What is business intelligence (BI)?

business intelligence (BI) Is a popular word , As long as companies try to use data to gain a competitive advantage , It's always there .

Forrester Express , This is more than a year 200 Billion dollar market , An increase of nearly 10%. 

according to Gartner That's what I'm saying ,BI It is a way to analyze data to understand its importance in relation to business objectives . It involves reporting 、 Search and other technologies , To discover trends in information , So as to reveal what actions employees can take immediately to achieve department goals , For example, promoting sales .

BI The tool can analyze any data related to users in a specific department . E-commerce teams can use them to evaluate which markets perform best and which products ; Financial companies can use them to determine how market trends affect investment opportunities .BI There are few restrictions on the types of insights that can be generated , This is why they are increasingly used throughout the enterprise today .

 

Commonly used BI Tools

BI The platform involves a number of different toolsets , To enable end users to better perform their work with data . common BI Tools include ：

• instrument panel ： The dashboard is usually marked with KPI Centered , For example, different sales records 、 Personal productivity of employees, etc . They provide a centralized location for viewing data based on these metrics , So employees can see at a glance —— Their work 、 Areas that need to be improved and areas that need to be highlighted to achieve departmental goals .
• The report ： The reporting function details information about specific queries . Users may want to know in which markets a product is most often combined with a particular service . The report provides these figures ; modern BI Tool use AI To explain the meaning of these numbers . Other AI technologies are used to predict the results of future trends .
• Data visualization ： This element describes the main numerical information in reports and dashboards . Visualization involves different colors 、 Shapes and charts , Show users the execution of the business in a graphical format . These images are usually more persuasive than simple numbers .
• Search for ： The natural language search function enables users to dynamically interact with data sources by simply entering questions in daily conversation terms , Instead of writing queries in code .

 

The benefits of business intelligence

Use BI Toolsets have many advantages in assessing departmental or organizational metrics . The most important thing is that they put the data into the hands of the users who need it most to work better . The function of business intelligence is to provide this information in more and more self-service ways , So that the front desk staff can no longer rely on IT The team .

With these functions , End users can slice and fragment data as needed , To gain insight , Indicate their next best course of action —— Otherwise it is difficult to judge . Many tools in this field will recommend the next best operation based on the results of machine learning .

BI It also clarifies what strategic approaches the organization should take to maximize its objectives . Without this information , It is difficult to understand which products will resonate with which customers and why . These tools can answer each of these questions , This is timely for developing new products or features to stimulate customer interest .

For managers , These abilities can maximize the output of employees by allowing them to measure the impact of their efforts —— Provide a smooth path for moving forward wisely . This is also a good way to evaluate employees to reward those who are effective and to help those who have room for improvement .

 

The role of business intelligence is to consistently transform data into users to achieve departmental goals （ For example, increase income ） The insight needed . Its various tools combine verbal 、 Digital and graphical methods to highlight important data trends , Suggest taking timely action to achieve the goal . These technologies are important for profiting from data 、 Improving the decision-making process and taking action to produce tangible results are essential .