IDC Predicts Predictive Analytics Software Future

The predictive analytics software sector - which includes all analytics tools, both tools and packaged applications, more complex in their mathematics than core analytics -- will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8% during the next five years, according to IDC, a Framingham, Mass.-based IT advisory firm. IDC believes the total will reach more than $3 billion in 2008.

The reason? The ability to successfully produce and distribute an analytic result beyond the traditional centralized technical team enables both technical and non-technical employees to access and benefit from highly technical computation. IDC believes successful users of analytics should look for individualized relevancy in the distribution of analytics and the ability to easily move from analytics to decision to action.

"Firms seeking a further competitive edge will use analytics to optimize and standardize the actual decisions, in essence taking the user beyond the process of connecting core information dots," says Robert Blumstein, research director, CRM Analytics and Marketing Automation at IDC.

IDC