Descriptive analytics focuses on summarizing and reporting on past data-exactly what's needed to highlight historical purchasing patterns and performance metrics. The CPMAI Glossary defines analytics as "the use of statistical and computational methods to extract meaningful insights from data (related: predictive, descriptive, ...)" where descriptive analytics provides the retrospective view.
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During Phase I: Business Understanding, one of the foundational CPMAI tasks is to "determine when to implement automation versus AI," ensuring that rule-based or non-cognitive alternatives are considered first and AI is only selected when those approaches won't suffice.
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Phase V of the CPMAI v7 methodology-Model Evaluation and Maintenance-includes a formal CPMAI Phase V Go/No-Go assessment before any model can be moved into production or on to the next iteration.
This checkpoint ensures that the model meets predefined business success criteria, quality metrics, and risk considerations prior to deployment. Skipping this Go/No-Go review bypasses critical governance questions and undermines the integrity of the AI lifecycle.
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In the Model Operationalization phase (Phase VI), when targeting edge devices, teams must capture the specific constraints around connectivity and on-device performance. The CPMAI Workbook's Edge Model Data Needs task group instructs project teams to list all requirements and constraints for running models on edge systems-including constraints on external data access-and to determine how models will be deployed locally so they function offline when connectivity is unavailable.
Under "Edge constraints," the Workbook requires teams to "List constraints on model usage including ...
requirements for model result response time, constraints on external data access," underscoring that reliance on a remote API is infeasible without connectivity.
Consequently, the critical operationalization decision is to deploy the model directly on the edge device, ensuring it remains fully functional regardless of internet availability.
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