The Cloud Is Taking Predictive Analytics to New Heights
Predicting the future is no easy task—just ask anyone who had his work life consumed with the rabbit hole that is predictive analytics. Predictive analytics uses data mining, statistical analysis, modeling, and machine learning to help businesses exploit market trends and predict product-consumer relationships and industry opportunities. Because the business world and the environment around it is always evolving, predictive analytics can become an expensive luxury for smaller companies.
However, with the growth of cloud computing, IT departments in smaller companies are taking advantage of the increased flexibility, decreased storage restraints, and expanded network of information available on the cloud. Louis Columbus of Software Strategies Research explains in his weekly CloudTech article that an uptick in both prepackaged and model-based cloud analytics has occurred in myriad industries and is allowing smaller companies to overcome the physical, financial, and mental obstacles that larger companies historically have had an easier time absorbing.
Decision Management Solutions, a California-based research firm, conducted a survey of more than 350 companies and found that the implementation of predictive analytics has grown substantially within the past two years. As web-based alternatives emerge, companies that were held back by the inability to afford high-priced data scientists and costly in-house servers are welcoming the cloud for better customer and industry insight.
James Taylor, CEO of Decision Management Solutions, acknowledged that cloud computing is helping companies evolve to better address the needs and wants of their customers:
Predictive analytics in the cloud is becoming mainstream, with broader and accelerating adoption. This adoption is increasingly driven by the value of predictive analytics to improve customer treatment and engagement. As organizations gain more experience with predictive analytics, their approach to data and to Big Data is changing and evolving.
With the advent of cloud-based predictive analytics, the excuse of not being able to know how consumers will react to a new product or service is no longer valid. Using predictive analytics to better understand consumers, anticipate customer satisfaction, and predict potential profitability is now a realizable tool for even the smallest of companies.
Does your company actively use predictive analytics? Has the cloud decreased the perceived informational advantage between large and small companies? Is the cloud helping your company better reach the needs of consumers? Tell us your experience in the comments.
