What is Self-Service Analytics?
Tools and practices that enable business users to create their own analyses without IT dependency.
Self-service analytics refers to the tools, platforms, and organizational practices that enable business users to access data, build analyses, and generate insights without depending on IT or data teams for every request. It includes BI tools with intuitive interfaces, governed data catalogs, pre-built data models, and training programs. The goal is to democratize data access while maintaining governance — users should be able to explore data freely within guardrails that ensure quality and security. Self-service analytics reduces the bottleneck on data teams, accelerates decision-making, and increases data literacy across the organization.
Related terms
Data Literacy
The ability to read, understand, create, and communicate with data across an organization.
Data Catalog
A searchable inventory of all data assets in an organization with metadata, lineage, and access information.
Data Governance
The framework of policies, processes, and standards for managing data assets across an organization.
Put this into practice
Assess your maturity, discover initiatives, and build your transformation roadmap.
Start free assessment