The alarm goes off and the TV is flicked on to the news channel.
Wow, not even an hour into the day, and already at least three actionable decisions have been made.
Recently, some consultants have coined the term “actionable analytics” as a new buzzword. Actionable analytics is the concept that a person or company can analyze timely and relevant data about specific needs, and from that analysis develop a series of strategic actions.
The three morning decisions above were made based on analyzing data and taking action. The weather reporter analyzed data about atmospheric trends and provided information to take action—pack an umbrella. Super fancy term for everyday judgment calls, right? Same thing goes for companies. "Actionable analytics" is marketed to businesses to help consultants and software vendors sound smart.
Really, the term is stating the obvious.
Do all companies want actionable analytics? Of course. At the expense of insulting whomever coined this term, why on earth would anyone want to analyze information they cannot take action on? Shouldn’t all analytics be actionable? It should go without saying that a successful company would not waste time and resources doing analyses unless it is useful and helps drive strategic actions.
The following table describes ways to respond when confronted with the use of the term. Typically, "actionable analytics" will be introduced by one of three personas: a salesperson, an IT specialist, or an analyst.
Actionable analytics should not be used to categorize reports as valuable, but rather all reports from a company's system should be valuable. When data outputs from a system are no longer useful, companies should look to improve upon their existing ERP.
This article has been adapted from a chapter from Trenegy’s book, Jar(gone).
Trenegy is a non-traditional consulting firm dedicated to helping companies clarify the latest business jargon, putting it into useful terms and solutions that benefit your company. Find out more: info@trenegy.com.
