Fortune 500 companies are investing in big data analytics for a simple reason – to save money and gain market share by understanding the real dynamics behind their business. Companies with the best analytical capabilities outperform the competition by wide margins. Data is a critical business asset, just like labor and capital. IDC predicts that by 2020 the amount of data available will total 40 Zettabytes. The volume of data that is available and the speed with which it can be analyzed is providing companies with real-time insights into their business and helping predict future business outcomes. Prescriptive analytics takes it a step further by not only indicating what could happen and when, but also why it could happen and which predictive scenario is the best. By understanding the impact of future decisions, organizations can drastically improve their decision-making.Fortune 500 companies are investing in big data analytics for a simple reason – to save money and gain market share by understanding the real dynamics behind their business. Companies with the best analytical capabilities outperform the competition by wide margins. Data is a critical business asset, just like labor and capital. IDC predicts that by 2020 the amount of data available will total 40 Zettabytes. The volume of data that is available and the speed with which it can be analyzed is providing companies with real-time insights into their business and helping predict future business outcomes. Prescriptive analytics takes it a step further by not only indicating what could happen and when, but also why it could happen and which predictive scenario is the best. By understanding the impact of future decisions, organizations can drastically improve their decision-making.