Predictive Analytics

Credit bureaus, insurance underwriters, customer relationship management software, clinical decision support systems, and customer retention all use some form of predictive analytics.  Predictive analysis is the process of data mining historical and current events to attempt to predict future trends and events.  The most common one we all know about is the credit bureaus.  When we apply for credit, the companies review our loan and payment history to help them determine if we can get the loan, the associated interest rate and the term.  Insurance underwriters use it to help determine auto rates based on driving history.  The application of predictive analytics can be found in most all functions of daily life.

I view our intuition and life experiences as our best predictive analytics tools. I can look at events and people in my past and see how they shaped the way I deal with things now and the people I currently have in my life.  There were times I sensed certain events and people to be wrong but did not listen to my spider senses, and yes, you guessed it, the outcomes were less than favorable. 

For me, the comical definition of insanity sums up the lack of using predictive analytics: “When you keep doing things the same way over and over yet expecting different results, that’s insanity.”  If you find yourself, feeling like each day is Groundhog Day, apply some predictive analytics and see how you can change your day.