Such knowledge workers have a real need for data, but often the data needed is at
a lower level of detail than that needed by business decision-makers. In addition, the
data needed may be completely different for each request, while business decisionmakers
tend to look at the same set of numbers on a regular basis.
Knowledge workers may need to do some data exploration, but this is often not
at a particularly deep level. For example, a sales representative might well need to
know the previous sales to a particular client, returns by that particular client, and
the projected sales to that client over the next several months. The drivers behind the
projection are probably known to the sales representative and might include items
such as new products in the pipeline or promotions that are in the works, but the
statistical models used to forecast the projected product mix or future sales for that
particular client are often of little concern. Such details are often left in the hands of
analysts.
Analysts
Analysts are a special breed of knowledge worker who often work directly with
business decision makers. Analysts, whether they??™re business analysts, financial
analysts, or some other kind of analyst, often spend time performing very detailed
analysis of data. They may delve deeply into vast quantities of information looking
for root causes to problems or trying to uncover trends in the data that are not
already obvious.
C h a p t e r 1 : T h e C a s e f o r B u s i n e s s I n t e l l i g e n c e 9
Many analysts employ advanced statistical techniques in order to analyze the
data.
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