big data jobsThere’s a lot of hype these days about business intelligence and data analytics software. Some people swear by it, and many companies have sprouted up just in the last few years offering their own version of a data analysis solution.

With so many talking about it and using it, you may have asked yourself if you need a solution to help your business make sense of data and key indicators. Is a solution worth implementing and, more importantly, paying for?

Today, we aim to answer that question by looking at a report from one paid solution—Domo—to see if you’re really getting your money’s worth on the ROI.

The Impact of Data Analytics Software

Recently, Domo commissioned a study with Forrester Consulting to see what kind of impact their software had on the businesses that use it. The study revealed several dramatic and measurable benefits associated with the data that Domo helps collect, organize, analyze, and present. They published their findings as proof that data analytics makes a difference.

It Helps Increase Profits and Revenue

Forrester Consulting found that, for one of the customers using Domo, there was a dramatic increase in revenues, and profits. There was a $12 million increase in revenue, a 7% increase in profit margin, and a $2.1 million increase in profit over three years. These figures came as a result of relocating ad dollars—a decision that was made possible because of the real-time data the data analytics software was providing.

It Helps Cut Costs

Another company was able to identify their rising mobile phone bill, which enabled them to take action to cut costs. It worked, resulting in a 50% reduction in mobile phone expenses over a six month period, and saving them $2 million over three years. Another business saved almost $5 million over three years because of improved allocation of resources, made possible by improved data analysis.

It Provides Significant ROI

Forrester found that the average ROI on Domo’s services was 294%, meaning that nearly three dollars were earned for every dollar spent on the software. Payback time was less than a month, and net present value of the service was determined to be $5.5 million.

Where to Get the Software

While we reference Domo’s study here to illustrate the benefits of having big data at your fingertips, they’re not the only provider of software that can get the job done. There’s a number of other paid options, though their functionality, ease of use, and intuitiveness of interface vary from solution to solution.

There’s also a host of free/open source options, if you’re a company on a budget. Many of these are comparable to paid solutions and, to their credit, have some famous clientele, so don’t disregard them simply because they’re not charging for their software.

A Word of Caution

It’s important to be aware of costs that can accrue when using a paid service, because if you’re not careful, you can end up paying more than you need to for data analytics software. Among the most common mistakes are:

  • Redundancy—paying for more than one software suite, when either one would do the task
  • Paying for more licenses than necessary
  • Underutilizing/under-adoption of the platform
  • Failure to negotiate price/not committing to an “enterprise” level account

Avoiding mistakes like these is key to minimizing the costs of a paid service, and keeping the expense of the SaaS solution from eating into the profits that come from using it.