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BI analytics in the cloud brings competitive advantages

Kirsten Doyle
By Kirsten Doyle, ITWeb contributor.
Johannesburg, 30 Jan 2018
Cecil Kgoetiane, data engineer at the South African Weather Service.
Cecil Kgoetiane, data engineer at the South African Weather Service.

The past two to three years has seen a trend of businesses relocating their data in the cloud. This is resulting in analytics being shifted to the cloud environment too, as organisations are inclined to keep their data and analytics in the same 'basket'.

So says Cecil Kgoetiane, data engineer at the South African Weather Service (SAWS), who will be presenting on 'The effect of moving BI analytics to the cloud', during the ITWeb Business Intelligence & Analytics Summit, to be held on 13 and 14 March at The Forum in Bryanston.

Gaining a competitive advantage

In addition, he says there are several other reasons that organisations are also are moving their analytics to the cloud environment. Firstly, the reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO) relative to infrastructure.

Secondly, cost savings from a business continuity perspective, as the business leadership does not have to worry about service recovery / business continuity during a disaster. Finally, best in class analytics processing power wherein analysis and reporting can be effected faster and efficiently regardless of the location of the branch offices in relation to the head quarters.

Over and above speed and scalability, Kgoetiane says the relocation of data and analytics to the cloud environment is geared towards achieving competitive advantage through swifter analytics and reporting.

In the hands of the few

ITWeb BI & Analytics Summit 2018

Register now to attend the BI & Analytics Summit 2018 at The Forum, Bryanston on 13 - 15 March 2018. Cecil Kgoetiane will join other industry leaders in discussing their experience of the best practices for business intelligence and analytics. For the most up-to-date agenda click here.

Speaking of businesses are not using analytics to their maximum benefit, Kgoetiane says traditionally, analytics have been in the hands of the few. "In other words, the approach so far has been IT-centric rather than exposing the analytics to everyone across the business in line with Gartner's 2016 BI Magic Quadrant. Essentially, the traditional approach has to change."

He believes moving analytics to the cloud environment would effectively effect this change. "In embracing the new approach businesses need to move collaborative analytics to the centre through cloud technology for easy sharing. All the same, businesses may need to premise such move on the provisions of the balanced scorecard (BSC)."

Ultimately, he says businesses need to embrace analytics from a strategic perspective, and as such, business planning needs to espouse analytics so the business vision can be realised.

To find out more and register for the ITWeb Business Intelligence & Analytics Summit 2018, go to: http://v2.itweb.co.za/event/itweb/business-intelligence-summit-2018/?page=agendaday1

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