What is the importance of business intelligence clouds? Businesses of all kinds are interested in improving their operations and taking strategic decisions to new heights of value. Business intelligence is what helps them do it.
Cloud solutions enable organizations to access the right data in the correct format and at the right time, regardless of their size or location. On the other hand, cloud computing has advanced with improvements in technology and is becoming a business requirement rather than a technological accomplishment. According to the BI and Data Management in the Cloud: Issues and Trends research, Cloud BI adoption has risen from 29% to 43% over four years, with around half of those interviewed expressing an interest in using public cloud technologies for cloud BI analytics, and data management.
What is cloud BI (Business Intelligence Cloud)?
Cloud-based business intelligence, or cloud BI, is the art of taking raw data and turning it into usable insights either partially or entirely within a cloud environment. Cloud BI allows businesses to get all the information to make data-driven decisions without dealing with hardware costs or hassles. All SaaS-based business intelligence is cloud BI.
Companies are still looking for techniques to interpret data and efficiently manage their operations. Business intelligence (BI) software is at the forefront of these efforts. Cloud BI is a quick way to get access to information, so it’s gaining popularity. The major advantage of Cloud BI is that it allows users to access data from anywhere. Still, cloud investments also provide greater flexibility, faster reactions to market changes, and the ability to expand.
For the previous decade, the cloud was seen as a cost-cutting technique. Still, it is now enabling a digital business model that allows firms to have a remote workforce and interact with consumers from wherever in the world. According to the research, the global Cloud Computing Industry was valued at $321 billion in 2019 and is anticipated to reach $1025.9 billion by 2026.” Do you know cloud computing jobs are also on the rise? Let’s check cloud computing job requirements, trends, and more.
According to a DELL report, organizations that invest in big data, cloud computing, mobility, and security are seeing greater than 53 percent revenue growth over their rivals. The spread of the epidemic and subsequent changes in company and consumer behavior have prompted mid-market firms to value cloud computing. Businesses require cloud computing solutions to operate with a remote workforce, enhance customer service, and increase revenue and earnings.
Cloud computing and business intelligence go hand in hand. Business intelligence is about providing the right information to the right people at the right time, and cloud computing allows for lightweight, agile access to BI solutions. Cloud BI applications offer flexibility and portability, allowing them to be used on various devices and web browsers. Traditional software hurdles such as the need to access the application on-site are overcome. One of the other ideal fits for business intelligence is Artificial Intelligence. So, how is AI transforming business intelligence?
Cloud-based, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and virtualization technologies are faster, scalable, on-demand, secure, and come at a lower cost than traditional means of IT administration. Cloud services are mobile-friendly so that users may access them from any place using their smartphones.
What is Software as a Service BI (SaaS BI)?
Business intelligence (BI) software as a service (SaaS BI) is an access model for business intelligence. Applications are generally installed outside the company’s firewall at a hosted location and accessed by an end-user with a secure Internet connection. The technology is also known as on-demand BI or cloud BI. Vendors sell it under a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis rather than the more common software licensing model with yearly maintenance charges.
SaaS BI enables organizations to utilize BI tools without installing, operating, and maintaining them on-premises, allowing clients to focus on producing BI reports and analytical questions. SaaS technology enables businesses to expand their BI systems as usage increases without requiring any equipment purchases.
Cloud-based Business Intelligence (SaaS BI) might be a viable option when there isn’t enough money to buy BI software and related hardware. Because there are no upfront purchase expenses or additional personnel requirements needed to run the BI system, the total cost of ownership (TCO) may be lower than with on-premises software. However, overall SaaS BI costs will vary depending on how much usage the tools get.
The idea of software as a service (SaaS) is already well-known among businesses. However, there are certain issues to consider when using SaaS BI. For instance, the analysis tools may not include all of the functions that on-premise software products have – making them less complicated to use and less functional. Sending corporate data across a firewall raises concerns for some IT managers. Some suppliers have built private analytic clouds that operate behind a customer’s firewall to alleviate those concerns.
Benefits of business intelligence clouds
Cloud BI solutions are gaining ground in the business world, with many firms realizing the advantages of data analytics. More than ever, companies need accurate data and reliable insights to make better decisions. The SaaS providers function as the primary interface to the company user’s community. Cloud BI is a method of delivering BI capabilities as a service. There are wonderful benefits, but did you know the 5 risks of the clouds rapid expansion?
Here are some important advantages of Cloud computing for business intelligence:
Cost efficiency
Cloud BI solutions provide businesses with robust data analytics and reporting tools to enhance sales and marketing efforts. These applications also support company-wide collaboration initiatives by providing Sales and Marketing personnel with self-service analytics capabilities. Cloud business intelligence systems generate the most economic value for organizations by allowing workers to conduct their analyses without requiring IT resources, giving it scalability and flexibility to lower maintenance and security expenditures. IT departments can now focus on creative solutions and systems that generate significant company growth.
Flexibility and scalability
Business users will be able to improve financial control over IT projects and have more adaptability to scale usage up or down as needs change with Cloud BI solutions. With Cloud BI solutions, technical users will have greater flexibility in adding new data sources and experimenting with analytical methods. Business users will be able to maintain better fiscal management of IT initiatives while also having more freedom to adjust usage as needed. Furthermore, resources in the Cloud may scale up and down automatically and swiftly, allowing for thousands of simultaneous users. This means that customers can quickly increase their software usage without investing in additional hardware or software.
Reliability
The cloud-based business intelligence solutions are more credible and flexible, with a shorter time to market. They improve as they attain scalability and redundancy through various duplicate platforms like Birst, Domo, Tableau Online, etc. Data storage is available in reliable and secure locations, with many users able to access resources worldwide. The platform’s redundancy, scaling, and the vendors also handle distribution.
Enhanced data sharing capabilities
Cloud apps enable data access to be shared across locations and facilitate cross-border data sharing because they are delivered over the Internet and outside a company’s firewall.
No capital expenditure
The Cloud’s low TCO (total cost of ownership) is a key selling point. Companies pay for a service that they utilize with the Cloud. With this plan, Cloud computing allows businesses to manage better their CAPEX (capital expenditure) and OPEX (operations expenditure). As a result, BI’s advantages may be expanded faster to more people in the company.
Data security
A common misconception is that cloud-based information management solutions are less safe. Thanks to various data security methods and features, cloud-based business intelligence systems are incredibly secure. Most analytics tools employ data encryption, data segregation, security patches, multi-tiered caching, and other security measures to provide regulatory compliance. The solutions also employ more sophisticated technologies such as user fingerprint and voice recognition authentication to guarantee data security.
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Business intelligence cloud deployment models
These are the three types of Clouds that may be used to deploy a Cloud-based Business Intelligence solution:
- Public Cloud
- Private Cloud
- Hybrid Cloud
Public Cloud
A Public Cloud’s infrastructure costs are spread across Cloud tenants, making it the most cost-effective option for BI. It’s a great choice for small and mid-sized businesses on a tight budget or people dealing with large data sets.
Private Cloud
If you’re concerned about regulatory compliance or data security, a BI system should be deployed in a private cloud. The private cloud is the most costly cloud alternative because it specializes in providing dedicated storage and processing capacity only for your organization’s use.
Hybrid Cloud
If you can’t afford to put your complete BI system in the Private Cloud but must adhere to stringent regulations (HIPAA, GLBA, GDPR, etc.), a hybrid cloud is the way to go. This computing setting combines the features of a public and a private Cloud. If you pick this path, you may store and analyze sensor data in the Private Cloud while working with huge data in the Public Cloud.
Go to this page to learn more about hybrid cloud computing benefits and use cases.
How to choose a business intelligence cloud?
There are more options for moving your business intelligence to the cloud every day. Cloud BI software has many features, but here are a few to consider.
Data management
A cloud BI software should be able to pull data from various sources, clean it for high-quality results, and turn it into a consumable format. Data integration is an important aspect of business intelligence.
Advanced analytics
More advanced analytics solutions, such as data mining and root-cause analysis, will become increasingly important in multiple sectors. As a result, cloud BI tools should be able to provide.
Reporting and visualization
Regardless of their analytics expertise, every user can understand the data insights they obtain using these reports and visualizations.
Collaboration
The more businesses can share useful information among departments and teams, the better. The more your cloud BI software enables you to exchange analytics, the better easily.
3 best business intelligence clouds (Cloud BIs)
Here are some of the most popular Cloud Business Intelligence software:
SAS
SAS is one of the most well-known and popular business intelligence solutions providers. Visual analytics deliver real-time reports of your network diagram, decision trees, and other BI analysis without requiring you to code or customize anything.
Industries such as communications, health care, manufacturing, banking, education, and others may benefit from this BI solution’s innovative collaboration tools. You can quickly identify data anomalies and predict company results. Many SAS BI users utilize analytics reports to make more informed business decisions. Analytics solutions are an excellent instrument for data mining, data visualization, forecasting, and statistical analysis in SAS BI environments.
Adaptive Insights
Thanks to a vendor partnership with Adaptive Insights, you can use their software-as-a-service (SaaS) to manage your financial planning, consolidation, reporting, and more. The dashboard for reporting, data analysis, and data mining pulls in sales data, human resources information, marketing insights, and other professional services to provide a bird’s eye view of your company’s operations.
Adaptive Insights’ Business Intelligence Solutions are designed for medium- to enterprise-level organizations in numerous sectors, including business services, software, and technology, healthcare, non-profit, education, retail, etc. Adaptive Insights has assisted thousands of organizations worldwide in improving their financial statements and cash flow plans, budgets, and expenses plans.
IBM Cognos Analytics
It’s no surprise that IBM is a major player in the cloud-based BI sector with Cognos Analytics. IBM’s Cognos also links to SPSS, its predictive analytics product, to help businesses make better decisions.
IBM’s Business Intelligence solutions are used in every sector, and its BI applications are utilized across the board. For a scalable and user-friendly solution that reduces data analysis time by 50% while also increasing ROI by 20%, IBM uses dynamic queries and comprehensive data.
If you wonder about more BI tools, you can check the top 20 BI tools list.
