What Is Data Analytics?

CIO Applications| Monday, May 03, 2021

Data analytics uses a variety of disciplines, such as computer programming, mathematics, and statistics, to analyze data in order to explain, predict, and enhance results.

Fremont, CA: Data analytics is a discipline that is concerned with extracting information from data. It includes data processing and management processes, methods, and techniques such as data collection, structure, and storage. The primary goal of data analytics is to apply statistical analysis and technology to data in order to identify patterns and solve problems. Data analytics has grown in importance in the enterprise as a tool for evaluating and shaping business processes and enhancing decision-making and business performance.

Data analytics uses a variety of disciplines, such as computer programming, statistics, and mathematics, to analyze data to explain, predict, and enhance results. Data analytics teams use a variety of data processing methods, such as data mining, data cleansing, data transformation, data modeling, and more, to ensure rigorous analysis.

There are four types of analytics:

Descriptive analytics: What has occurred and what is currently taking place? Descriptive analytics describes the current state by defining trends and patterns using historical and current data from different sources. This is the domain of business intelligence in business analytics (BI).

Diagnostic analytics: What is the cause of this? Diagnostic analytics examines data (often produced by descriptive analytics) to determine the factors or causes of past results.

Predictive analytics: What is the most probable outcome in the future? Predictive analytics allows predictions about potential outcomes by applying techniques such as statistical modeling, forecasting, and machine learning to the production of descriptive and diagnostic analytics. Predictive analytics is often regarded as a subset of "advanced analytics," and it often relies on machine learning and deep learning.

Prescriptive analytics: What do we do? Prescriptive analytics is another form of advanced analytics that uses testing and other techniques to suggest specific solutions that will produce the desired results. Predictive analytics in business employs machine learning, business law, and algorithms.