Understanding augmented

analytics 
Augmented analytics encourages data democratization by empowering
more people in an organization to access data analytics and insights.

What is augmented analytics? 

Augmented analytics is an automated system that sources and analyzes data using
machine learning and natural language processing. With less dependency on data
scientists to glean and process data, businesses can unleash the power of data
themselves with natural language searches.

With data crunched using augmented analytics, online streaming services

like Netflix and Amazon can display tailored content to the user. Financial
and government organizations use existing data mined and developed by
augmented analytics to identify and mitigate signs of fraud. Various
organizations in the public sector are able to better serve people with
intelligence powered by augmented analytics.

How can businesses take

advantage of augmented
analytics?
Having a vision of the future without letting it unfold itself can push your
business in the right direction. augmented analytics can be that driving
force which leads decision makers to make better-informed judgments
using precious data analytics. Of course, there are other techniques that
organizations use to stay ahead of time. For example, hard trends can be
identified using the power of certainty, power of anticipation, ability to
reinvent and redefine.

Augmented analytics can help a business in providing better business

intelligence. Simply put, BI can help any business make improved
decisions by using data that has been gathered and processed, which
leads to more revenue. Starting right from the top of the sales funnel until
the bottom end, and then re-engaging/retaining the purchasers, BI plays a
key role in every stage of the marketing and sales lifecycle. A good BI tool
will collect data from internal and external sources of the business to
provide the past, present and future insights.

Why are BI tools that use automated analytics better than traditional BI
tools? It’s simple; AI techniques like ML and NLP make the difference. 

Previously, BI tools used code or rule-based programs to analyze and

process data and then make sense of it. Although it worked, it was not
enough to provide organizations with cutting-edge insights that really made
a difference. Machine learning programs, on the other hand, are more
intelligent. They don’t just go by the rules; they adapt to changes.

A machine learning program can identify patterns and further process

data based on those patterns. This means that it can improvise based on
its past experiences, much like human intelligence. Forty-eight percent of
enterprises who adopted ML saw an increase in profitability as its top
benefits.

Another AI technique that brings in the difference is the natural language

processing or generation. Humans cannot possibly read machine
language, let alone analyzing and gaining insights from them. That’s where
natural language generation (NLG) comes into picture.

NLG converts ML into a more human-readable format. ML does all the

backend work by generating insights, and NLG processes it in a way that
users can understand. For example, if an ML tool finds that there was an
increase in sales in December 2019, NLG can go ahead and tell the user
that their sales have increased by 20% since that time.

This format makes it very easy for non-technical users to identify insights. It
can also take in human-readable search queries and convert the results
into visuals. Users can search for queries in a manner that is akin to talking
to another human.

How does augmented analytics impact

business intelligence (BI)?
Government organizations and businesses are leveraging data analytics in
their day-to-day activities to enhance efficiency. Ultimately, every business
wants to sell better. Be it their products or services – the only factor driving
their success is the revenue generated. Competition has hit so hard in
every business sector that getting above it is not an option anymore.

Any BI system is fueled with data analytics which is further transformed into
actionable insights. Data that is gathered from various sources and
processed in an understandable format. Gone are the days when analytics
were code-based and would take months together to come up with key
insights using the limited data sourcing capabilities.

With augmented analytics and BI, the reports are more granular, and the
predictions smarter. The CIO notes:
“The combinations (BI and augmented analytics) included in these software
platforms will make each function more powerful individually and more
valuable to the businesspeople using them.”

1. Better decision-making
With effective ways of digging data and offering insights, augmented
analytics give stronger power in the hands of decision makers. BI systems
that are fueled with augmented analytics are capable of discovering
trending insights.

For example, smart data discovery tools today have proven to double the

business value by intelligently preparing, analyzing key insights
automatically. They are easy to use and self-serviceable, allowing different
departments to make more informed decisions.

2. Forecasting business trends

Augmented analytics helps businesses recognize trends and patterns that
lets them plan and prepare better for a stronger future. Machine learning
can identify business trends using statistical models on data. Transforming
this data into a more human-readable form is performed by the NLG.

These useful insights then act as a strong base to forecast future courses
of actions for any enterprise like anticipating a change in product demand,
new potential customer locations, seasonal demands and more. For
businesses like travel, tourism and hospitality, identifying and predicting
customers' buying patterns are invaluable as it allows them to forecast their
next steps on marketing and sales.
Below is an example of a daily performance airline KPI dashboard that
monitors performance of each airline by tracking each performance KPI.
These intelligent tracking capabilities help them enhance their customer
experience.

Source

3. Faster results
Crunching data using AI is not just more efficient, it is faster. Traditional BI
systems took months to clean, analyze data and provide insights owing to
the combing of records manually. augmented analytics automates the
steps to processing data and can streamline BI within days. Quicker
insights mean more power in the hands of decision-makers which will
accelerate the process of decision-making.

4. Freeing time for data scientists

Often businesses rely on citizen data scientists or IT support to crunch
data, analyze and provide insights. With augmented analytics using
automated data analysis and processing AI tools, these data analysts can
use their precious time in something more productive. It also allows lesser
skilled users to gain insights themselves without any external
dependencies.

5. Embedding analytics everywhere

Augmented analytics offers standalone analytics widgets that can allow
users to grab insights from their dashboards and add them in a workflow or
anywhere else. Also, various sales and marketing actions can be
embedded alongside insights.

For example, Kodak combines Yellowfin‘s embedded analytics into

their printing workflow software, Prinergy. With the Prinergy application,
their customers can forecast resource needs and availability by keeping a
track of the ink usage, number of print passes, production volumes, and
trends.

6. Sharing data
The sooner the data is shared with the team, the more productive each one
gets. augmented analytics does not just offer data to be analyzed and
processed, it can be also shared. augmented analytics platforms provide its
users with a social network feature in their dashboard.

When insights are discovered, they can be shared within various branches
or decision-makers of an organization via the social network platform. This
sharing of data creates a better, more transparent and a faster way of
taking significant decisions.
Who uses augmented
analytics – and why?
Augmented analytics is not just valuable for businesses. It allows for data
democratization, which means that analytics and insights are now
accessible through various departments of an organization. This impacts
decision-makers, non-decision makers, users, and end-users.
Customers
Augmented analytics can be a part of a software or application that
Customers use without being known. As mentioned above, we’ve seen how
Kodak embeds analytics with their software that is used by their
customers to monitor resource availability, their ink usage, number of prints
and more. This helps customers to efficiently manage their ink usage.

Stakeholders and partners

With the advanced intelligence in augmented analytics, stakeholders and
partners of enterprises can make more informed decisions on
procurements, strategic activities, quality control, customer acquisitions,
retentions and much more.

The AI in augmented analytics will reveal more insights than what is asked
for, thus adding tremendous value to businesses and their
stakeholders. Smart data discovery allows business stakeholders and
partners to discover and visualize insights in the form of predictions, links,
correlations, hidden patterns, etc.

Data scientists and analysts

Data scientists are rare to find. A study by McKinsey shows that there will
be a huge shortage of data scientists – of about 250,000 in the U.S alone
by the year 2024. Nonetheless, the entry of augmented analytics has
taken the load off from data scientists.

Previously, they were solely depended upon for building prediction

algorithms, running repetitive reports and queries. Now, they can focus
their time and efforts on more productive issues. They can leverage
advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve more
complex problems.

Marketing executives
Marketers are usually non-technical users. augmented analytics can
drastically transform their operations on a daily basis. To make sure that
marketers stay within budget, they need to choose more effective outreach
programs. Programs that have worked for them previously and / or that
have worked in general (data syndication).

With augmented analytics, marketers can make enhanced decisions on

what campaigns to pick. They won’t have to depend on their analytics team
anymore as the power is now in their hands. To make it easier, marketers
can leverage conversational analytics like AI-powered chatbots to access
insights just by asking for it.

Brand managers
To be able to ensure that their products and services resonate with their
customers, Brand managers are required to stay abreast with market
trends and their competitors. augmented analytics tools allow them to
easily find deep insights, dependencies and correlations. Thus,
empowering brand managers to make smarter marketing decisions.

Seventy-three percent of consumers prefer personalized advertising.

Augmented analytics tools can immensely help brand managers in
personalizing ad and marketing campaigns.

Salespeople
Time is extremely crucial for salespeople. A delay in acting upon existing
analytics can cost them a customer. augmented analytics has proven to
speed up and enhance results throughout the various stages of the
marketing and sales pipeline. Like marketers, salespeople also do not have
to wait or depend upon data analysts to transform data into insights.

They can check on their wins, losses, performance metrics, location-based

sales, and more with natural language searches in the analytics dashboard
provided by augmented analytics tools. The sales head can use the
dashboard to keep a tab on the performance of each sales representative.

Conclusion
Data moves the world, and organizations are spending tons of their budget
to harness the data collected. BI systems offer to process and analyze
corporate data to aid in decision-making. Unfortunately, not many uncover
insights that can make a difference to your business. When BI is driven by
augmented analytics, it creates a more intelligent and powerful automated
analytics system.

Leveraging the competencies of AI techniques like ML and natural

language processing, augmented analytics offers a whole new level of
business intelligence. It is termed as a disrupter that can transform how
analytics content is developed. Enterprises adopting augmented analytics
into their BI platforms at an early stage can see unprecedented insights
speed and a competitive edge.