Design with the endgame in mind

Consider how the analytics you develop in the cloud would end up, if successful. Would it turn into a regularly updated dashboard? Would it be something deployed to run under certain conditions to predict customer behavior? Would it periodically run against a new set of data and send an alert if an anomaly is detected?

When you list the likely outcomes, think about how easy it would be to transition from the analytics in development to the production version that will be embedded in your standard processes. Choose tools and analytics that make the transition quick and easy.