Why business intelligence is a must in the modern business? Business intelligence (BI) solutions can help organizations maintain their competitiveness by giving them a comprehensive view of all of their data. But it can also be challenging to comprehend exactly what BI is for individuals who haven’t adopted a tool yet or are just curious. Is it a fortune-teller? Let’s take a closer look.
Why business intelligence (BI) is needed?
The age of technological advancement is upon us. Our daily lives have undergone a complete revolution thanks to technological improvements, and the business world has been particularly affected. Businesses today have access to data-driven tools and tactics that enable them to understand more than ever about their customers and themselves. Still, not all of them are making use of them.
Businesses can benefit from business intelligence solutions to maintain a competitive edge and increase income streams. Organizations of all sizes and stages employ BI software to manage, analyze, and visualize corporate data.
Companies can use data analytics to define their operations, examine causes for good or bad events, produce knowledge they may not have, and receive advice on a potential course of action. These kinds of analyses, including tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and creating precise reports, may all be done by businesses using business intelligence tools.
Analysts can put their insights into practice by using these tools to share their findings with stakeholders. As you can see, this is a crucial step for every business. Because of that, business intelligence analysts are in high demand.
A brief reminder of business intelligence will help us better understand the subject.
What is business intelligence and analytics?
To assist businesses in making more data-driven decisions, business intelligence integrates business analytics, data mining, data visualization, data tools and infrastructure, and best practices.
You can determine if your organization has modern business intelligence when you thoroughly understand its data and use it to drive change, eliminate inefficiencies, and react swiftly to supply or market changes. Flexible self-service analysis, controlled data on reliable platforms, empowered business users, and speed to insight are prioritized by modern BI solutions.
What is the purpose of business intelligence?
Business intelligence’s purpose is to use pertinent data to enhance an organization’s business operations. Businesses that use BI tools and methodologies properly can turn their gathered data into insightful information about their operational procedures and business plans.
Incorporating corporate data into user-friendly representations like reports, dashboards, charts, and graphs is what business intelligence (BI) software does. Business users can access various data types using BI technologies, including semi-structured and unstructured data like social media, historical and current data, internal and external data, and third-party and internal data. Users can examine this data to learn more about the company’s performance and make predictions. So, is it a fortune-teller? Not exactly.
How business intelligence works?
Data warehouses have always served as the foundational source of information for BI tools.
A data warehouse combines information from various sources into one main database to facilitate reporting and business analytics. The warehouse is queried by business intelligence software, which then displays the findings to the user as reports, charts, and maps.
Online analytical processing (OLAP) engines can handle multidimensional queries in data warehouses. For instance, if you wonder how are sales in our eastern and western regions compared to last year, BI is here to help you.
Some business intelligence (BI) software can link with solutions for particular industry verticals, like retail, travel, and media services. Using dashboards, intricate analytical processing, and potent visualizations, BI reporting and BI analytics may be able to assist these users in finding answers to guide their daily business. Because it enables executives to make prompt, data-supported decisions,
BI reporting is a crucial component of business intelligence.
But how exactly does business intelligence work efficiently? Most businesses have data scattered across several locations, but they cannot manage this data or combine these various data sources.
BI systems can use many data sources to quickly and accurately present information to decision-makers, eliminating the need for an IT department to run intricate reports. These data sources could come from supply chain information, marketing or sales analytics, operational performance, or customer relationship management software (such as Salesforce).
Typically, BI software can combine all of these sources to offer historical, present-day, and future perspectives that support corporate planning. Businesses should think carefully about their operations and strategies, particularly their current data integration, reporting, and information sharing procedures.
Are you looking for the best way to build your business intelligence strategies? We explain techniques, roadmap, and examples of BI strategies in this article.
Importance of business intelligence
Why is business intelligence crucial for firms in the modern era? A strong BI strategy and system should be adopted for the following primary reasons:
New customer insights
Businesses invest time, money, and resources into business intelligence since it improves their capacity to watch and assess the most recent client purchasing trends.
Your business’s bottom line will increase after you use BI to comprehend what and why your customers are buying from you. With this knowledge, you can develop new goods and improve existing ones to fulfill their wants and expectations better. It is one of the reasons why business intelligence is needed.
Better data quality
Data is rarely perfect, and there are numerous ways for discrepancies and mistakes to surface, especially when using a poorly constructed “database”.
Businesses that care about gathering, maintaining, and producing high-quality data often have greater success.
Businesses can use BI software to combine data from many sources to get a more comprehensive picture of their operations.
Visibility
Due to a BI system’s increased visibility of these functions, business intelligent enterprises have more control over their processes and standard operating procedures. The days of reading quickly through annual reports with hundreds of pages are long gone.
Business intelligence illuminates every aspect of your company, making it easier to spot areas that need development and enabling you to take a proactive rather than a reactionary approach.
Actionable information
A powerful business intelligence system can spot important organizational trends and patterns. A BI system also enables you to comprehend the effects of different organizational processes and changes, make wise decisions, and take the appropriate action.
Efficiency improvements
BI systems contribute to increasing organizational effectiveness, which in turn raises production and potentially boosts income. Businesses may readily exchange important information across departments thanks to business intelligence platforms, reducing the time spent on reporting, data extraction, and analysis.
Organizations can minimize redundant roles and responsibilities by facilitating information sharing more effectively. This frees up employees’ time to concentrate on their work rather than processing data.
Check out how business intelligence creates collaboration in the workforce
Sales insight
Both sales and marketing teams use the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program to keep track of their customers. CRMs are made to handle all customer interactions.
Check out the best CRM software for small businesses in 2022
There is a plethora of data and information that can be evaluated and applied to strategic goals because they house all consumer contacts and interactions. BI systems assist businesses with various tasks, including finding new customers, keeping track of and retaining existing ones, and offering post-sale services. It is one of the reasons why business intelligence is required.
Real-time data
The data is vulnerable to human mistakes and runs the risk of being out of date before it is even presented for evaluation because executives and decision-makers must wait for reports to be assembled by several departments.
Spreadsheets, visual dashboards, and scheduled emails are a few ways BI systems give customers access to data in real-time. Utilizing Business Intelligence solutions allows for large volumes’ swift and accurate assimilation, interpretation, and distribution.
Competitive advantage
In addition to all of these wonderful advantages, business intelligence may help you learn what your rivals are doing, enabling your company to prepare for the future and make informed decisions. It is one of the reasons why business intelligence is important.
Importance of business intelligence in decision-making
All the advantages mentioned above contribute to the decision-making process. Making judgments based on assumptions rather than facts is one of a business’s biggest blunders.
Businesses can use business intelligence to gather the information they need to make critical decisions, such as which goods to promote more aggressively and which to phase out. All business-related information can be gathered, including financial, production, and customer satisfaction data.
Real-world BI use cases
By giving teams the freedom to analyze their own data and come to better conclusions, BI may improve business processes by giving them a comprehensive perspective on their objectives. Now that we are aware of BI’s significance. Now let’s examine some BI real-world applications.
Amazon
Amazon employs BI technology and tools to sell things, personalize product recommendations, and make logistical business decisions. In-depth data analysis ensures the smooth operation of Amazon’s massive supply chain.
Amazon’s supply chain is significantly impacted by data and business intelligence technologies ranging from inventory allocation to delivery route optimization.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola gains from its social media information, which includes 105 million Facebook likes and 35 million Twitter followers. The company uses AI-driven picture recognition technology to track down when images of its drinks are shared online. This data, together with the prevalence of BI, enables the business to understand more about who is consuming its beverages, where they are, and why they are making online mentions of the brand.
Personalized advertising, which is four times more likely to be clicked on than generic advertising, is given to consumers using the data.
Netflix
This online entertainment company has a sizable BI advantage thanks to its 148 million customers.
Netflix uses data in several different ways. The company’s method of creating and evaluating new programming concepts based on previously watched shows is the most well-known business intelligence application. Netflix uses BI to get users or customers to engage with its content.
Over 80% of all streamed content comes from the service’s recommendation algorithm since it pushes targeted content effectively.
How business intelligence systems are implemented?
Business intelligence implementation is not difficult, but it does require careful planning and strict adherence.
It is recommended that you do not neglect these steps:
- Create a plan for implementing business intelligence.
- Identify and appoint the BI implementation team.
- Define KPIs.
- Find a reliable software provider.
- Choose appropriate BI tools.
- Consider the infrastructure.
- Execute data migration (if needed).
- Create a feedback loop.
- Implement BI on a larger scale.
It is also crucial for the implementation process to distinguish between business analytics and business intelligence.
Comparison: Business intelligence vs business analytics
Business analytics, commonly known as BA, and business intelligence are closely related.
Some people think the primary distinction lies in the passage of time: business analytics aids in business planning for the future, such as by using predictive analytics to determine why things are happening and how they will develop in the future, whereas business intelligence assists in day-to-day operations and how things appear in the present.
Most people who work with business analytics have a background in math or statistics or have completed an online master’s program in the field. Experts in business intelligence should also have a strong mathematical foundation and analytical thinking.
Business analytics and business intelligence frequently function effectively together. Business analytics may continue where BI left off and find methods to enhance a company’s performance in the future because BI helps businesses manage and optimize their daily operations.
Why business intelligence is the future?
Since its inception, the business intelligence sector has advanced significantly. From its inception in the 19th century, when data-driven judgments replaced gut instincts, to on-premises databases and difficult IT reporting projects that only experts could translate in the 20th century, to the present-day self-service models we are familiar with and use.
Technology, applications, and trends in business intelligence are getting easier and easier to access.
Business intelligence is projected to become considerably more automated and aggressively used in the future, with fewer interface restrictions and barriers to the free flow of data. Future BI trends are part of a rapidly changing framework necessary for the development of contemporary businesses.
Some of the most anticipated BI trends for the future include:
- Augmented analytics,
- Natural Language Processing (NLP),
- Data cognition,
- Auditable AI, and more.
Did you notice these are all related to AI? If you wonder how AI transforming business intelligence, we have already explained it.
According to Mordor Intelligence, the Business Intelligence Market was estimated to be worth USD 20.516 billion in 2020 and is projected to increase at a CAGR of 12.5 percent over the forecast period to reach USD 40.50 billion by 2026. (2021-2026).
Is business intelligence a good career?
Like data scientists and analysts, business intelligence analysts are one of the most sought-after positions globally and sweep both the business and technology markets. The success of a company and the development of an enterprise both depend on a skilled business intelligence analyst.
Check out the most wanted business intelligence analyst skills in 2022
According to PayScale statistics, the yearly pay for a business intelligence analyst ranges from $48,701 to $93,243 in the United States, with a standard salary of $66,645 per year. We can easily assume the demand continues to rise, and business intelligence is one of the best career options in the world.
Other highly sought-after positions include some of the following:
- Blockchain engineers
- Artificial intelligence careers
- Data architect
- Cloud computing jobs
- Data engineer jobs,
- Machine learning engineers
Conclusion
BI enables the combination of data from various sources, analysis of the information, and dissemination of the information to pertinent stakeholders. Because of this, businesses can view the big picture and make wise business decisions.
Making every business decision always comes with certain inherent risks, but those risks aren’t as noticeable or concerning when using a solid BI system. Business Intelligent firms can advance with confidence in a world that is becoming more data-driven because they are ready to meet any challenge that may come their way. So it is not a fortune-teller; it is a fortune-maker!
