Data Analysis Business & Marketing Essay Research Coursework

Data Analysis and its Importance in Spend Analysis
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
Data and Spend Analysis
Data analysis is proving to be a vital component for businesses that are keen on making profits and ensuring their productivity for the foreseeable future. Firms are continuously involved in marketing efforts and cost-cutting initiatives through the use of data analysis. The technologically-supported attribute allows organizations to collect and analyze various forms of data. These skills of data analysis are particularly involved in financial firms and companies because they assist in spend analysis which involves detailed categorization and analysis of data not only to reduce procurement costs but also improve efficiencies. One notable structured process in spend analysis is the six sigma methodology. The step by step process allows for continuous improvement and refining of spending patterns in organizations until stable and predictable results are exhibited. The essay purposes to extensively examine the benefits of data analysis skills in spend analysis and highlight how the six sigma methodology is essential to the identification of spending patterns and improvement opportunities in organizations.
Understanding the Relationship between Data Analysis Skills and Spend Analysis
Data means a stack of information about how an institution operates. Data analysis involves sorting through, modeling and transforming data in so as to increase the profitability of an organization. The process houses a variety of techniques used by different business organizations all in the hopes of maximizing profits. In the modern day era, data analysts are in demand as they provide insight and make decisions based on diverse data which is essential to the smooth operation of a business. These analysts need a number of skills in conducive to making a business venture reach its true potential (Tsourti & Panaretos, 2004). First and foremost, data analysts need to know SQL. SQL stands for the Structured Query Language (Cuesta, 2013). It is a program that interfaces with databases to understand and provide analytical feedback of data fields. Through SQL, we can control and manage data by for it enables us to insert, create, delete and record data in a database more effectively. Secondly, an analyst needs to have Microsoft Excel. It is a program that uses spreadsheets to mathematically manipulate numbers and data. Excel enables companies to keep track of their expenses by providing easy-to-understand visualizations and accurate calculations. It is especially common in start-up companies.
Thirdly, an analyst needs to be a critical thinker. Critical thinking is the ability to objectively analyze issues so that one may form judgments. In order to use data to answer one’s questions, one needs to know what questions to ask which can prove tricky. Data analysts are often depended upon to identify hidden connections in data fields. Additionally, a data analyst needs to understand the R or Python statistical programming. These programs can do tenfold what Microsoft Excel can’t. They are programming languages used to perform advanced and predictive analysis in huge data fields. Fifthly, analysts need to be able ...