Traditional business analytics has enabled your company to access critical business information and link the different phases of the management analysis cycle – reporting, analysis, modeling and planning. This cycle in theory is supposed to occur in all areas of your company – finance, planning, marketing, sales, operations and so forth.
Yes, most companies are out of spreadsheets, no longer having this intellectual capital trapped in sub-directories of their organization. The big gap, however, has been in elevating finance with modern software.
Infusing advanced analytics into your business processes will help move you beyond looking in the rearview mirror.