Introduction
When, in how much time and with the use of how many resources do I have the necessary information to know if forecasts and expectations have been achieved?
More and more often the continuous changes to which we are subjected require the Management of an organization to access analyzes that allow us to read the results in summary, and in the desired levels of detail.
This is a need that embraces the various functions: analysis of sales, the market, interim financial statements, financial statements, risks, the organizational climate, production data and in general in every place where there is data that need to “dialogue” in order to express significant numbers.
Today technological innovation considerably favors the development of solutions that can also be implemented within individual companies, perhaps with the help of some specialists and the support of external consultants who facilitate the reading of data and the evaluation of which decisions are most appropriate to take.
We are referring to Business Intelligence tools.
Data quality
We must not forget that any type of analysis depends on the quality of the data from which it draws. If they are out of date, truthful or incomplete, the result could even be misleading.
It is therefore essential to operate also with a view to having tools which, thanks to the most recent innovations, facilitate the creation, management, maintenance and accessibility of data.
The examples can be numerous; let us ask ourselves if, for example, the quality of the data relating to accounting, including warehouse accounting – and its periodic evaluation -, to the analysis of financial needs and risks, to the presence and absence of personnel, etc., are of high quality.
Data analysis
The past
Descriptive analysis
It reads the data of the past and finds ways to describe them in summary through dashboards, graphs, tables, reports.
Diagnostic analysis
Analyze the data thoroughly with the aim of understanding events.
For example, if on the one hand there is an improvement in management results, from an in-depth analysis it could be understood that the overall company result was determined by an excellent result of a business unit which however at the same time presents a decline in other business. This evidence would not emerge if the data were not “exploded”.
The future
Predictive analytics
Through historical data, with the analysis of trends, it is possible to predict what the results could be in the near future.
Prescriptive analysis
Prescriptive analytics suggests different scenarios, various courses of action, highlighting the potential implications for each of them.
Now that I know the past and the near future, what should I do? It helps in making decisions with greater awareness.
Next steps
In the published insights, the possibilities of use are explored by providing public access, or free access to those who register on the portal, to some useful information to get started, then continuing – by level of Membership – with solutions indicated for Economic Analysis, up to delving into specific cases that allow you to prepare customizable models for your needs.