An Introduction to BI (Business Intelligence)

You may have heard the term Business Intelligence or BI. But what does that really mean? There are several different definitions, but to put it simply-

BI is about delivering relevant and reliable information to the right people at the right time with the goal of achieving better decisions faster.

To do this BI requires methods and programmes to collect unstructured data, convert it into information and present it to improve business decisions. BI takes the vast amount of data generated by business and presents it in a meaningful, actionable way. While these are simple concepts BI is (actually) a large and complex field including performance management, analytics predictive modelling, data and text mining and a lot more…

Imagine Business Intelligence functioning like a grocery store. You enter a grocery store and are looking for specific items, say eggs, milk and bananas. You do not need to ask an employee to ask them where to look. Instead grocery stores are organised into aisles and signs that make the store relatively simple to navigate. Now imagine the items in the store are like your business’ data and you need to collect information on production, billable hours and sales goals. You are likely to go to three different experts and ask them where you can find this information. Then you will go to someone else and have them compile it for you. BI is all about taking your messy information and turning it into a tidy and accessible grocery store. This enables you to navigate your data on your own and find what you need without relying on others.

Organisations no longer must dig through complex webs of linked spreadsheets, analysing the data manually and mashing together reports. Instead, employees can use BI systems to request the information. Using BI, offers significant advantage when trying to make strategic decisions. Having anytime access to organised data means that you can discover inefficient business processes and hidden patterns identify areas of strength and weakness and discover new opportunities, all of which, contribute to a better understanding of your company’s operations and challenges.

Let’s look at a retail example. You are the manager of a retail chain that has both stores and online shops. You offer your customers a loyalty card which they can swipe in the stores or enter into their online account. The card associates everything the customer buys in-store and online with their unique account number into your organisation’s databases. Using Business Intelligence methods and software, you are empowered by having the ability to run analytical reports on massive amounts of customer information; which can enable you to understand how loyal they are to your brand, what products they buy, and how frequently. If they prefer visiting the store or buying from the online store. What does this give you?

The ability to understand and even predict an individual customer or segment’s needs, preferences and habits, anticipate new opportunities to sell, deliver better service or even provide targeted marketing campaigns such as instant delivery of coupons at point of sale for products related to their interests as indicated by past behaviour. In short, with BI you can understand your customers very well based on the historical transactions and behaviour. You can use that information to increase your sales or differentiate your brand by providing better or unique services.

So in closing, the term business intelligence refers to a group of tools and techniques that collects and organises your data and presents it in a way that is useful and makes sense. If you want to have efficient access to accurate, understandable and actionable information on demand, then business intelligence might be right for your organisation.

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The author is a business communication expert. As an advisor to Syena Tech he has helped companies explore data to gain insights and predict results, that can be shared in a simplistic and effective manner. For more information, contact him on [email protected]