Proceedings

The current limitations in the quality of decision making and information delivery
range from an inability of organizations to capture the right data and deliver it to the
right people at the right time, to poor data quality, system complexity and the
disconnect of business analytics from operational systems. Those shortcomings are
due to the lack of appropriate investment in business analytics solutions and the
differences between the information delivery and decision support functionality of
most of those solutions.
Organizations need to know what is happening now, what is likely to happen next and
what actions should be taken to get the optimal results. The lack of control over
information is likely felt by users and decision makers in their daily jobs. Managers
may lack confidence in their information, may frequently use the wrong information
and may even miss information they should be using. The differences between timely,
accurate information and the people who need it can broadly affect the quality of
decisions and business outcomes.
Most organizations claim that their data is an asset; many have built data warehouses
to collect and store data. However, in some cases, the more suitable metaphor should
be data landfills. Many organizations have become efficient at capturing data, but
much less capable of organizing, analysing, extracting and delivering it from those
data stores to enhance the overall decision-making quality. If data is indeed an asset,
market research suggests that a large amount of it remains inactive and is not
leveraged to its full potential (IBM White Paper, 2009).
Creating intelligence by collecting real insight from this data is what continues to
elude organizations. Despite years of discussions about scorecards and metrics,
experience and perception are often the guide lines for making important, even critical
decisions, although current research reveals a clear link between business
performance and the use of business analytics (Gros Mary E., Goul Michael &
Demirkan Haluk, 2011). Hence, the question is what exactly is business analytics and
how can it help an organization to improve its business process.
Business analytics is, simply, the application of analytical techniques to resolve
business issues. It provides organizations with a framework for decision making,
helping organizations solve complex business problems, improve performance, drive
sustainable growth through innovation, anticipate and plan for change while managing
and balancing risks (Trkman Peter, McCormack Kevin, Valadares de Oliveira Marcos
Paulo & Bronzo Ladeira Marcelo, 2010).
1. DECISION-CENTRIC BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
Effective decision making requires a business analytics framework that incorporates
the people, processes, technology and the culture of an organization. This common
framework provides flexibility across the entire range of analytical decision-making
types from highly managed operational analytics to discovery-based analytics such as
credit fraud scenarios or setting dynamic credit limits.
Assigning meaning to data, deriving knowledge from data, building the appropriate
models from and about the data, and deriving optimal management decision support
are the key activities to support organizations in business processes from all fields of
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