Kavika Roy on October 15, 2021
Embedded analytics adds real-time data analytics reports to websites and software applications. It empowers enterprises to adopt the data-driven decision-making model and add value to the business.
Data analytics is the process of acquiring, transforming, and using AI-based business intelligence tools to convert real-time raw data into structured data to derive actionable insights. Data analytics are performed in separate environments and are then shared with employees and management to make decisions.
Employees have to work on different systems and move back and forth to use these analytics at work. Data visualization tools have simplified the process through embedded analytics and third-party integrations.
This enables you to use the insights in the same system on which you are working. It provides a seamless workflow with little or no disruptions so that business intelligence analytics can be used to their maximum potential. The issue with the underuse of insights in the traditional method is solved through embedded analytics. When the analytical insights are a separate entity, some of it may be lost or not considered for decision-making. By embedded analytics to other software and platforms, this loss can be minimized and even nullified. Every important piece of information is effectively used by businesses.
What is Embedded Analytics?
Embedded analytics is the integration of data analytics reports to websites, third-party software, and applications. The dashboard of the BI tool is embedded (included and presented) on another software or website so that the insights can be directly shared and used from the main source.
You can see changes in real-time when using embedded analytics. The report will change as data is processed and insights are generated. These changes are visible in real-time when you look at the website or the app. News portals, public health reporting websites, research platforms, etc., are a few embedded analytics examples where the dashboard of a BI tool is embedded into the website to share information with the public.
Inserting the dashboard is a great way to present information to the management and the end-user. Be it the sales team, the marketing team, the accounts department, or the production team, every department in the enterprise can be provided with embedded analytics to use the latest insights to make the right decisions at work. It is an effective way to adopt the data-driven model in the business.
Relationship between Embedded Analytics and Business Intelligence
Embedded analytics solutions effectively use business intelligence tools and insights by fully integrating them into the system. Instead of restricting BI to its isolated framework and accessing the insights when needed, embedded analytics helps you understand data with more clarity.
Once you take data insights outside the traditional BI tools, they can be presented anywhere. In fact, the insights generated by your business can be shared with or sold to another organization and embedded into their systems. They can either use it for internal decision-making or share it with their end-users. Using embedded analytics can increase your business value and give you a definite edge over your competitors. It also helps improve your B2B connections and expand your business.
How to Use Embedded Analytics
There are three ways to use embedded analytics within and outside the business and take data insights to the users.
Internal Tools
Within an SME or a large-scale enterprise, embedded analytics software is used to streamline workflows in various departments and align them to achieve organizational goals. Even though software like CRM has in-built data visualization capabilities, the features are limited and do not provide all the necessary information to the teams.
By integrating embedded analytics with these systems, various teams across the enterprise can access the data required for their projects and use the insights directly to create better strategies. What happens here is that if a team is working on a CRM system, they don’t have to move to another software or application to access data analytics. Whatever they require can be found in the same system.
Web
Embedded analytics on the website is used to take the information to the B2B audience and end-users. It helps engage the audiences and share complex data in an easy-to-understand manner. You can plug tools like Chartio with most HTML frames without much fuss. Instead of detailing a report on the blog or website, you can rely on graphical presentation and illustrations to make the post interactive and fun.
Buy-In
Now, what if you want to monetize embedded analytics? Simply make it a premium feature and sell it. Interested parties can opt for the premium feature (either by paying a one-time fee or monthly subscriptions) to access embedded analytics and use it in their systems. This will enable data analytics to happen at the same place where the decisions are being made. In case of any error, you can fix it within the same system instead of going to a reporting tool or visualization tool.
Steps to Start Using Embedded Analytics
Employing business intelligence consulting services in an enterprise will make embedded analytics easy. Embedded analytics needs people, processes, and technology to be aligned with each other and with the organizational goals. Let’s look at how to start using embedded analytics in brief.
- The first step to adopt any new model is by understanding your business and your long-term goals.
- Access your existing systems and see how much your infrastructure has to be changed to use embedded analytics. You’ll have to spend a substantial amount of money if your systems are not new.
- There are several embedded analytics tools in the market. Tableau is one. Qlik is another. Looker, Power BI, Chartio are a few more.
- Each of them has slightly different features. They serve specific purposes and come with certain limitations. You need to know which tool is best suited for your business.
- The next stage is to access the talent gap in the enterprise and fill it. Do you want to hire in-house analytics? Do you want to rely on offshore BI service providers?
- You also need to choose the type of integration you want. This depends on why you are using embedded analytics in your business.
- Then you need to ensure data security and authenticated access to embedded analytics. It’ll be disastrous if such confidential data falls into the hands of cybercriminals.
- You have to choose between using an existing application and building a custom application to share embedded analytics. Deploying the application, maintaining it, scaling it, etc., also have to be considered.
- And finally, data and data analytics have to be migrated to the cloud to enable seamless scaling of the IT infrastructure and increased data security.
Use Cases of Embedded Analytics
There are many ways in which embedded analytics can help your organization. The following are some embedded analytics use cases-
Helps Monetize Data Analytics
Embedded analytics allows you to monetize data by providing customers access to the insights. You can do this by embedding the data visualization tools to the front end or the user interface and allow only paid or subscribed customers to view the details.
Can Optimize Mobile Workforce
If your employees work using mobile devices, it can be frustrating to move between different apps and tabs. Embedded analytics makes it easy for them to work on the same app. It helps employees finish work faster and increases the quality of work.
Promote and Increase Use Adoption
Since analytics are integrated into the existing workflow, employees will be more open to adopting the latest technology. This will increase productivity and add value to the business. The money you spend on adopting the data-driven model will be well-spent when employees embrace technology.
Reduce the Risk of Errors
There is always a risk of misrepresenting data when switching between multiple systems. But if data and analytics are available at the same place where decisions are made, the margin of error is reduced.
Consistency in Branding
Embedded analytics also allows you to brand the user interfaces and maintain consistency. Employees and end-users will not see multiple logos and interfaces with varied color schemes. There is uniformity in the system that creates a sense of familiarity and confidence in employees, stakeholders, business partners, and consumers.
Handle License-Cost Issues
Providing access to analytics can be a cost-intensive process for any enterprise. Allowing employees from across the organization to access data analytics also includes data security and licensing issues. Embedded analytics solves this problem by sharing the analytics with employees/ users who need access only to a specific level.
Embedded Analytics to Add Value to the Business
1. Empower Data-Driven Decision-Making
How do you adopt the data-driven model throughout your enterprise in less time? Using embedded analytics is one way to achieve the goal. We know how essential it is to follow the data-driven process of using real-time, advanced analytics for decision-making. By making the insights easily available to everyone using software like Qlik, revamping the business and expanding to newer markets is possible.
2. Increase Returns from Investment in Data Transformation
Logi Analytics found that the user adoption for embedded analytics is around 60%, while user adoption for traditional BI tools is just 21%. When there is more adoption, the return on investment will also increase. Considering how cost-intensive data transformation is, every organization should aim for a higher adoption rate. Since it is possible through embedded analytics, you can optimize your resources and increase returns without making things hard for employees.
3. Become More Competitive in the Market
Global brands like Amazon have been smartly using embedded analytics in their consumer apps. In fact, it is so smooth that many customers do not realize the presence of embedded analytics. However, they do expect the same from other brands. You can see how easily Amazon has gained an edge over competitors in the market. Also, when you combine the traditional workflow with conceptual and actionable insights, it makes you a prominent competitor among your peers. You are empowering the entire enterprise to make better decisions and be more productive.
4. Increase Operational Efficiency
When employees have all the information they require in one place, wouldn’t they work faster? Will they not be more efficient and productive? Business intelligence consulting services help enterprises empower their employees using data insights and embedded analytics. You don’t have to go through a multitude of data or insights to find the ones that are necessary for your work. Embedded analytics presents what you need right in the system you are working on. There will be no interruptions to your workflow, nor will there be any errors in using the insights.
5. Enhance Customer Satisfaction
OTT platforms like Netflix have been using embedded analytics to retain customers and keep them engaged. Of course, embedded analytics is used with big data, artificial intelligence, and data science tools to create a comprehensive setup that provides personalized recommendations to customers, thereby increasing customer satisfaction.
6. Faster Delivery of Accurate Insights
When you use tools like Looker, you are paving the way to deliver accurate insights in quick time. Be it to the employees, end-users, stakeholders, or consumers, embedded analytics doesn’t fragment data into bits and pieces. The dashboard presents a comprehensive view of the information. It is a centralized model that facilitates better and effective decision-making. Employees don’t need to learn code or undergo extensive training to use embedded analytics.
7. Differentiate the Products
If you are a service provider offering self-service functionality to third-party organizations, using embedded analytics can help differentiate your products and services. As we mentioned earlier, offering advanced analytics through contextual embedding as a premium or a high-end feature will put your brand at a higher place in the market by emphasizing the products you offer.
Conclusion
Embedded analytics adds tremendous value to your business by helping you with digital transformation throughout the enterprise. From streamlining the systems to creating a better work culture to empower employees, embedded analytics will strengthen your business from all sides. With increasing dependence on artificial intelligence, the future for embedded analytics is promising. We’ll soon see every organization use it as a part of their business process.
BI consulting companies provide offshore services to help SMEs and large enterprises adopt the data-driven model in your enterprise using embedded analytics. Grow your market share, gain more profits, and build a loyal customer base.
Collected at: https://datafloq.com/read/embedded-analytics-provides-value-your-business/18607