Business Intelligence once was a luxury used by corporations and enterprises who invested in a team of data scientists and IT specialists. Modern technology and software tools have made it possible for anyone to increase their BI value within their organization. Small and medium-sized businesses can use the same tools without investing a lot of time or money. Here are some ways to increase the value of your business intelligence.
Spread it Across Your Organization
Where is Business Intelligence needed in your organization? Which part of your organization should you concentrate on? Is it something you should use for a single department or as a company-wide tool? This is a common problem with businesses of all sizes. BI is mostly used by executives of enterprises and large corporations. In several others, it’s an important sales department tool. Companies who use BI aren’t getting the most out of their BI efforts. Business Intelligence is effective in any department within your organization if you allow it to be. The organizations who get the most out of their BI investments use it across their entire organization.
Make it Proactive
Business Intelligence is just another form of data visualization. It helps you understand data and make better business decisions. It can become proactive once you understand your businesses’ triggers. Automated alerts incorporate the use of multilayer lineage that can inform you when unusual changes are taking place with your data? If you want to increase the value of your BI, then set up automated alerts. They can come in the form of e-mail or SMS messages when your data hits a certain threshold. This turns your BI from a reactive tool into a proactive tool. Automated alerts help you address issues as they arise.
Incorporate Self-Service Options
When it comes to traditional BI, users request the reports they need. Then they wait for their IT team to create those reports. Depending on the efficiency of the IT team, this entire process could take several weeks. This process can be frustrating for both the IT group and its users. IT’s workload is endless with the number of requests they receive in a given day. This leads to slow turnaround times and frustrated users. To increase the value of your BI investment, you need to eliminate the old reporting process. You should give users access to self-service tools so they can access these reports immediately. This eliminates the need for bothering IT, who can then focus on more important things.
Automate Everything
Business Intelligence depends on the data that supports it. BI that has outdated or inaccurate data is worse than having no BI. Most organizations don’t understand that they can’t replace BI software with their existing data and create reports right away. This data must be consolidated into one place and formatted specifically for the BI tool that’s used. Businesses turn to manual processes to meet this need. Not only does this waste time, but it leads to human error. Ninety percent of spreadsheets contain data errors. To invest in your BI, you should automate your data with a data warehouse and ETL tool. This can significantly reduce errors and save you time processing data. Automated processes can help businesses optimize customer engagement and marketing efforts. There are automated tools for content marketing, online donations, social media management, and so forth. This can free up time so you can focus on effectively meeting your business goals.
Extend it Across All Your Devices
Business Intelligence needs to keep up with the demands of modern technology. It should provide the data you need across all of your devices. Many organizations still access their data on their desktop computers. Thanks to mobile technology, you can determine how or when users will need access to important data. They can access the data on their smartphone. Or, they access a secure dashboard on their tablet. Or, they may have to use a desktop computer or laptop. You can never determine which device they’ll use to access this data. If you want to raise your BI to the next level, it must be accessible everywhere. You should be able to adapt to the devices it’s used. One way to increase your Business Intelligence efforts is to offer a mobile option for users. It’ll allow your employees to stay informed at all times.
Make Use of External Data
Business Intelligence allows you to create reports, run them, and gather your insights over internal data. It can be used to answer questions about your organization’s internal profit, productivity, revenue, and other important factors. Most businesses aren’t aware of the goldmine of information used in external sources. You have more access to data more than you know.
Conclusion
How can Business Intelligence help your business achieve its goals? If you combine your external data with your internal data, you can open up to new possibilities for your entire organization. This can add more information to your existing and potential customers. It’s imperative for brick and mortar businesses to make use of this information to increase marketing opportunities and to expand their customer base.