The author of this book advocates the need for a revolution in the field of analytics. He argues that this revolution is needed in order to scale with the large amount of data to be analyzed in current businesses. Also, he claims that five to ten years from now, almost every business will be affected by the use of analytics. This revolution is known as “operational analytics” and is encouraged by some market trends. It is defined on page 4 as “a situation where analytics have become an inherent part of the individual decisions made and the individual actions taken within a business. Operational analytics don’t support big or strategic decisions, but rather the many small and tactical decisions that happen from moment to moment every day.”

The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 covers chapters 1 to 3. It defines “operational research” and sets up the cornerstones that make it unique. This part also discusses the trend of big data, why it is important for businesses, and how it affects their activities. Finally, chapter 3 presents some examples of operational analytics in action and how they can improve organizations’ and customers’ experiences.

Part 2 includes chapters 4 to 6 and is a guide to laying the foundations of an operational analytics platform. This includes setting up the right business case, creating the analytics platform, and setting up governance and privacy.

Part 3 covers chapters 7 to 9 and deals with running the analytics platform by exploring some best practices from the past. It also advocates setting up the analytics culture in the organization.

The examples are highly illustrative. The writing style is clear and direct, avoiding any irrelevant filler text. The book is free from technical details and code samples showing how to implement operational analytics. It is rather a compilation of high-level concepts and guidelines on how to prepare for the next revolution in analytics. I believe that a more technical book supporting this one could be of great value. A guide compiling a set of concrete case studies could be of huge help to organizations wishing to implement the principles presented in this book.

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