What is the business intelligence and how can it help your business?
Although the term BI exists for more than a century, only recent changes in business in the last year have grouped it with the most important strategic tools of various companies in 2020. Business intelligence is focused on following and predicting the movement of business trends with fast changes of the market and as such, is an extremely important factor of business success.
What is business intelligence?
“BI is a collection of methods, technologies, and strategies that various companies use to analyze, collect and distribute business data or information“
Business intelligence or BI is a collection of methods, technologies, and strategies that various companies use to analyze, collect and distribute business data or information. As a grouping of software tools and solutions, BI includes storing data (data Warehouse), using indicators of key performances (Key performance indicators, KPIs), benchmark (comparing with a competing company), data mining (Data Mining, DM), business analytics, etc. Considering that success today is not based only on management and material resources of organizations, but also on information and strategic planning, the goal of business intelligence is to increase success and business growth.
How does business intelligence work?
“BI gives a complete display of numerous collected data, but also a possibility for strategic planning and defining future business steps.“
The tools of business intelligence, like the well-known Microsoft Power BI system, function on the principle of the ETL process (extract, transform, load), i.e., gathering, transforming, and uploading data from different sources to one central place. Through ‘mining’, i.e., automated data searching, there are samples and inconsistencies in data that give an insight into the current state of the business. Using statistically visual displays like colored graphs or clear tables, BI gives a complete display of numerous collected data, but also a possibility for strategic planning and defining future business steps.
Do you think you need a BI tool?
“Considering that structured information and numbers can give an insight into the current state of business, business intelligence is not something you should neglect.“
It is easy to determine if there is a need for business intelligence, still, very few come up with a solution. Many organizations have issues with collecting reports that are most often located in more than one place. Except being time-consuming, it sometimes also demands a complete organization of employees while spending various resources (material, human…). Even when all the data is collected from more sources, no one can guarantee its 100% accuracy. Especially if more people inside a department are working on one document. We all make mistakes and unfortunately in the case of manually inputting information, numbers, analyses and statistics, there is a great chance of making mistakes.
While some companies have a lot of trouble with data coordination, but also recognizing important information in gathered reports, some companies don’t have a method or the habit of collecting documents and creating reports at all. Considering that structured information and numbers can give an insight into the current state of business, business intelligence is not something you should neglect.
Business analyses make the basis for quality business decision-making, and why not use it if BI tools can make things simpler and easier.
How does business intelligence help in business?
A clear display of complex data can be a practical and efficient method of achieving business goals. Some of the benefits of using business intelligence in business are:
# It turns ‘nothing’ into ‘something’
What is a business meeting without graphs and statistics? In the business world, they always represent thinking and planning, and they have a reputation of being the main component for discussion in all business circles. Still, although data has a big role in all activities, there are moments when many people are not using their full potential. What use is a lot of data on your company’s activities if you don’t know how to interpret them? Business intelligence creates a visually clear collection of data from which everyone will be able to read exactly what is important, without wasting time and with fewer costs.
# Planned business decision making
The main function of business intelligence is to enable managers, leaders, and directors of companies to have structured data from one centralized source. Data analyses ensure a better insight into the ‘gangrenes’ and the main trump cards of business, and by doing so it allows better strategic and planned decision making. Tracking purchases of individual, existing buyers gives insight into selling trends, and knowing trends and habits enables making new strategies for creating potential selling opportunities and increasing profit. You should make plans based on facts, not guessing. The key to success lies in fully utilizing advantages, optimizing processes, and correcting shortcomings.
# Efficient management of finances and business processes
Business intelligence provides a clearer look into profit, loss and generally the flow of money in a company. Through tables, graphs, and detailed reports, you no longer must worry about manually writing reports. All the data is available at any moment, in real time. Besides, using business intelligence enables you to compare the current state of business with previous business processes more easily. The BI tool will warn you if a sudden anomaly in business occurs, and you will be able to share data between departments and with employees you want to share it with, without any risk.
# Improving the user service
Knowing your buyers is important for growth and development, and business intelligence provides exactly that. By collecting data and following trends of your permanent clients, a base of information that you can use when creating your marketing strategy is created. Adjust and optimize your business through developing relationships with clients based on known facts. If you consider that 73% of users love a certain brand because of having a good experience with the user service and that 85% of users is ready to pay more because of good user support, it is obvious why planning is useful.
#Increasing ROI
ROI or ‘return of investment’ is a ratio between profits and the total investment and is considered one of the most important measures of success of a business. Considering the ROI, a company gets a complete picture of profitability, but also guidelines for continuing or stopping some business activities. CRM systems that come with business intelligence give a clear picture of success in sales, client satisfaction and conversions themselves. Besides being fast and time-efficient, BI tools aim to increase ROI and decrease costs and provide analyses of collected data with a low chance of making wrong conclusions.
The question is – Yes or no?
One of the most known business intelligence tools is the Microsoft Power BI that can be integrated with a well-known modular Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP system. Make business analyses easy for yourself through a simple display of metrics and speed up business while increasing efficiency. Contact us for implementing solutions that will align with the goals of your organization. We are here for you!
