SAN FRANCISCO (11/17/2003) - Despite the fact that BI gives data-mining pros the opportunity to answer strategic questions, it's not a very interactive or iterative process. That's the domain of BA (business analytics).
The leaders of big organizations, especially businesses, can pay a terrible price for driving forward while gazing in the rear-view mirror. Many who did this at the turn of the millennium raced headlong into the Permafrost Economy on the fuel of wishful thinking and soothing official lullabies. Meanwhile, data in their own systems could have shown them both the coming chill and actions likely to buffer it. That is, the data could have if these leaders had invested in a software category called BA (business analytics).