One of the hottest topics in tech circles today is “Big Data,” i.e., what to do with the enormous volumes of data being generated within companies and how to leverage it for business intelligence. Clearly, spreadsheets aren’t enough, but creating an analytics strategy is difficult when the data is stored in so many disparate systems, all in different proprietary formats. Trying to pick a single analytics platform to meet the needs of an entire enterprise seems impossible, especially with standalone options evaporating as the industry leaders are all acquired by large enterprise software firms. The good news is that technology and service providers are imbedding increasingly sophisticated analytics into operational systems, allowing business users to do creative analytics--without having a data scientist handy.
Based on interviews with TSIA members and partners, TSIA Research has defined three categories of service analytics: business analytics, customer analytics, and consumption analytics. This report will define these categories, and provide real-world examples in each category to give visibility to some early success stories, as well as to acquaint members with what is possible. Service professionals across disciplines should understand what business intelligence can be gleaned by analyzing existing stores of operational, survey, usage and other data. This report is by no means an exhaustive list, it is merely a starting point in the service analytics conversation.