Business intelligence (BI) is the means by which a company can assess its performance and the performance of its competitors, make strategic decisions, and evaluate its progress.
Business intelligence includes the gathering, monitoring, analyzing, and assessing of data related to business. This data can be about anything from sales figures to social media mentions to industry trends.
With business intelligence tools, a company can track its internal data along with external data to gain a better understanding of how its business operates.
There are many different types of business intelligence services that can be offered by companies. Some of these include Data aggregation, data annotation, data analysis, and reporting. Each one plays a different role in the overall effectiveness of business intelligence.
Data aggregation is the collecting of raw data from various sources and ensuring it is consistent and accurate. Data annotation is identifying what type of information each piece of data represents. Data analysis is looking at the data sets and determining what conclusions can be drawn from them. Reporting is sharing the gathered information with other people in the company or outside of the company.
What is data analytics?
Data analytics is the process of examining and evaluating data, to identify patterns and trends. These patterns and trends can be used to make decisions or predictions about the future.
Businesses use data analytics for a variety of purposes. Some examples include marketing campaigns, product development, business strategy development, and business performance analysis.
Marketing campaigns often use data analytics software to identify potential customers and what may attract them to a product or service.
Product development often uses data analytics software to assess demand for new products or improvements on existing products. This can be done by assessing consumer behavior and preference.
Business strategy development uses data analytics to assess current and potential competition, allowing companies to better plan for the future.
Business performance analysis uses data analytics software to assess how well a company is performing. This can be done by looking at numbers such as sales, expenses, and productivity, among others.
Who uses data analytics?
Data analytics is a term that refers to the method of gathering data, analyzing it, and then presenting it in a useful manner.
Many businesses use data analytics services to gain an edge over the competition. Some examples of how businesses use data analytics include:
Market research – Companies hire data analytics professionals to gather information about their markets and their competitors. This includes pricing, marketing strategies, and quality of service or product offerings.
Finance – Some companies pay for weekly or monthly reports on company finances, such as sales numbers and spending. These reports may include some analysis as well.
HR – Some companies hire professionals to do internal HR analysis. This may include employee performance reviews or finding trends in employee performance or retention due to certain factors.
Sales – Some companies hire data analysts to help with sales strategies. This may involve finding trends in sales or production levels based on certain variables.
What are the benefits of data analytics?
Data analytics is the process of extracting meaningful insight from data. This usually refers to large datasets, such as your customer database or product sales.
By analyzing this data, you can gain a deeper understanding of your customers and business. You can see what products and marketing strategies are most effective, where you can make cost savings, and how to better serve your customers.
With data analytics professionals trained in intelligence methods can determine what factors influence decisions and outcomes. This is called inference, and it is a key component of analytics.
Advanced algorithms can be used to test hypothetical scenarios to determine their potential effect on outcomes. For example, a hypothetical scenario such as changing the color of your website may affect sales. By using analytics, you can determine if this change will increase or decrease sales.
Both of these examples show how analytics can be used to prove what works and what does not work.
Are there any drawbacks to using data analytics?
While most people view data analytics as a positive thing, there are some who view it as a negative. The fact that data analytics is becoming more and more popular causes some people to feel overwhelmed.
With so much data available, some people feel like they are constantly being targeted by companies trying to sell them something. This can create feelings of distrust and unease.
Also, with all of the information being gathered, some worry about how safe their information is. How is it being handled and who has access to it?
Finally, some feel like data analytics fuels consumerism. People are more aware of what they want or need because companies are able to target them with specific products or services. This can lead to spending money that one may not have otherwise because they “need” something that has been targeted at them.
While these concerns are valid, most people don’t fall prey to these issues. Most people are fairly smart when it comes to spending and listening to their inner voice when it comes to things they need versus things they want.
What is big data?
Big data is a term used to describe the massive amounts of data being collected about us every day. This data is collected from multiple sources, such as social media, search engines, and smart devices like smartphones and smartwatches.
As our world becomes increasingly connected through the Internet, more and more data is being collected and stored. As a result, data collection is growing at an astonishing rate.
Businesses use big data for a variety of purposes, including predictive analytics, market research, and customer analytics. Major companies pay large amounts of money to hire staff that is trained in these skills.
Students graduating college with a degree in Business Intelligence or Data Analytics will most likely find employment due to the rising demand for these skills.
What are the differences between BI and big data?
Business intelligence, or BI, is the technology that organizations use to gather and analyze data. It can be in the form of software, such as LexisNexis Search and Microsoft Office, or it can be a team of people who are trained in gathering and analyzing data.
BI has been around for several years, but with the increase in the availability of large amounts of data, the term “big data” has emerged.
Big data is all of the information an organization has access to internal databases, social media accounts, external databases, etc. With big data comes more opportunities to do meaningful analysis and intel that benefit an organization.
There is no clear line between the two- they both fall under the general category of “data analytics”. Analytics is the process of gathering and analyzing information to draw some sort of conclusion or identify a pattern.
Who are the players in the market & what do they offer?
There are a large number of companies that provide business intelligence and data analytics services. Some of the major players in this field include SAP, IBM, Microsoft, Tableau, and Palantir.
SAP is a vendor of business intelligence software. Their solutions include solutions for gathering data, analyzing data, and presenting the data in insightful ways.
IBM offers a wide range of analytics services including predictive analytics, risk analytics, and digital analytics. They also provide access to cloud-based software and services such as Watson Analytics.
Microsoft offers many integrated business intelligence solutions such as Power BI which easily enable users to gather, analyze, and present data. They also offer advanced tools for developing custom analysis solutions.
Tableau is a leading provider of easy-to-use visualization software. Users can easily gather data using Tableau and then analyze and present that data using the provided features.
Palantir is a private company that provides extensive analytic services including predictive analysis used by many government agencies.
What is the cost of these services & technology?
Business intelligence and data analytics services and technology are not free. Many people mistakenly believe that because these tools are widely available, they are accessible to everyone.
However, just because a car is available does not mean that you would be able to afford one. The same goes for these software tools– just because they are available for purchase does not mean you would be able to afford one.
Many of the top software titles require an initial investment and/or monthly fee to use them. This can quickly add up, making them quite expensive.
The good news is that most companies provide their employees with a budget for training and improvement.