What is the primary goal of data analytics?

The primary goal of data analytics is to extract valuable insights from data to inform decision-making. This involves using various analytical techniques and tools to process and analyze data in order to uncover patterns, trends, and relationships that can guide organizations in making informed strategic choices. By transforming raw data into meaningful information, data analytics helps businesses to optimize operations, enhance customer experiences, and improve overall effectiveness.

The other options may illustrate important aspects of data management and processing, but they do not capture the essence of data analytics itself. Preparing data for storage is more about data management and organization, creating documents for regulatory compliance is a compliance function, and automating data collection processes focuses on efficiency rather than on the analytical interpretation of the data. The core purpose of data analytics clearly centers around deriving insights for decision-making, which is why that is identified as the correct answer.