Business Intelligence Management: Get the Most Out of Your BI

In the past, it was simply data analytics. Now, it’s full business intelligence management that incorporates all areas of technologies, strategies, applications, and best practices to optimize business operations, sales, supply chain and, ultimately, growth. Almost all large companies are using BI solutions to drive their business performance.

BetterBuys BI Management Blog

What does Business Intelligence Management do?

 

Analyzing Raw Data Charts

Use business intelligence to enhance and steer business making decisions while saving time and money.

Difficult strategic evaluation is now a thing of the past. What once took years of onerous data mining and analysis can now be accomplished efficiently and effectively with BI tools and proper business intelligence management. While many companies look to the next big thing, capitalize on a trend, follow an influencer or develop entirely new ideas – those who use BI management can quickly justify business decisions and subsequent actions that truly align with respective missions and objectives.

Sure, it’s easy for any company to say, “We want to increase revenue, reduce operating costs and gain market share.”  All companies want more revenue, less cost and more market share – but to what end and by what means?

Such broad objectives may not align with the company’s mission or may disrupt a short-term goal. This is when business intelligence management becomes even more crucial to the overall structure and plan for the company.

Today, more than ever, it is vital for any organization to use business intelligence management to review its strategies, operations, market performance and then promote best business practices for the company’s ultimate goals, whatever they may be.

Use business intelligence to enhance and steer business making decisions while saving time and money.

An announcement to develop the latest and greatest XYZ product may be exciting, but it also may not be in the best interest of the overall growth strategy of the company. The expenses of R&D, product development, market share analysis and beta testing may not align with the strategic plan of the company at this particular time.

However, if product development does align with the company’s current strategic plan, thorough and complete BIM is crucial. With any new venture, a review of technologies, strategies, applications and practices is needed to ensure success. Thanks to sound business intelligence management, the entire scope of a project can be reviewed both in its entirety and within each area of focus. This allows for a more complete and complex review of a project.

You may hear business intelligence often referred to as business analytics or data analytics, but business intelligence runs much deeper than that. It is not the process of simply evaluating readily available data but a deep investigation of decision making, business structure and operational processes that help drive efficiency and revenue, and maintain an overall competitive advantage in the marketplace.

What does Business Intelligence Management include?

BI Management refers to the process of data management. It generally is composed of four components: analysts, data solutions, decision making, and oversight. BI software generates the actual data and then BI management interprets the data using tools in the BI systems. The raw data is analyzed and converted into performance metrics  that business users rely on to make decisions.  

HubWorks guest blog post for Better Buys

Business Intelligence Management iteratively combines analysts, solutions, decision-making and oversight to grow a company.

Analysts

BI management requires analysts who specialize in data preparation. These analysts break down the data, review statistical evidence, validate data quality, and solve quantifiable problems, issues and concerns. Analysts are responsible for all data-driven numbers within the framework of an organization or project. These analysts generate the reports using BI software that contain crucial BI strategy information like KPIs or other business data needed to make decisions.

Solutions

Analysts provide data solutions related to business strategies. Ultimately, data doesn’t lie – as long as it’s sound. Assuming you have good data, BI management can dive deep into that information as it relates to the company’s overall strategy, growth or particular project. It can include data such as customer statistics, sales figures, business performance, production benchmarks, supply chain operation and much more. Companies, sports teams, and other entities are making massive big data pushes. Predictive analytics is game changer for all and with new technology, data warehousing is easier than ever. With a plethora of data at our fingertips, self service BI software available to us, our decisions and solutions for all things is reliant upon data.

Better Decision-Making

Decision makers use the data analysis in forms of KPIs to improve business processes and increase profitability. Keep in mind that business intelligence is not only about mining internal data. Smart BI pulls from external data sources, as well. Finding and parsing data from external sources in the marketplace and your competitors can be just as important as internal data mining. Remember, when data mining from external data sources, it’s important to check the data quality as well. Using bad data will hurt your business when making business performance decisions.

Oversight

Business intelligence management provides oversight for all aspects of an enterprise by integrating, reviewing and reporting information from all areas. BIM is not about pulling sales figures and customer statistics alone. It’s about compiling facts and figures from every corner of the company and presenting clear, concise data that is actionable by managers, directors and executives.

Previously, data was utilized for IT or accounting purposes only. Given the depth of information now available, especially with recent technological advances, this data is truly viable for all aspects of business intelligence.

Companies specializing in this type of data farming are moving to the forefront of modern business technology. Many are developing cloud-based software that allows users to access business information in an easy and organized way. Gone are the days of spreadsheets and queries! Reports are formatted, supply exactly what the user intended, and are fully actionable based on the data.

What does Business Intelligence Management do for my company?

Using BIM, companies can drive business improvements by accessing, manipulating and understanding data in an effective and actionable way. Mobile devices take this process to a new level – and any location – by allowing data to be culled without lag time. Results can be seen in real time, which increases operational efficiency and streamlines workflows throughout all levels of an organization.

If you have not reviewed available options for business intelligence management yet, consider doing so. Adopting a BI software will allow you to quickly scale and modify your business, based on your specific mission and objectives. It provides you with the data necessary to make sound, strategic decisions. If you want more information about business intelligence solutions, check out this list of reviews of top BI software.

Hubworks guest blog post on BIM for Better Buys

Author Bio: Victoria Brunette is the Marketing Content Coordinator at Hubworks. Hubworks is the complete business management platform – with our cloud-based suite of apps, we help optimize your business so that you can continue growing! Everything works better when everything works together.

Selecting The Right BI Vendor:
The Ultimate Guide

Choosing a BI vendor is all about finding the right fit. Our exclusive report will walk you through the process and help you select the perfect solution.Download Now