Predictive analyticsM. Zaman already stated a view years ago: the market is witnessing an unprecedented shift in business intelligence (BI), largely because of technological innovation and increasing business needs. The latest shift inthe BI market is the move from traditional analytics to predictive analytics. Although predictive analytics belongs to the BI family, it is emerging as a distinct new software sector.

We can ask ourselves if predictive analytics is a new variant on BI or if it is something new. In essence it is important to understand both the commonalities as the differentialities. Accordingly, and as a consequence, it is a matter of definition whether Predictive Analytics belongs to the BI family or not. Let's focus on the differences.

Traditional analytical tools claim to have a real 360° view of the enterprise or business, but they analyze only historical data—data about what has already happened. Traditional analytics help gain insight for what was right and what went wrong in decision-making.

However, past and present insight and trend information are not enough to be competitive in business. Business organizations need to know more about the future, and in particular, about future trends, patterns, and customer behavior in order to understand the market better

Predictive analytics are used to determine the probable future outcome of an event or the likelihood of a situation occurring. It is the branch of data mining concerned with the prediction of future probabilities and trends. Predictive analytics is used to automatically analyze large amounts of data with different variables; it includes clustering, decision trees, market basket analysis, regression modeling, neural nets, genetic algorithms, text mining, hypothesis testing, decision analytics, and more. A lot of techniques which are not common use in BI.

The core element of predictive analytics is the predictor, a variable that can be measured for an individual or entity to predict future behavior. Multiple predictors are combined into a predictive model, which, when subjected to analysis, can be used to forecast future probabilities with an acceptable level of reliability. In predictive modeling, data is collected, a statistical model is formulated, predictions are made, and the model is validated (or revised) as additional data become available.

Predictive analytics combine business knowledge and statistical analytical techniques to apply with business data to achieve insights. These insights help organizations understand how people behave as customers, buyers, sellers, distributors, etc.

Multiple related predictive models can produce good insights to make strategic company decisions, like where to explore new markets, acquisitions, and retentions; find up-selling and cross-selling opportunities; and discovering areas that can improve security and fraud detection. Predictive analytics indicates not only what to do, but also how and when to do it, and to explain what-if scenarios.

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