Technology / Data & Analytics
Data & Analytics
Data & Analytics: Turning Information Into Insight
Data analytics is the process of collecting, organizing, and examining data to answer questions, identify trends, and support decisions.
Overview
What Is Data & Analytics?
Organizations generate data in many places — sales systems, websites, sensors, and spreadsheets. Analytics brings this information together, cleans it, and presents it in a form people can interpret, such as reports and dashboards.
Useful analysis starts with a clear question. Reliable results depend on data quality, consistent definitions, and an understanding of what the numbers can and cannot show.
At a Glance
Starts with a clear question
Depends on accurate, consistent data
Communicated through reports and dashboards
Supports, rather than replaces, judgment
Key Concepts
Terms and Ideas to Know
Data Collection
Gathering data from applications, forms, devices, and other sources.
Data Cleaning
Correcting errors, removing duplicates, and standardizing formats.
Data Warehouse
A central store that combines data from multiple systems for analysis.
Descriptive vs. Predictive
Describing what happened versus estimating what is likely to happen.
Visualization
Charts and dashboards that make patterns easier to see.
Data Governance
Policies for data quality, ownership, access, and retention.
Common Uses
Where Data & Analytics Is Used
Typical applications across organizations of different sizes and industries.
Performance reporting
Tracking agreed measures over time.
Customer insights
Understanding how people use products and services.
Operational monitoring
Spotting issues in processes as they happen.
Forecasting & planning
Estimating future needs to support planning.
Before You Adopt
Questions to Consider
Use these questions to evaluate tools, plans, and proposals related to data & analytics.
What decision will this analysis inform?
Where does the data come from, and how reliable is it?
Are key terms and metrics defined consistently?
Who should have access to which data?
How is personal or sensitive data protected?
How will results be checked before they are acted on?
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