Businesses often confuse analysis with reporting. Some invest in complex analytical tools when they really need to streamline the reporting process; others pursue reporting capabilities when they should be seeking in-depth analysis for their data.
The reality is that both reporting and analysis are critical to the success of any business, and deploying an integrated approach to both is key to ensuring they complement each other in a way that generates the most valuable results.
| Reporting | Analysis |
| Reporting is a way of providing information about what’s happening in your business. Good reports enable you to ask the right questions about your business. | Analysis helps you answer questions by enabling a deeper dig into your data to understand the drivers and root causes behind performance metrics. |
| Reporting provides a 30,000-foot view of set metrics. | Analysis is flexible and gets deep into the weeds to uncover valuable insights. |
| Reporting takes time. Many companies allocate the first few days of their month and first few weeks of their quarter for many of their employees to assemble reports. | Analysis requires more energy and motivation than time and can be more valuable. Successful analysis deserves an exhaustive dig through data to find hidden opportunities and areas needing improvement. |
| Reports are often considered urgent. Without careful planning, reporting often crowds out analysis. | Reporting may be urgent, but analysis is important, but because it often involves going the extra mile to find the hidden insights, there’s rarely the same urgency to perform analysis on similar deadlines. |
| Often businesses confuse reporting for analysis, and vice-versa. | Reporting and analysis must work together for a profitable business. |
| Reporting is routine. If you spend ten hours working on a report, the report gets finished. You have something to show for it at the end of the day. | Analysis, on the other hand requires innovative thought, anticipation of future outcomes and confidence to strive for change. If you spend ten hours on analysis, there’s no guarantee you will have an answer. |
Because companies are busy and often pressured into constant action, they trend toward the easy and familiar way out with reporting. This translates into spending time churning out report after report rather than trying to actually analyze what’s going on and make a difference within the company. Reporting raises questions; analysis answers them. You can’t have one without the other.
Duct Tape for Data 