In the era of big data, companies across a range of industries are recognizing the need for • Finding and accelerating growth opportunities — drawing on internal and external data to better intelligence and insight about their business. They want to work out how to make the best help model and predict business outcomes, identify the most profitable opportunities and decisions, drawing on the right information, at the right time. differentiate the business from its rivals. One organization that has been pioneering in its use of predictive analytics has been the United • Improving business performance — enabling agile planning, more accurate forecasting, better States Postal Service. Using an analytical approach, it predicted which workers’ compensation budgeting and trusted decision-making support. claims and payments were unwarranted — and saved some US$9.5 million during 2012 alone. This • Managing risk and regulatory pressures — improving reporting processes through the is not an isolated example: many leading organizations have started to regard their information as exploitation of more robust data, while also identifying potential risk areas, such as compliance a corporate asset. violations, fraud or reputational damage. Business benefit can be gained by creating systems that can convert information into actionable • Exploiting emerging technologies — continually identifying new opportunities to gain insights insights, all within the context of key business priorities. Some of these include: from data. 2 | 5 Insights for executives