Rachel Burstyn Another month, another round of stories about why embedding analytics into your offering and internal workflows is the key to evolving your business — no matter what business you’re in. The American football season is right around the corner, and as in every sport, data is playing a bigger and bigger role, on and off the field. Also dig into a fun look at automotive sales by country and hear our thoughts on how increased access to data can transform every and any industry.
Don’t miss the Sisensers-on-Sisense doubleheader, starting with our own Scott Castle running you quickly through a few of the many reasons it’s better to buy your embedded analytics than build them from scratch on your own. Then hear about how Sisense was named a Leader in Forrester’s latest Wave Report on augmented BI!
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Learn moreThe NFL goes long on data and analytics
Analytics and sports are becoming more intertwined every year. Embedding actionable intelligence into software for coaches, office staff, and other users can reveal insights into player performance, unravel possible outcomes of team matchups, and even increase fan engagement and improve in-stadium experiences. So this month, we’re digging into a couple of (American) football stories of analytics in sports.
First in the lineup: One writer’s effort to use analytics to predict every Dallas Cowboys game on the schedule and then check how close they got. In the first round of analyses, the Cowboys face off against reigning Super Bowl champs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, followed by the LA Rams.
Sports analytics lovers can dig into a whole slew of similar articles in the same series, but the implications for fans and teams are huge: Whether it’s in the back office, on the field, or via sports apps and betting software, users of all kinds are now collecting insights from vast amounts of data to noodle over team performance and try to predict the future.
Lovers of European football (aka soccer) should check out this recent story we wrote about the use of analytics in the Euro Cup; baseball fans who missed last month’s edition of this article series can read about analytics in Major League Baseball here.
Also of note this month is the NFL’s new hire, Paul Ballew, a data and analytics heavy hitter and former Ford executive. Ballew is planning to infuse analytics into the NFL’s internal workflows to track metrics like injury rates, new ticketing models, game scheduling, and sponsorship packages based on fan activity.
“It’s a sign of our commitment to data analytics and our view that’s essential in a digital world,” the NFL said regarding hiring Ballew.
It’s also a sign that big names like the NFL are seeing the value in making smarter decisions with data and embedding analytics where they will make the greatest impact. The league will use the insights from its improved analytics to maximize impressions and grow advertising dollars, already asking $6 million for Super Bowl commercials.
NFL teams are no strangers to using data and analytics, with the San Francisco 49ers leading the way by collecting data around stadium activity to offer a better experience for fans. The NFL wants to gain more insight into sports betting data, too. It can drive bigger wagers by distributing enhanced metrics into customer-facing applications like betting software, a win-win for both the NFL and sports gambling companies (and perhaps some lucky users, as well!).
Why businesses should buy (not build) analytics
Experts agree that infusing analytics into workflows and applications gives companies a competitive edge in terms of customer retention, profitability, and audience engagement. Companies that bought in on analytics now face another decision: Is it more cost effective to buy from a specialized vendor or try your hand at building them on your own?
Scott Castle, Sisense VP & General Manager, Internal Analytics in Product, said in terms of speed, there’s no comparison. A vendor will offer the shortest time to market, every time. They’ve already heard and solved every challenge and obstacle to implementation out there.
Another common argument for building your own software is scalability. As your business grows, your data and data sources will expand, sometimes exponentially — some organizations feel they can best manage that growth in-house. This is exactly backward; the best way to ensure your data needs will be met at every stage is by buying a flexible, agile platform that scales up with your growth, backed by a team of experts who’ve dealt with every data type around.
Lastly, user experience is a key part of any software application.
“The best providers deliver functionality that looks and performs just how you want it to,” said Scott. “They don’t provide an off-the-shelf solution because they know that these days, one size fits nobody.”
Matching your products’ look and feel should be a basic user requirement, but the experience of interacting with the data has to also make sense for your brand and your users.
Auto sales, by the numbers
What can our car-buying habits tell us about ourselves? Here’s a dive into the latest sales statistics to reveal which vehicles are the biggest hits in 100+ countries around the globe, along with a cool color-coded infographic map. For the curious, the top-selling vehicle in America is the Ford F-150. Toyota dominates sales in the greatest number of countries, with the bestselling vehicle in 41 of the 104 countries tallied.
Auto sales are becoming increasingly data-driven as a result of increased consumer access to data about car manufacturers, gas mileage, automotive features, and more. When vehicle-buying sites apply embedded analytics with predictive capabilities, they put incredible power into the hands of the car-buying public. This is an object lesson in how the right embedded analytics can positively impact every sector and every experience (internal workflows or customer facing).
Arming your teams and your customers with actionable intelligence, served up at the right place and time, can transform your business and the world. Fun data visuals like this can be the springboard for countless data infusions for any business.
Sisense named a Leader in Q3 2021 Forrester Report
The Forrester Wave Report on the current state of augmented BI platforms has named Sisense a Leader, one of only six companies to receive this ranking. Ashley Kramer, Sisense Chief Product and Marketing Officer, said this ranking demonstrates that the Sisense focus on infusing analytics everywhere is gaining traction.
“Our placement in this report makes it clear that Sisense is doing its best to make meaningful and actionable business intelligence more readily available to all users and business decision-makers,” Ashley said. “Indeed, we are truly redefining how companies think about augmented BI.”
If your company isn’t infusing actionable intelligence from analyzed data into your in-house workflows as well as customer-facing applications, products, and experiences, you’re losing ground. We live in a world of data — there’s more of it every day, and it has the ability to completely evolve your company, regardless of what you do. Buy the right embedded analytics platform for you and start experimenting to win. You’ll be glad you did.
>>>Get the full value of embedded analytics for customers and for your business.
Learn moreRachel Burstyn has been a part of the Sisense content team since 2019.