Business Intelligence: An oxymoron? Or a crucial tool for growth?

Business Intelligence: An oxymoron? Or a crucial tool for growth? 

The words “Business Intelligence” sounds both ironic and antithetical. After all, the list of flubs and mistakes from the largest companies seems to grow every single day. But what is business intelligence, and how can it help your business? In this week’s blog post we will examine a few key ideas and concepts behind a successful BI environment. 

If there is a single word that encapsulates Business Intelligence as a tool, that word is Data. For many businesses, data is either the ultimate driver of decision making and success, or it is the IT department’s worst nightmare. Sometimes, both situations may be occurring simultaneously! In a data driven world, most companies’ greatest tool, or greatest challenge, is how they utilize the data they have collected on their customers, sales, internal team, etc. and how to apply that knowledge to their future business plans. 

Business Intelligence, in the simplest terms, are tools that access and analyze data sets and present analytical findings in reports, summaries, dashboards, graphs, charts and maps to provide users with detailed intelligence about the state of the business. These detailed findings are used to make real-time business decisions based on the results. Some of the most common BI tools include Snowflake, Power BI, and Tableau; though there are many options available. 

BI tools have evolved quickly over the past decade, from basic dashboards and readouts, to deep-diving analysis and the subsequent business agility these results facilitate. Experts also predict that the complexity of BI software will grow to include more granular data-sets, and the increased utilization of machine learning. Like all technologies, evolution is the name of the game and staying competitive is of paramount importance.  To learn about how Business Intelligence can dramatically impact business growth, please reach out to UNIQUE System Skills today for a free consultation!