Business Intelligence or (BI) for short-form plays an important role for both large and small corporations. If you are not in the entrepreneurial sector and wonder what Business Intelligence is, it is a kind of software that can control data power within a company. These understandings can help businesses construct critical business choices that boost productivity, advance revenues, and strengthen growth. Bi has the power to make a company go from mediocre to amazing. Business Intelligence changes the way that business owners do day-to-day tasks and makes it much easier.

In addition, BI incorporates aspects like business data tools, analytics, data mining, infrastructure, and top-of-the-line methods to help companies implement more data-enhanced choices. Essentially, BI represents the modern side of how businesses are trying to improve productivity and boost their revenue in the most effective way possible. Using business intelligence is important. It is a way of looking at your company’s data and utilizing it to bring about change, get rid of wastefulness, and promptly shift to the way the market changes.
It is important to note that BI has a modern definition that did suppress history as a slang term. Looking at traditional Business Intelligence, it came about in the 1960s to distribute information transversely to companies. In the 1980s, it was developed even further with computer models for matters like decision-making and transforming data into insights before turning into clear-cut offerings from BI lineups with IT solutions. In terms of modern BI solutions, they can compile malleable self-service analysis and governed data on reliable platforms.
What are the best reporting tools for BI?
- HubSpot Marketing Analytics.
- Microsoft Power BI.
- Xplenty.
- Answer Rocket.
- SAP Crystal Reports.
- Izenda Reports.
- Extra.
What companies use business intelligence for?
Very well-known companies that many of us use and see daily, such as Starbucks and Amazon, invest in Business Intelligence. Both of these large and successful businesses utilize business intelligence technology to illustrate product recommendations and market products in the best way possible. But it also utilizes its BI software insights for operational business options and decisions.
Seemingly, in-depth data inquiry is what permits Amazon’s huge supply chain to run so effectively. The Seattle-based coffee chain Starbucks as mentioned, is a consistent customer of BI technology. With its well-known Loyalty Card program, Starbucks has the power to assemble personalized buyer data for several consumers, if not millions, on a daily and consistent basis.
What makes a good reporting tool?
A good dashboard showcases data, but what makes the difference between a good and a great dashboard is the notion of interactiveness. Evidently, visual data reporting is more intricate and digs deeper. It doesn’t only provide you with data, but it also permits you with the capability to interact with it. The capability to get in touch with the information right in front of your eyes helps users comprehend the information more clearly, and it also allows you to take more action.
How business intelligence is being used
Many diverse industries have converted to the BI system. Such important industries include healthcare, information technology, as well as education. The great thing about Business Intelligence is that businesses can utilize data in ways that are much more effective and save a lot of time. At the end of the day, we all want to reduce tasks that take up more time.
Looking at financial service firms, they use business intelligence and business intelligence tools to analyze an infinite outline of their subdivisions throughout the United States. This is done to comprehend matters like performance metrics, in addition, to pinpoint important fields of contingency.
The great thing about Business Intelligence is that it has allowed branch managers to gain insights from clients that could alter their investment needs. BI is quite advanced as it can help businesses investigate if an area’s performance is doing well or not. This means more chances for development as well as improved customer care for clients.
Business intelligence can assist companies with showcasing a precise strategy to boost revenue for companies. It can offer important insights such as who your end-user is, what affects their purchasing options, where to search for them, and lastly, how to come up with your pitch. The marketplace today is filled with businesses that propel information to produce a profit. Business intelligence entails the apprehension of precise data regarding the actions of your perfect customer. It inevitably provides you with details like where they gain information, which will boost them in making transformations etc. With these details, you can construct marketing tools that augment the revenues and amplify investments’ return.
How business intelligence helps companies
When it comes to Business Intelligence, there are many ways to use it with your organization to maximize your business’s potential and success. Let’s take a look at some ways that Business Intelligence helps organizations:
Comprehending what boosts revenue for your company
Business Intelligence essentially helps organizations since it helps with driving revenue for them. Evidently, understanding who your end-user is, what impacts decisions, and how they expend their data collection.
Looking at the current marketplace, several outlets are boosting facts and figures, which means not everyone can collect all this information. When it comes to Business intelligence, it understands how your customer collects information related to articles, ads, and media outlets. In addition, what is going to push them to purchase and subscribe and coming up with a plan of action?
Figure out the return on investment of your marketing plan
When you have a market filled with apps, social media platforms, analytics tools, and pay-per-click campaigns, business intelligence plays an important role in assisting small businesses. Seemingly, BI helps small businesses determine whether the marketing plan they’ve paid for is creating ROI (return on investment).
Business intelligence can transcribe the information into analytic reports where corporations can determine decisions with conclusive research rather than depending on gut instinct. Let’s face it, gut instinct isn’t going to cut it, and how do you really know if something is working? That’s where reports come into play and can provide you with insights.
Keep an eye on your inventory and profit on trends.
Business intelligence and analytics have become a revolutionary and important business tool with retail businesses. This is due to the fast-moving speed at which customers anticipate items to be delivered to them. Many look at this as the “Amazon Effect.” As many of us know, Amazon Prime is a very popular paid subscription that delivers orders within 1 to 2 days.
So when it comes to retailers and brands, they must comprehend where their inventory is situated and if it’s selling at a high rate. Analytics is beneficial as it showcases specific insights with buyers to view and profit from popular purchasing trends.
Better Productivity
With the assistance of Business Intelligence, business owners have the capability to improve their business model, be more organized, highlight their duties without manual labor, and pre-program their day-to-day tasks.
With a prosperous business intelligence software, businesses will offer improved customer service and utilize sales representatives selling time more conclusively. The business component’s productivity strengthens at a more advanced level with the automated reporting provided. This permits businesses to watch and review all the information regarding clients.
Preparing for an improved future for your organization
Investing in better business intelligence technologies and equally trained experts in handling these resources allows companies to improve their ability to predict industry dynamics and purchase characteristics for customers.
Once corporations comprehend the customer’s purchase behavior, they can construct a strategy derived from the comparison of the purchasing background and the predictions produced by BI.
Enhanced customer knowledge
Customers are less open to what you want them to offer. They are changing the dynamics of the market and want a solution to their dilemma. In the last few years, there has been a tremendous shift from the production of an initial interest in a product or service to the point where consumers make a purchase. Customer loyalty has, in plain words, trumped outrageous promotions.
The need for resources that come with built-in business intelligence is growing. Tools such as CRM help their customers understand how their customers communicate in real-time with them. The CRM program also helps users find the best possible ways to reach their customers with reliable details.
Improved customer service
It’s all about delivering the best customer service to your customer base at the end of the day. Depending on the amount of customer satisfaction, the company will flourish or bite the dust.
Making an impact on your clients means that they can return in the future to make more purchases from you. 40 percent of your entire profits can be generated by eight percent of the current customer base.
The data of your clients can be sourced and collected by business intelligence. You can construct plans to encourage your established consumer base to make more transactions contingent on the collected data. Business intelligence allows business owners to have a data-driven understanding for consumers to keep their corporate boat running in the middle of their rivalry.
A More effective/intelligent decision-making process
It is important to be a business owner or to have a firm grip on their organizational data at the managerial level. In general, knowledge does not mean intelligence, particularly when it is distributed throughout the organization.
The sole aim of business intelligence is to structure and evaluate your organizational data. Business intelligence promotes strategic decision-making for organizations. Having a structure in place that holds the company in an organized format leads to improved business choices and better financial production.
Popular Business Intelligence tools
- Power BI
- SAS (Statistical Analysis System) Visual Analytics
- Tableau
- Microstrategy
- Oracle
- Sisense
- SAP (System Applications and Products)
- Target
- Actuate
- Pentaho
- Jaspersoft
- IBM
- Microsoft
- GoodData
Gaining insights and discovering trends is inevitably important for organizations to measure and modify as the years go on. Precisely, this is how business intelligence functions, and what makes them so popular is that what these softwares are capable of achieving and doing for businesses is quite limitless. In this video, Edureka outlines some well-known Business Intelligence tools, one of them being SAS that I mentioned above. To go into more detail, “SAS is a statistical software suite developed by SAS Institute for data management, advanced analytics, multivariate analysis, business intelligence, a criminal investigation, and predictive analytics.”
Statistics/Infographics on Business Intelligence

Statistics on Business Intelligence
- Data analytics provides decision making at a much faster speed (5 times faster) for organizations.
- 69% of businesses are already thinking ahead with boosting their usage of cloud-based business intelligence.
- Business intelligence maturity is an attribute that 87% of companies don’t have.
- The global business intelligence market is set to reach $29.48 billion in revenue by 2022.
- North America is still the biggest market for BI software adoption.
What skills are required for Business Intelligence?
- Data Analysis.
- Problem-solving.
- Precise sector-related expertise.
- Transmission skills.
- Progressive visualization and centered attention on detail.
- Business intuition.
Does Business Intelligence require coding?
Business intelligence is a telecommunications method that business owners or workers who work in BI require. It involves several intricate skills, such as computer programming and database recognition. But, they also require other skills, for example, social skills.