Business intelligence and analytics is not just for data scientists or IT professionals anymore. If your business is going to be successful, it must compete and it must solve problems, find opportunities and plan with accuracy. There is no time for a misstep in the market!
What is business intelligence? It is quite simple, really. Business intelligence is ‘intelligence’ about ‘business’. Having said that, we cannot really presume that ‘intelligence’ is simply data. Data on its own tells us little and can, at times, actually confuse the very issue you are trying to understand. In order to get to the heart of the business intelligence definition it is useful to consider that the word ‘intelligence’ as defined in the dictionary as ‘the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills’.
Your business is excited about the prospect of implementing a self-serve business intelligence solution! You have heard your colleagues talk about the benefits of data democratization, and you know your business users will take full advantage of BI reporting, social BI, and mobile BI, and that they understand the importance of business intelligence and analytics. You want all the advantages offered by a great business intelligence solution, the BI dashboard, KPI software, and all those useful Business Intelligence Tools
When your business begins the process of choosing or changing business intelligence tools and business intelligence services, it is easy to get confused! There are many choices in the market and not all of them are created equal. A business intelligence company offering solutions, features and functionality for advanced analytics must be suitable for your requirements or your initiative will not succeed.
When you are looking for a BI solution, do not ignore the trend toward data democratization and data literacy among your team members. To create the greatest assets to your company and improve team member value, you want to provide access to critical data and a simple way to perform advanced analytics so that users will adopt BI tools and you can create a social BI environment with improved data popularity and power users who will share knowledge and encourage the use of data and fact-driven decision-making.
I recently attended a business intelligence conference and I spoke with a small business owner who attended the conference in hopes of finding out how to leverage business intelligence to sustain growth and address competition while juggling other responsibilities and managing a small business budget.
In spite of the fact that trade publications and business conferences have been talking about business intelligence and BI software for years, there are still some business executives and business owners that do not understand how business intelligence tools can help the organization achieve its goals and stay ahead of the competition.
A business might wonder how to justify the implementation and cost of business intelligence tools when, in fact, it is more difficult to justify the decision NOT to implement a BI solution. A BI solution can provide targeted, concise information with which the business and business users can make fact-based decisions, and it can provide insight into trends and patterns that will help to dictate new product and service decisions, pricing decisions, staffing and training decisions and more.
BI dashboard is no longer the sole domain of a business intelligence analyst or data scientist. When a business implements a mobile, self-serve BI tool, it ensures that its business users and team members will have access to critical analytical tools in the office and on the road.
Business intelligence and analytics has changed drastically over the past five years. Data analysis for business is more democratic today and that is good for the organization. By extending access throughout the organization, the enterprise can provide a solid foundation for confident decision-making. Business users can have access to sophisticated business intelligence software and use business analytical tools without the advanced training of a data scientist, an analyst or an IT professional.
