Analytics of The Future? A Question Not Easily Answered.

With Columbian Bank and Trust Co. shuttered-the ninth bank to fail this year, with estimates that as many as 300 more could face a similar fate-many are debating how next-generation business analytics will factor into lending, versus drive it. It's a discussion that raises many questions, most not easily answered.

But one thing is clear as the financial industry continues to wade through the credit crisis: Executives became too dependent on business analytics and decisioning to create exotic loan products and extend credit to borrowers either unable or barely able to make good on their obligations. The absence of sound judgment, exacerbated by the securitization of …