Examples of Sectors Harnessing Data Analytics Today

Data is becoming an increasingly integral part of doing business. The human race creates 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day. Getting insights from that data is granting forward-thinking companies a leg-up over their competition. These insights can be game-changing to organizations across the board. Here are just five examples of sectors harnessing data analytics today.

Public Sector

The government and public sector are often chided for doing things less efficiently than the private sector. There are a few things that contribute to this—a big one being that companies are inherently for-profit, while the public sector should, in theory, serve the people.

Data is a powerful tool that can be harnessed to raise the efficiency of the public sector. There are a few areas where investing in data and analytics can pay off in this arena.

One of the biggest issues that tend to make things difficult for the public sector is the fact there are so many independent agencies and offices, which often don’t communicate with each other. Data can bridge that gap. By using analytics tools that can pull from multiple sources, while also democratizing data, the public sector can get much stronger insights from analytics. This will empower better decisions.

Manufacturing

Data may as well have been created specifically for the manufacturing industry. There are nearly limitless applications for data in the manufacturing realm.

Manufacturing is such a prime candidate for data disruption because data can be collected at so many points—often with the help of Internet of Things-connected sensors. From product design to assembly to delivery, there are many points that can be turned into data, then analyzed to be made more efficient.

Retail

Few industries are undergoing a greater existential transformation right now than retail. The United States retail industry is currently experiencing what many are calling the “retail apocalypse.” This is largely due to a mass transition to online shopping, which is growing far more rapidly than brick-and-mortar stores.

But to simply say everything needs to be online as fast as possible isn’t necessarily the answer. The vast majority of retail still happens at physical stores, and there will always be a need for them for the foreseeable future. There’s no denying, however, the perilous situation many retailers are finding themselves in today.

Listening to data is going to continue being an essential part of doing retail work—whether it’s online or in-store. Retailers can utilize search analytics to get the most out of their data. One Fortune 100 Retailer is using ThoughtSpot’s platform to make data more accessible to its merchants; its the merchandising managers now perform 40,000 searches weekly to analyze SKU performance and customer behavior.

Search-driven analytics powered by AI allows for people without a deep data background to make ad hoc queries and instantly get actionable insights. Having that kind of power allows retailers to stay competitive in their rapidly changing world.

Healthcare

The healthcare world is another perfect place for data utilization. Hospitals and doctor’s offices are full of collectable data. But there’s another reason why healthcare is a prime contender for a data transformation: It’s an industry that experiences a lot of inefficiencies.

There are so many moving parts in the healthcare world. And many of them have a direct impact on patient outcomes. Reducing readmissions rates, incorrect discharge times and redundant staffing are just a few examples of how hospitals can use data to improve current inefficiencies.

Financial Services

The financial world is also full of opportunities for using data to make better decisions. Financial services are all about the numbers. Fortunately, data can be readily collected and employed in this kind of environment.

From bank managers to traders, harnessing the power of data can make all the difference in optimizing decisions. When there’s money on the line, it’s essential to back up ideas with data-derived evidence. This is an essential way for financial services to distinguish themselves from competitors—delivering consistent above-par results.

We now live in an age where data is influencing decisions across all kinds of sectors. No matter the business or industry, data can be used to improve processes in some way.