Business Knowledge

Business Analytics: Applied Frameworks

The 6 Steps to Data-Driven Decisions (CRISP-DM)

Don’t get lost in data. Follow this proven roadmap for your next analytics project.

  1. BUSINESS UNDERSTANDING

    • What specific business problem are you trying to solve?
    • What does success look like? (e.g., “reduce churn by 10%”)

  2. DATA UNDERSTANDING

    • What data do you have? Is it relevant?
    • Are there obvious quality issues or gaps?

  3. DATA PREPARATION

    • Clean the data (handle missing values, errors).
    • Format and merge datasets. This is where 80% of the work happens!

  4. MODELING

    • Apply algorithms to find patterns or make predictions.

  5. EVALUATION

    • Does the model actually solve the business problem you started with?
    • Is it accurate and robust?

  6. DEPLOYMENT

    • Put the model or insight into action.
    • Measure the impact on the business.

Biggest Pitfall: Starting with Step 2 (Data) instead of Step 1 (Business Problem). Always start with “why”.