The idea of “self-serve analytics,” in which data analytics capabilities are distributed throughout an organization so that functions such as HR and finance can meet their own basic analytics needs on demand, isn’t necessarily new. But when data got big, most organizations found it necessary to centralize their analytics to be able to work with multiple large data sets and sources. The era of self-serve analytics, some thought, was over.

As analytics tools and strategies progress, however, it has become increasingly possible to give individual business users access to the power of big data analytics at their fingertips. Many IT departments are working to implement or develop cloud-based tools that provide “self-serve” analytics functionality to users.

These self-serve analytics are part of the next stage of the data revolution, in which as many people as possible within an organization are empowered to combine their subject matter expertise with the power of on-demand data analytics. When designed and implemented correctly, these capabilities can improve productivity, increase efficiency, encourage more analytics usage and reduce friction between IT teams and other departments throughout an organization.

Of course, organizations considering self-serve analytics need to develop a strong data governance model to ensure data quality and integrity across the enterprise as part of an integrated GRC (governance, risk and compliance) strategy. While important for any organization, it’s especially vital for highly-regulated industries such as healthcare, banking/financial or insurance where data origin, ownership, security and quality are mission-critical.

For IT managers struggling to keep up with demands, one attractive benefit of a self-serve analytics model that when both the capability and responsibility for everyday analytics functions are placed within HR, finance or other business units, high-value data scientists and analysts on IT teams are free to focus on more forward-looking strategic initiatives and enterprise-level projects.

Interested in learning how you can empower business users with analytics and free up your IT team? Contact us for information on our self-serve analytics solutions.