Over the last year I have written, presented, and discussed the turning tide of predictive analytics use throughout organizations worldwide. The influx of data is making predictive analytics more of a necessity rather than a luxury. So as analytics vendors, it is up to us to make predictive analytics more accessible and available to more users.
Recently Alteryx helped sponsor a TDWI Best Practices Report; Predictive Analytics for Business Advantage, which was based on surveys of users of all types across all industries. The purpose of the report was to find out what were the current strategies and future trends for predictive analytics across both organizational and technical dimensions. In addition, it also helped determine what features and functionalities, related to predictive analytics, companies are actually using. If you haven't read the report, you can access it here.
Some of the most interesting findings to me were the change in the user types for predictive analytics and more interesting the expected continued change in users for the future. According to those surveyed, more businesses expected the business analyst to be using predictive analytics than anyone else. Part of that reasoning is because they felt that knowledge of the business was determined to be the most necessary skill to perform predictive analytics.
![](http://community.alteryx.com/legacyfs/online/images/graph-50.png)
These results excite me as an Alteryx evangelist, because it confirms our mission to empower data analysts in the business with powerful predictive analytics that are easy to use, understand, and implement. Although it is not always enough to just build tools that are easier for anyone to use, it is also important to educate and teach, not only how to use them, but how to implement them and how to utilize predictive analytics. As easy as your tool may be, there are still challenges when it comes to skillset, and this survey confirms that. See the below chart and let us know what you think or what your challenges are in your business.
![](http://community.alteryx.com/legacyfs/online/images/graph-51.png)
Also, don't forget to view the full TDWI report here.