Business analysis isn’t exactly child’s play, but it is something every business owner needs to know about now more than ever before. While there was a time when business analysis was something only larger companies needed to think about, the business landscape has changed.
Randy Bartlett’s Practitioner’s Guide to Business Analytics delivers some genuine insight and a fair bit of common sense in a worthwhile book. He brings together a wide range of perspectives and approaches, giving readers clear information on what analysis means, different methods of approaching it and why it’s important.
This book covers everything from the very basic to the fairly advanced. While none of it is what you’d call Advanced Theory analytics, Bartlett does do a fair job of getting into specifics when it comes to ways for companies to implement a more active role in business analysis. This approach helps even the smelled business understand why investing in things like cloud-based management tools and forecasting tool for small business is a wise use of money and resources.
At the same time, some of Bartlett’s book borders on the glaringly obvious. When discussing the best way to delegate and bring out the best in people his advice seems to be essentially “Put the right people in the right places”. While this is certainly a good approach, he doesn’t offer much in the way of help on how exactly to achieve that goal. As a result, some of his material comes across as little more than filler to some readers.
Overall, A Practitioner’s Guide to Business Analytics does offer enough to make it worth reading. This is especially true for companies considering whether or not they need to bring in a professional or invest in software that can enable them to become their own analyst. While some of his advice may be a bit obvious, it’s all well worth the reminder when it’s placed alongside other valuable insight and advice.
