Analytical Maturity Is Not Universal

Business intelligence processes come in many different shapes in the modern enterprise world. Companies have a choice regarding whether they want to delve into big data, deploy dashboards on mobile devices, or put self-service BI tools in the hands of every single employee. This means there are an endless assortment of approaches they can take to suit various industries and unique situations.

Business intelligence processes come in many different shapes in the modern enterprise world. Companies have a choice regarding whether they want to delve into big data, deploy dashboards on mobile devices, or put self-service BI tools in the hands of every single employee. This means there are an endless assortment of approaches they can take to suit various industries and unique situations. If a firm needs to address a certain type of problem, it can get the answers it needs with the current generation of tools. According to some, however, leaders have not become comfortable setting up their analytics projects.

Maturity not assured
According to Insurance Tech contributor Gerald Shields, many companies that could have mature and well-developed BI projects are not there yet. Shields stated that these companies are still throwing resources at their analytics providers at an unceasing rate, rather than purchasing solutions and then looking inward to take stock of what they already have. He stated that firms that have concentrated on maturity should be able to measure progress, take actual value from their processes and have support structures in place. This type of development requires powerful self-knowledge and good management on top of a solid bed of software.

This ties back into one of the myths that has haunted BI software for years: that bigger is always better. If firms find a solution they are comfortable with, it can become an integral part of their processes for a significant amount of time. Shields noted that if businesses inspected which processes are actually delivering value, they would be better positioned. After all, the difference is rather pronounced: Using business intelligence to its fullest extent leads to a higher monetary return. Buying tons of software or going on an analyst hiring spree just depletes the corporate coffers.

Strong future
If leaders look clearly at the BI landscape and pick their paths logically instead of in a scattershot manner, the next few years could be very good for analytics programs. A recent Forrester report on the TechAmerica Europe seminar revealed that industry leaders have high hopes for the progress companies can make through using data effectively. For example, speaker John Boswell summed up the advantages modern users have when it comes to data access, equipped as they are with constantly-connected technology and new ways to store their powerful resources. He highlighted both the simple use of this data and the increasing ability to share it between users.

(BI: bigger is not always better / shutterstock)