Tom Davenport qui s’ccupe de la chaire IT à Babson, nous livre une analyse étonnante sur le retour de la réflexion analytique, à travers des nouveaux produits vendus chez les consultants.

There is little doubt, for example, that the topic of analytics — the systematic analysis of data for decision-making — has taken off. And I don’t just say this because I’ve co-authored (with Jeanne Harris and Bob Morison) a new book on the topic: Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results) There is plenty of other evidence.

Global IT and services firms are making big investments in analytics. For example, SAS and Accenture announced an enhanced effort to support customers with analytics last week, building on the creation of a new Accenture Analytics group. IBM announced a big new Business Analytics and Optimization services organization last April and acquired SPSS, a long-time analytics software provider, in July. Meanwhile, Oracle claims that it’s « #1 in business analytics, » which seems a dubious claim. But it’s clear that the vendors think there is big dough to be made in analytics, and they’re gearing up to make it.

Comme toujours, s’il y a un marché, c’est qu’il y a un problème à résoudre dans les grands groupes. Le retour du bon sens et de la réflexion, alors ?