Which type of analytics provides insights into what has occurred in a customer's software usage?

Descriptive analytics is focused on interpreting historical data to understand what has occurred in the past. In the context of a customer's software usage, descriptive analytics would analyze metrics such as user activity, feature usage, and overall engagement over a specific period. This type of analysis helps identify patterns and trends by summarizing the data in a way that provides a clear picture of how customers interacted with the software.

For example, if a company examines user logs to determine how often certain features are used or how frequently users log in, they are employing descriptive analytics. This foundational understanding can inform future decisions and strategies, contributing to improved customer success initiatives.

On the other hand, the other types of analytics serve different purposes. Diagnostic analytics would delve into understanding the reasons behind certain trends or behaviors, prescriptive analytics would focus on recommending actions based on data analysis, and predictive analytics aims to forecast potential future outcomes based on historical data. Each plays a unique role in the analytics spectrum, but it is descriptive analytics that best captures the essence of understanding what has already happened in terms of customer software usage.