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April 18, 2016

Analytics Increasingly Seen Embedded in Apps

Demand for embedded analytics is surging, according to a new industry study that found a growing number of user want analytics integrated with applications. Further, that combination translates into a greater use of embedded analytics, nearly double that of business intelligence tools, the study found.

The embedded analytics study released in mid-April by vendor Logi Analytics also noted that the trend toward embedded tools is being driven by the view that an application’s value is tied to data and the analytical tools available with an application. Forty-five percent of respondents cited the intrinsic value of embedded applications, up from 35 percent two years ago, the company reported.

The annual survey also found that more than three-quarters of embedded analytics adopters are enterprise software vendors, including software-as-a-service and commercial software vendors. These providers increasingly view embedded analytics as differentiating their business applications and workflows by adding convenience and the prospect of increased revenues.

“Application providers consistently reveal that embedding analytics deeply into the workflows of their applications gives them the best chance to achieve their strategic objectives,” the study found. Those goals include moving beyond the traditional business intelligence approach of extracting insights data “within the silo of analysis” and differentiating platforms in a market being flooded with analytics approaches.

Meanwhile, embedding third-party analytics into more applications requires tight integration with application security, user interfaces and workflows. As a result, dashboards, “self-service data analysis” and reports were found to be the tools most in demand for embedding analytics.

Over the next 12 months, the survey found that 62 percent of application developers plan to invest in embedded analytics. Most (68 percent) said they would focus on integrated dashboards while self-service reporting and analysis along with static and interactive reporting capabilities also are priorities. “Inline analytics,” in which content and capabilities are integrated with data, security and the user interface, are expected to account for more than half of embedded analytics implementations.

The study further predicts that “infused analytics” will become the standard. “This means analytics is a core component of all software applications,” the survey authors noted, adding that within three years, “it will be impossible to tell the difference between an app and the analytics content embedded within it.”

They also predicted that demand for self-service analytics would extend from tech-savvy users to more and more non-technical users and that advanced analytics will be “operationalized” over the next five years. “Organizations will graduate from descriptive and diagnostic analytics—describing what’s happened and diagnosing issues—and move toward more predictive and prescriptive analytics,” the survey forecasts.

Further, the Logi Analytics survey concludes that embedded analytics are being embraced across a range of vertical industries. Leading the way are healthcare, education and utilities with adoption rates south of 75 percent. Other early adopters include business (74 percent) and financial services (72 percent). The retail and technology sectors are adopting at a 71-percent clip.

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