Many organizations miss out on great opportunities simply because they made the wrong choice. Hindsight is always 20/20. One slip-up or bad decision could have major repercussions when it comes to a company's success.

Businesses that use predictive analytics and metrics to drive their decisions and strategies have reported an average ROI of 224 percent of their investment. Translating data into decisions requires the right skills and know-how to make sense of the numbers and turn them into fruitful results. Using the right software tools can help guide your team to make more informed choices and plan for future trends.

As big data becomes more mainstream, businesses of all shapes and sizes are realizing just how valuable an investment in metric-driven software can be. While there are countless ways big data can transform business operations, let's discuss some key areas where metrics can really make the biggest impact.