Understanding prescriptive analytics
Prescriptive analytics is a more advanced level of analytics. During this stage, you will not only predict what will happen in the near future but also what you will need to do to make that future as good as possible. During this phase, organizations attempt to answer the question, How can we ensure a particular outcome? This phase goes beyond the realization of predictions and can forecast a number of measures to capitalize on the previous phase’s results (forecasting).
Figure 2.14 – The fifth step of your data journey: the phase of diagnostic analysis
Some nice examples are given here:
- Preventive checking of buildings with an increased risk of fires
- Proactively ordering parts that are likely to break on a machine soon
- The hiring of personnel who must first be trained for a longer period of time; strategic personnel planning
The concept of optimization is central to the phenomenon...
