Analytics

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The simplest definition of Analytics is "the science of analysis". A simple and practical definition, is that it is how a business arrives at an optimal or realistic decision based on existing data. Business managers may choose to make decisions based on past experiences or rules of thumb, or there might be other qualitative aspects to decision making. This is not analytics. When the decision is based on data, then this is analytics.

Predictive analytics encompasses a variety of techniques from statistics, data mining and game theory that analyse current and historical facts to make predictions about future events.

In business, predictive models exploit patterns found in historical and transactional data to identify risks and opportunities. Models capture relationships among many factors to allow assessment of risk or potential associated with a particular set of conditions, guiding decision making for candidate transactions.

Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimising web usage – not just measuring web traffic.