Understanding the Anatomy of Analytics-Based Services – A Taxonomy to Conceptualize the Use of Data and Analytics in Services

The abundance of data accompanied by advances in analytics technologies increasingly drive companies to introduce analytics-based services, i.e. customer-facing services in which data and analytics help customers make decisions. Despite its growing application in practice, theoretical and conceptual work on analytics-based services is still scarce. In this paper, we develop a taxonomy of analytics-based services unveiling their conceptually grounded and empirically validated characteristics. Applying an established taxonomy building method, we draw upon an analysis of 85 use cases of analytics-based services. The results of an expert evaluation indicate both the usefulness and robustness of our taxonomy. The developed taxonomy of analytics-based services contributes in two ways: First, we add to the descriptive knowledge on this new service type, establish a common language among researchers and equip them with the means to analyze analytics-based services in a structured manner – thus laying the foundation for a deeper theorizing process in the future. Second, we provide a concrete conceptualization of analytics-based services for practitioners for initial guidance in new service development.