory of common spare parts that need frequent replacement so trucks can be repaired faster. What is the data science process? A business problem typically initiates the data science process. A data scientist will work with business stakeholders to understand what business needs. Once the problem has been defined, the data scientist may solve it using the OSEMN data science process: O - Obtain data Data can be pre-existing, newly acquired, or a data repository downloadable from the internet, Data scientists can extract data from internal or external databases, company CRM software, web server logs, social media or purchase it from trusted third-party sources.S-~ Scrub data Data scrubbing, or data cleaning, is the process of standardizing the data according to a predetermined format. It includes handling missing data, fixing data errors, and removing any data outliers. Some examples of data scrubbing are: Changing all date values to a common standard format. Fixing spelling mistakes or additional spa Fixing mathematical inaccuracies or removing commas from large numbers, E-~ Explore data Data exploration is preliminary data analysis that is used for planning further data modelling strategies. Data scientists gain an initial understanding of the data using descriptive statistics and data visualization tools. Then they explore the data to identify interesting patterns that can be studied or actioned. M — Model data Software and machine learning algorithms are used to gain deeper insights, predict outcomes, and prescribe the best course of action. Machine learning techniques like association, classification, and clustering are applied to the training data set. The model might be tested against predetermined test data to assess result accuracy. The data model can be fine-tuned many times to improve result outcomes. N- Interpret results Data scientists work together with analysts and businesses to convert data insights into action. They make diagrams, graphs, and charts to represent trends and predictions. Data summarization helps stakeholders understand and implement results effectively.8 What are the data science techniques? Data science professionals use computing systems to follow the data science process. The top techniques used by data scientists are: Classification Classification is the sorting of data into specific groups or categories. Computers are trained to identify and sort data. Known data sets are used to build decision algorithms in a computer that quickly processes and categorizes the data, For example: Sort products as popular or not popular Sort insurance applications as high risk or low risk: Sort social media comments into positive, negative, or neutral. Data science professionals use computing systems to follow the data science process. Regression Regression is the method of finding a relationship between two seemingly unrelated data points. The connection is usually modelled around a mathematical formula and represented as a graph or curves. When the value of one data point is known, regression is used to predict the other data point. For example:The rate of spread of air-borne di: The relationship between customer satisfaction and the number of employees. The relationship between the number of fire stations and the number of injuries due to fire in a particular location. Clustering Clustering is the method of grouping closely related data together to look for patterns and anomalies. Clustering is different from sorting because the data cannot be accurately classified into fixed categories. Hence the data is grouped into most likely relationships. New patterns and relationships can be discovered with clustering, For example: - Group customers with similar purchase behavior for improved customer service. Group network traffic to identify daily usage patterns and identify a network attack faster. Cluster articles into multiple different news categories and use this information to find fake news content. The basic principle behind data science techniques While the details vary, the underlying principles behind these techniques are: Y Teach a machine how to sort data based on a known data set. For example, sample keywords are given to the computer with their sort value. “Happy” is positive, while “Hate” is negative Y Give unknown data to the machine and allow the device to sort the dataset independently. ¥ Allow for result inaccuracies and handle the probability factor of the result, What are different data science technologies? Data science practitioners work with complex technologies such asArtificial intelligence: Machine learning models and related software are used for predictive and prescriptive analysis. Cloud computing: Cloud technologies have given data scientists the flexibility and processing power required for advanced data analytics. Internet of things: IoT refers to various devices that can automatically connect to the internet. These devices collect data for data science initiatives, They generate massive data which can be used for data mining and data extraction, Quantum computing: Quantum computers can perform complex calculations at high speed. Skilled data scientists use them for building complex quantitative algorithms. What are the challenges faced by data scientists? Multiple data sources Different types of apps and tools generate data in various formats. Data scientists have to clean and prepare data to make it consistent. This can be tedious and time-consuming. Understanding the business problem Data scientists have to work with multiple stakeholders and business managers to define the problem to be solved. This can be challenging—especially in large companies with multiple teams that have varying requirements. Elimination of bias Machine learning tools are not completely accurate, and some uncertainty or bias can exist as a result. Biases are imbalances in the training data or prediction behaviour of the model across different groups, such as age or income bracket. For instance, if the tool is trained primarily on data from middle-aged individuals, it may be less accurate when making predictions involving younger and older people. The field of machine learning provides an opportunity to address biases by detecting them and measuring them in the data and model.Application of Data Science: ening Consens @ Neda E-commerce Oe Fecommendng rodts @ © Dujteone Anayring eens @ © Boiomats © Vet stars Healthcare Prticting Foetal rotons @ © SetDiving Cars Nontonng Systems @ Manufacturing ease « © Carttonitoring system (© Esancng the safely of passengers ‘Automating Manufacturing Units @ Maintenances wdulng @ ‘Anomaly Detection @. © customer sSegmetaton Sttei Deon Mating FraulDelecton @ ; a Aigortic Tang CredtAsk odeng @ : ikanytis CasomerLitime Ve @ Banking BER Cee cE) Applications of Data Science 1, In Search Engines The most useful application of Data Science is Search Engines. As we know when we want to search for something on the internet, we mostly used Search engines like Google, Yahoo, Safari, Firefox, etc. So Data Science is used to get Searches faster.For Example, when we search something suppose “Data Structure and algorithm courses” then at that time on the Internet Explorer we get the first link of GeeksforGeeks Courses. This happens because the GeeksforGecks website is visited most in order to get information regarding Data Structure courses and Computer related subjects. So this analysis is Done using Data Science, and we get the Topmost Visited Web Links. 2. In Transport Data Science also entered into the Transport field like Driverless Cars. With the help of Driverless Cars, it is easy to reduce the number of Accidents. For Example, In Driverless Cars the training data is fed into the algorithm and with the help of Data Science techniques, the Data is analyzed like what is the speed limit in Highway, Busy Streets, Narrow Roads, ete. And how to handle different situations while driving ete. 3. In Finance Data Science plays a key role in Financial Industries. Financial Industries always have an issue of fraud and risk of losses. Thus, Financial Industries needs to automate risk of loss analysis in order to carry out strategic decisions for the company. Also, Financial Industries uses Data Science Analytics tools in order to predict the future. It allows the companies to predict customer lifetime value and their stock market moves. For Example, In Stock Market, Data Science is the main part. In the Stock Market, Data Science is used to examine past behaviour with past data and their goal is to examine the future outcome. Data is analysed in such a way that it makes it possible to predict future stock prices over a set timetable. 4, In E-Commerce E-Commerce Websites like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. uses data Science to make a better user experience with personalized recommendations. For Example, When we search for something on the E-commerce websites we get suggestions similar to choices according to our past data and also we get recommendations according to most buy the product, most rated, most searched, etc. This is all done with the help of Data Science.5. In Health Care In the Healthcare Industry data science act as a boon. Data Science is used for: Detecting Tumor. Drug discoveries. Medical Image Analysis. Virtual Medical Bots. Genetics and Genomics. Predictive Modeling for Diagnosis etc. 6. Image Recognition Currently, Data Science is also used in Image Recognition. For Example, When we upload our image with our friend on Facebook, Facebook gives suggestions Tagging who is in the picture. This is done with the help of machine learning and Data Science. When an Image is Recognized, the data analysis is done on one’s Facebook friends and after analysis, if the faces which are present in the picture matched with someone else profile then Facebook suggests us auto- tagging. 7. Targeting Recommendation Targeting Recommendation is the most important application of Data Science. Whatever the user searches on the Internet, he/she will see numerous posts everywhere. This can be explained properly with an example: Suppose I want a mobile phone, so I just Google search it and after that, I changed my mind to buy offline. Data Science helps those companies who are paying for Advertisements for their mobile. So everywhere on the internet in the social media, in the websites, in the apps everywhere I will see the recommendation of that mobile phone which I searched for. So this will force me to buy online. 8. Airline Routing Planning With the help of Data Science, Airline Sector is also growing like with the help of it, it becomes easy to predict flight delays. It also helps to decide whether to directly land into the destination or take a halt in between like a flight can havea direct route from Delhi to the U.S.A or it can halt in between after that reach at the destination. 9. Data Science in Gaming In most of the games where a user will play with an opponent i.e. a Computer Opponent, data science concepts are used with machine learning where with the help of past data the Computer will improve its performance. There are many games like Chess, EA Sports, etc. will use Data Science concepts. 10. Medicine and Drug Development The process of creating medicine is very difficult and time-consuming and has to be done with full disciplined because it is a matter of Someone’s life Without Data Science, it takes lots of time, resources, and finance or developing new Medicine or drug but with the help of Data Science, it becomes easy because the prediction of success rate can be easily determined based on biological data or factors. The algorithms based on data science will forecast how this will react to the human body without lab experiments. 11. In Delivery Logistics Various Logistics companies like DHL, FedEx, etc. make use of Data Science. Data Science helps these companies to find the best route for the Shipment of their Products, the best time suited for delivery, the best mode of transport to reach the destination, etc. 12. Autocomplete AutoComplete feature is an important part of Data Science where the user will get the facility to just type a few letters or words, and he will get the feature of auto-completing the line. In Google Mail, when we are writing formal mail to someone so at that time data science concept of Autocomplete feature is used where he/she is an efficient choice to auto-complete the whole line. Also in Search Engines in social media, in various apps, AutoComplete feature is widely used,Challenges of Big Data analytics