What Is Business Intelligence?
Business intelligence turns raw data into comprehensible information that stakeholders can use to understand how their organization is performing. It helps them identify opportunities to improve operations, reduce inefficiencies and flag potential issues or problems.
Modern BI, such as Domo, puts self-service analytics tools in the hands of more people throughout the organization. This enables stakeholders to get the data they need without waiting for IT or creating their own static reports.
Data analytics
Data analytics is a core part of business intelligence and provides insight into the company’s current state. This is done through data collection and storage and reporting. It also involves identifying and analyzing various patterns and trends in business operations.
This process is used in many industries, from airlines and hotel chains to healthcare organizations and universities. It can be used to track sales, analyze market trends and forecast future business strategies. It can be used to improve customer service and identify potential risks in the supply chain.
BI is an essential tool for organizations to improve their operations and rise above their competitors. Using Domo, stakeholders can easily access the data they need and start analyzing it immediately. This allows them to make informed decisions that lead to higher profits and accelerated growth. BI tools are largely self-service, which is prompting a number of organizations to focus on improving user data literacy and training.
Data visualization
In business intelligence, data visualization tools take raw data and turn it into comprehensible information that people can use to make decisions. This can help them meet operational and strategic objectives and support a company’s growth strategies. This type of analysis is critical because 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual.
A good BI tool should provide many types of visuals and offer features that are easy to use. This includes avoiding chart junk, which can confuse users. For example, a company should avoid using background imaginary, heavy grid lines or shading in its graphs. The title of a chart should also be clear, and the data should be organized in a way that makes it easier for people to find the information they need.
Using business intelligence tools can help your team improve its performance, reduce costs and increase revenue. It can also be used to track market trends and identify potential opportunities for your company.
Data governance
Data governance is a framework that establishes guidelines for how data should be used by authorized users. It must ensure compliance with regulatory, industry and internal requirements. It also needs to balance control and empowerment. It is best implemented through a lightweight governance model that accomplishes business objectives without impeding productivity.
The increased adoption of self-service analytics creates new governance challenges for organizations. This is because these analytics tools often use a mix of structured and unstructured data, and they operate on a variety of platforms. In addition, the flow of streaming data adds new governance requirements for real-time analytics.
A good data governance strategy includes processes for ensuring the accuracy and consistency of data across systems. These include data cleansing, which corrects errors and inconsistencies, and correlation, which removes duplicate records and synchronizes data between systems. The governance team should have a clear understanding of the data they are responsible for. Using a responsibility assignment matrix, such as the RACI model, can help organize this process.
Reporting
Business intelligence tools combine data analysis with visualization features to provide a comprehensive view of business performance. They help stakeholders make more informed decisions and optimize processes. They also help them maximize gains from investments, minimize risk, and anticipate buying trends. This allows companies to improve operations, increase revenue, and drive customer satisfaction.
Reporting is a necessary component of business intelligence, and it is crucial for understanding what is going on in your organization. It is important to choose a reporting tool that offers data cleansing capabilities, which are programs that identify and correct errors in data. This process is especially important if you are using managed reports, which are prepared by technical personnel.
Another feature of BI reporting is dashboards, which are real-time visual representations of key metrics that focus on in-the-moment decision-making. The best BI tools use data visualization to make complex data sets more easily understandable. They also allow you to drill down into the underlying data.