WHAT IS IT?
Descriptive analytics analyzes data to find trends and patterns that support decision-making, monitoring, and other initiatives. It's the most fundamental building block of data analytics.
WHY IMPORTANT
The role of descriptive analytics is to analyze current or past data to uncover trends or anomalies. Often, this method is used to track business metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to show progress toward goals. Descriptive analytics is just that: a description. Data is analyzed at face value. Other types of data analytics, such as diagnostic analytics, must be used to turn basic data into actionable insights.