Business Intelligence (BI) is a combination of analytics, data mining, visualizations, tools and infrastructure that helps organizations in making data-driven decisions. In the 1960’s, business intelligence was considered as a tool for sharing information across organizations. However, in the 1980’s it developed into a computer-model for decision-making, which turned data into insights before becoming a specific offering with IT-related specific solutions.
Today, the modern definition of BI is based on self-analysis and governing data on trusted platforms to empower users.
Business Intelligence is somewhat similar to an umbrella-specific program covering the process of collecting, storing, and analyzing data from business activities to optimize performance. However, business intelligence has evolved to include more processes, or activities, in order to improve performance.
· Data Mining and Reporting: Data mining is performed using database, statistics and machine learning, and the data collected is shared with necessary stakeholders so they can draw conclusions and make decisions.
·Benchmarking and Analyzing: Current performance data is compared to historical data to track performance against goals using a customized dashboard. A preliminary analysis is conducted to find out what happened.
·Statistical Querying: BI is used to pull answers from databases by asking data-specific questions. The results from the analysis are further explored using statistics to evaluate what happened and why.
·Visual Analysis: Data analysis is turned into visual representations in the form of charts, graphs, or histograms for easy communication of data.
·Data Preparation: On compiling multiple data sources, dimensions and measurements can be identified which can help in data analysis.
Importance of Business Intelligence
Business intelligence helps organizations make better decisions by comparing present and historical data within the business. A BI analysis is important in spotting market trends to increase company’s sales and revenue. Moreover, its effective usage can take organizations to greater heights by analyzing the below key points to take data-driven decisions:
·Identifying ways to increase profit by analyzing customer’s behavior
·Comparing data with prevailing competitors in the market
·Tracking performance to optimize operations
·Spotting market trends to predict success
·Analyzing and resolving the issues
Workflow of Business Intelligence
Businesses work according to their goals. In order to make precise decisions, an analysis is required with respect to performance. Hence, raw data is collected from business perspectives that is used by Data Scientists, who further dig deeper into the analytics to discover patterns and predict future markings.
Business Intelligence then breaks the algorithm into actionable language. It is designed to answer specific questions and provide analysis for business to make appropriate decisions and planning.
Companies also use the process of analytics to improve follow-up questions and iterations. BI is a part of a larger business strategy followed by a cycle of analytics that includes discovery, exploration and information sharing.
Traditional BI vs. Modern BI
Traditionally, BI followed a top-down approach, which was driven by the IT organization and analytics questions were mostly based on static reports. If a company had a follow-up question about the reports, it would reach the bottom of the queue and they would have to start the process again which ultimately leads to slow and frustrating reporting cycles.
On the other hand, modern business intelligence is interactive and approachable with IT departments on the managing front to access data, create dashboards or reports within a quick span of time. A proper software enhances the user’s ability to visualize and answer their own questions.
Major Industries Use Business Intelligence
Industries from healthcare and education to information technology have adopted BI. Many tools and platforms streamline the analysis process making it easier for people to see and analyze data themselves. The most common way of business intelligence representation is data visualization.
Humans are visual creatures and prone to tune into patterns and different colors since it enhances understanding. Visuals, when added to dashboards, can quickly tell a story that data patterns may not be able to convey and this leads to a broader business impact.How to Fulfill Your Business Needs with Business Intelligence Services
Future with Business Intelligence
Business intelligence is continuously evolving according to business needs and innovations in technology. AI and machine learning will continue to grow and thus businesses can benefit from
integrating AI with BI strategy. Industries like retail, insurance and oil have joined BI strategy to discover insights of customer’s behavior and forecast profits.
In Time Tec can help you gain competitive advantages by identifying market trends and addressing business problems. We can help you accelerate the decision-making process and optimize internal business processes thereby increasing operational efficiency leading to generating revenues. Contact us today at www.intimetec.com today to learn more.