Why in-context analytics is key to increasing analytics adoption

One of the key drivers of increased analytics adoption is a more seamless integration between business applications such as core ERP systems and analytics. Traditionally, business intelligence and analytics tools are separate applications that require the business user to leave their application and login into an analytics system to look for insights in data they may have been viewing in the ERP system just a few moments before.

This continuous backward and forward process of moving from transactional system to analytics system and back is inconvenient for the user and often creates a psychological barrier to use. Perhaps more importantly, it’s impossible for the user to see analytics that is in-context for the data, transactions, and processes they are currently working on.

The net result of this is an inability to discover new insights rapidly. Legacy analytics technologies often involve cumbersome workflows, need specialized resources, and have user interfaces better suited to analysts than business users. So it takes an unnecessarily long time to go from question to insight. And if your organization suffers from a lack of modern self-service capabilities, business users find themselves waiting in a queue for IT resources to become available. This inability to move quickly is what ultimately stifles innovation. All the great ideas circulating in the business are delayed or put on hold because you can’t gain insights fast enough, preventing the organization from being agile to the ever-changing business climate.

Industry and role-relevant analytic widgets embedded throughout a business workflow make data-driven decision-making easier and quicker to accomplish. Whether displayed in a portal, business application home pages, data entry screens, or other frequently used interfaces that are used for performing daily tasks by front-line staff, analytic widgets that are embedded and change dynamically provide just the right in-context information to inform decisions. If a business workflow involves an analytical dashboard, the in-context analysis should allow for drill-back from dashboard-aggregated information to the ERP transaction.

To learn more about how to increase analytics adoption across your organization, read our best practice guide today.