Business intelligence (BI) refers to the set of tools, technologies, and processes that organisations use to gather, store, access and analyse data to support effective decision-making. In other words, BI is all about turning data into insights and knowledge that can inform business strategy and guide operational improvements.
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With today’s abundance of data, it’s essential for companies to have a way to make sense of it all and extract valuable insights. That’s where BI comes in. By leveraging BI, organisations can gain a competitive edge by uncovering patterns, trends and opportunities hidden in their data and use that knowledge to make informed decisions.
How do companies use Business Intelligence?
Companies use BI to gain a deeper understanding of their business and make data-driven decisions. For example, BI can be used to:
- Monitor performance metrics such as sales, revenue and customer engagement
- Identify trends, patterns and anomalies in data
- Optimise pricing, inventory and supply chain management
- Improve marketing and customer service
- Identify new opportunities for growth and expansion
There are many different ways in which companies can leverage BI, and the specific use cases will depend on the organisation and the industry it operates in.
What Business Intelligence tools are there?
There are many BI tools available on the market, each with its own set of features and capabilities. Some common types of BI tools include:
- Data visualization tools: These tools are used to create interactive dashboards and reports that make it easy to view and analyse data. Examples include Tableau and Power BI.
- Data mining and analytics tools: These tools are used to extract insights and knowledge from data. Examples include SAS and R.
- Data warehousing tools: These tools are used to store and manage large amounts of data. Examples include Oracle and MySQL.
- Reporting and query tools: These tools are used to generate reports and perform ad-hoc analysis. Examples include Crystal Reports and Cognos.
As the field of Business Intelligence is constantly evolving, it’s important for companies to keep updated with the new tools and technologies available for them to make use of.
It’s also worth mentioning that many software and SaaS providers offer end-to-end BI suites that integrate multiple tools into a single platform, making it easy to work with data from various sources and perform a wide range of analysis tasks.
The author generated this text in part with GPT-3, OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model. Upon generating draft language, the author reviewed, edited, and revised the language to their own liking and takes ultimate responsibility for the content of this publication.
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