Everyone over the age of five knows about social networks and social media. No matter which platform you prefer and how you choose to share your thoughts and ideas, you are no doubt engaged in the networking world. When it comes to business intelligence and analytics, there is no reason you can’t employ the same techniques to share, collaborate, create and innovate.
When your business users are asked to take on yet another responsibility, they are likely to balk. Most companies are short-handed and expect more of their team members than ever before. There are a lot of good reasons to initiate data democratization and engage in digital transformation to modernize and improve the enterprise and to improve results. If the business can encourage data sharing and collaboration, it can also improve the shared knowledge of the team and create accountability and empowerment. In so doing, the business can leverage the knowledge and skill of each team member and ensure that every business user is working to their full potential with the all the information they need to solve problems and to capitalize on opportunities.
So you are dreaming of a business intelligence solution that will bring together all the data in your enterprise and make it easily accessible for analysis and now it’s time to look at BI tools and solutions. For starters, you’ll want self-serve business intelligence. You don’t want to have to deal with restrictive dashboards and environments designed by your IT team. Your IT team certainly means well, but they can’t possibly imagine all the ways you’ll want to use the system, so you want something that is flexible enough for YOU to use the way YOU need to use it today – a solution that will accommodate what you will need tomorrow too!
If you think Business Intelligence solutions are just for business analysts, data scientists or IT professionals, you are missing the real intent of business intelligence. Business Intelligence is, by its nature, supposed to inform the business and make it easier to make the right decisions and drive your business forward but if 90% of your users have no access to real, clear information, you are missing most of the advantages and tying up your team in red tape, delayed decisions and endless requests for information. You are shackling your analysts, data scientists and IT team by burying them under those requests for information and using precious time they might be spending on strategic and crucial initiatives.
