In my first blog, I discussed business analysis and its importance to any industry. My job as a business analyst is to look at any pre-existing company, analyse it from top to bottom, and provide a bevy of solutions to increase profitability, productivity, organization, etc. For decades, this job could only be completed by a human being. However, as our world constantly moves towards automation and relies heavily on technology, new software has emerged that could potentially replace business analysts. Ironic, considering that business analysts tend to solve IT related issues.
What is SpotIQ?
SpotIQ is a data analysis software created by tech startup ThoughSpot. The software has the ability to analyse and offer insights on large amounts of data. By running a series of algorithms, SpotIQ can analyse billions of queries within seconds, and can even gain human feedback and deliver scheduled updates. Obviously, this new software can be used across a variety of industries, including retail, manufacturing and even healthcare.
What Does this Mean for Business Analysts?
You may be asking yourself, what exactly does this mean for business analysts? Well, if the software can actually do what it claims, then this could hurt business analysts very badly. SpotIQ claims that it can complete the vast majority of a business analyst’s primary job in mere seconds. Business analysis is a long process requiring countless hours of thoughtful examination and creative thinking. It can also be costly for the business hiring the analyst. Naturally, businesses want to cut costs; software is cheap. It doesn’t take long to realize that the business analyst position is put at great risk with this software.
Now, I know that this may seem like the beginning of the end, however, there is no need to panic, yet. SpotIQ is not the first of its kind. There is other business analysis software available. Microsoft Power BI and Tableau Software are two notable names that SpotIQ is competing against, and the former two have not put business analysts out of business yet. However, a major part of SpotIQ’s appeal is that it is a free feature included as part of a ThoughtSpot subscription, which already includes several other sought-after features, like native & JDBC/ODBC compliant connectors, cross-source analysis and LDAP and SAML integration.
Could SpotIQ have what it takes to disrupt and revolutionise business analysis as we know it? Time will tell.