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Data Analytics: The Business Owner’s Complete Guide

By: Kharmela Mindanao

Do you have untapped data in your business?
You’re not alone.

Don't have time to read now?

Don't fret, we can send you a PDF copy of the business owner's complete guide in Data Analytics that you can read in your free time.

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Table of Contents

Data Analytics: The Business Owner’s Complete Guide in 2022

Often, this resource isn’t deliberately overlooked. Some businesses may just not have the expertise to make the most out of it or may consider data analytics too resource-intensive to ever fully invest in.

This can leave CEOs with a feeling of unease, as the data is just sitting there – much like unexplored oil reserves.

However, ignoring data is a mistake as data analytics is the future foundation of businesses’ decisions. Information, especially in the 21st century, is power. While some companies do everything they can to learn who their customers are and their behaviors, other businesses can lag behind. 

What You’ll Learn

So, in this complete guide, we’ll look at everything you need to know about data analytic services for your company. We’ll explain:  

  • What is data Analytics? 
  • How valuable is Data Analytics?  
  • What are the problems with Data Analytics? 
  • How much do Data Analytic services cost? 
  • How do you get Data Analytics for your business? 

Who is this Guide for

If you’re not interested in learning about data analytic services, want a how-to guide, or don’t have any business-collected data, then this isn’t the page for you.

But, if you:

  • Are curious about Data Analytic services,
  • Are weighing the pros and cons of Data Analytics,
  • Are ready to use your data to make informed business decisions,

then you’re in the right place. By the end of this guide, you’ll have every tool you need to decide if data analytic services is the right path for your business.  

What is Data Analytics?

As more companies prioritize data collection, they’re left with the challenge of translating the data into actionable insights. But how do they do that with Data Analytics? Here’s a quick look at Data Analytics: what it is and how it works.

Learn More

What is data analytics

Data Analytics Definition

Have you ever used information about your customers or employees to drive company decisions? Maybe you’ve used customer preferences to adjust product supply or marketing strategies. If you have, you’ve already taken the first step towards Data Analytics.

Data Analytics is a service dedicated to analyzing and visualizing your business’ data, and it boasts data visualization features integrated into the digital ecosystem. It’s taking numbers and translating them into actionable insights.

Data Analytics Tools

When preparing data analytics for your business, you’ll need the following tools:

  • A Data Analytics program
  • A database of interpretable data
  • A team managing overseeing the process

What are the Uses of
Data Analytics?

Data Analytics is a robust tool that can propel your business toward long-term growth. It has a variety of uses, particularly:

Find trends in team member and customer behavior

The most powerful benefit of data analytics is finding trends in people’s actions. With Data Analytics, you can comprehensively see what’s happening in your company. From finding the most utilized to least utilized web pages to peak employee performance times, you’ll have an accurate representation of your business’ status.

Pinpoint choke points in company processes

Data Analytics provides an accurate baseline, whether you’re analyzing the effectiveness of a marketing campaign, the drop-off point of leads, or the obstacles to employee productivity. Many inefficient processes are easily overlooked and can be brought to light with precise data, as it removes any guesswork.

Supplement executive decisions with relevant data

Data Analytics can help you steer your business in the right direction. It lessens the risk of making incorrect decisions, as the data you collect provides insight into future behavior. You can use this information to choose the most effective actions for your company with the best possible returns.

Interact with Your Data in New Ways

You can interact with your data and see it in ways you may not have been able to see or interact with before. With Data Analytics, you can crunch numbers and find trends you can’t easily do by hand.

Provide Easily Understandable Data Visualization 

Understanding statistics and pure mathematics is the highest barrier of entry when people try to interpret data. You can eliminate this obstacle with the correct Data Analytics program. The information hidden within your databases is presented clearly, to the point where almost anyone can understand relevant details.

Benefits of Data Analytics

What are the Challenges of
Data Analytics?

When done effectively, Data Analytics can help your organization achieve business intelligence. It can show you the bigger picture through your data, allowing you to make better decisions faster. But to get there, you need to navigate a host of different challenges.  

Time investment 

Budget constraints 

Lack of integration 

Data from different sources 

Low team involvement 

Luckily, businesses can overcome each challenge with planning and robust implementation.

How to Handle Data Analytics Challenges

How much does Data Analytics cost?

how much is data analytics

 

Data analytics, unfortunately, doesn’t have a universal price point. The cost of implementing data analytics in your company will always depend on the software, the number of data sources, and the hours of analysis and support of your tech team.  

Software for Data Analytics 

Crunching big numbers requires sophisticated software. One of the necessary tools to invest in is the software for your data analytics program. Many different programs for data analytics exist, such as Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, RapidMiner, and more. 

At ITS, we use Microsoft Power BI because we’ve found that it fits our needs the most. Power BI has a free desktop program you can use to explore the software. But for full use, you need at least one Power BI pro license, which costs $9.99 per month. 

However, you may want to explore different offerings more, especially if you’re not a Microsoft-based company. The prices of each software vary widely, along with the features of each program.  

Microsoft Power BI vs. Tableau (Pros & Cons)

The Number of Data Sources

You won’t be able to generate reports without data, so you must have a database with information in it.

For example, you might have a MySQL database for all your customers’ information or another database for all the sales you’ve made. Each database counts as one data source that you need to analyze.

The more data sources you have, the more costly it is to manage. You need to consider database maintenance and the complexity of integrating more than one database in one data visualization.

Why Does Your Business Need Data Management?

The Hours of Analysis and Support

Knowing what you need to do - and then actually doing it properly - is an invaluable skill in data analytics. Your staff’s salary or your MSP’s per-hour charge for data analytics should be factored in when you compute the total cost of Data Analytics.

If you’re not paying money for your team’s expertise, your company will pay in other ways, such as lost time or incorrect reports.

Here’s a quick list of tasks your staff should know when using analyzing data:

  • Database management (setting up data properly)
  • Database connection (linking the database correctly)
  • Complete features of the data analysis tool (understanding the software’s capabilities)
  • What your company needs from the data (goals of your business)
  • Understanding of technical terms involved in data analytics (ability to translate jargon into layman’s terms)

Sample Cost for Data Analytics

So, with data analytics being a highly customizable service, what’s a good budget to set aside?

If you’re a small business dipping your toes into data analytics, setting aside $2000-$3000/month is a good idea.

For example, at ITS, we charge the following amount:

  • $9.99 for each Power BI Pro license
  • $1000 for each data source + 4 hours of support
  • $225 for each hour beyond the included 4 hours of support

So let’s say you’re a company that needs 2 licenses, with 1 data source, and 10 hours of support. You have an extra 6 hours beyond the 4 hours included in the $1000 package, so your data analytics will cost you $2369.98 for the month.

But only you can know how much you’ll spend overall for the ability to analyze your data. Data analytics cost is unique to your business, and if you want to know the specific amount, you’ll have to look closely at all the factors mentioned above.

Data Analytics: How Much Does It Really Cost? (And Why?)

How Do You Know If Data Analytics
Is For You?

Who Uses Data Analytics?

At that price point, how do you know if Data Analytics is the right move for your business?

They store their information digitally online or in a database.

They want to gain insight from that information in an easy-to-read format. 

They see the value in having insightful information at their fingertips.

They can invest in data-driven choices and growth.

Who Doesn’t Use Data Analytics?

If there are companies who thrive with Data Analytics, there are other organizations better off circling back to data analytics at a later date.  

They don’t collect digital data - or do not have enough data.

They don’t see the value in data-driven decisions. 

They can’t put in the time or monetary investment in data analytics. 

Get Assessed for Data Analytics

getting started with data analytics

You may be looking for that edge against your competitors or ways to optimize your organization and reduce inefficiency. Having a robust data analytics program can help with this, and more.

But at ITS, we don’t blindly recommend getting data analytics for all our clients. We always recommend scheduling a discovery call with our IT experts so you can get the right services for you.

Do you want clear advice about getting Data Analytics?

Schedule a meeting with us to check if you’ll truly benefit from Data Analytics. 

Schedule a Meeting Get a Free Network Assessment

Team-handling-data-analytics

Do you want clear advice about getting Data Analytics?

Schedule a meeting with us to check if you’ll truly benefit from Data Analytics. 

Schedule a Meeting Get a Free Network Assessment