Analytics Magazine Analytics Magazine, March/April 2014 | Page 29

a pattern of contentment. However, once cloud-based analysis gets rolling, it should leave in-house talent with the bandwidth to explore strategic-level queries that could lead to the next “ah-ha” discovery that will reshape the business. If cloud-based solutions can be leveraged for some day-to-day analysis, then analysts with true domain expertise can focus their energies on coming up with the next big discovery. Companies often know the questions they would like to have answered. Big, game-changer questions like: How can we know which past customers of one product are the most likely customers of a new product? Or, which new markets are the most potentially lucrative? Data analytics hold the answers to these questions, but it often requires some lead time and many interim answers before arriving at the ultimate answer. It can take months or even years to investigate these questions. Therefore, companies should begin applying their analytic manpower to t