Business Analytics: Transforming Intelligence into Action

Financial services organizations are changing the way they capture and use business information. Gone are the days in which the executive staff dominated company strategy and decision-making processes. Today, the industry recognizes that strategic decisions are made daily throughout all levels of the organization. To remain competitive, financial services organizations need to provide an approach to business intelligence (BI) and analytics that reflects this business transformation.

Regulatory demands, coupled with increased shareholder understanding of the capital markets business, require executives to have deeper insight into and detailed analysis of the factors that drive revenue and shareholder value. Organizations in the capital markets industry have been investing in tools to enhance their technical infrastructure and business insight. By gathering critical data, executives can adopt policies and procedures that nurture a more effective and prosperous business model. This infrastructure and corresponding analytical tools must not only measure value, but also be active components in creating, implementing and shaping these growth strategies.

The challenge for most capital markets firms is not a lack of raw data, but a lack of context and insight based on that information. Analytics, when properly structured and defined, can deliver this critical insight and more. Data must be given a framework, enhanced and delivered to the right people in a controlled way. In other words, to truly benefit from BI and analytics, organizations need to move beyond a discussion of "what" information is important to focus on the why, who, where, when and how of the process. Organizations that accurately answer these questions can turn BI into actions that drive future success.

"What" Information is Important?

The first step in creating an analytics environment that adds value is answering the fundamental question, "What information do I need to run the business?" To drive strategic governance and analytical thinking, the data identified must be:

• Complete and enterprise-wide
• Consistent and unique
• Actionable

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