Recent technological developments have allowed businesses to access an impressive amount of information. They also highlighted the importance of business intelligence in the analytical processing of data. Also called business intelligence, this term encompasses the applications, methodologies, and tools put in place to collect data from internal systems and external sources.
It also refers to technological analysis processes that make it possible to better use data in business. In the modern business world, it is very important because it assists executives, managers, and users in making informed business decisions. It also plays an important role in guiding the organization and achieving its business objectives. With Lemon Learning, discover all the information you need to know about business intelligence.
The history of business intelligence begins with Hans Peter Luhn, a German computer scientist and analyst at IBM. In 1958, he published an article explaining how to use IT solutions to exploit a company’s data and accelerate decision-making. Through his publication, he lays the foundations of decision-making intelligence. According to its definition, business intelligence is an IT system capable of transmitting information to an organization’s stakeholders.
Business intelligence was born, but remains a concept whose scope we have not yet considered. It was only after two decades and the appearance of the first info centers that it began to develop. With the implementation of relational databases and client-server infrastructures, it is finally experiencing growth. In 1989, Howard Dresner, future analyst at Gartner, took up the concept and defined its modern framework.
It establishes the methods to be used to improve decision-making processes with BI. With the advent of computers, the latter is democratized and developed. At the turn of the millennium, it experienced exponential growth thanks to the explosion of the web, big data and the digitalization of economic activities. The arrival of CRM and ERP systems encouraged the emergence of new tools and allowed decision-making intelligence to be placed at the heart of the business system.
The key components of business intelligence are: ETL software, data warehouse, OLAP, data mining, data analysis, reports, and dashboards. Each component plays a specific role.
ETL (Extract Transform Load) is a BI tool that allows you to load your company’s data. It extracts these from several sources (CRM, ERP, social networks, etc.), cleans and transforms them. The transformation process is essential to standardize the information from each source before loading it into the target database.
The entire process ensures the quality and consistency of the information collected. This also ensures that your business gets reliable and accurate results after data analysis. For information, there are several ETL software and tools on the market: SSIS SQL server integration service, data services, Talend, Jasper, etc.
Data analysis is essential to detect hidden trends and patterns in the information collected. It plays a key role in identifying growth opportunities and making more informed decisions. Among the methods generally used to examine data, we distinguish predictive modeling, statistical analysis, etc.
OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) modifies databases to make them usable. At the end of the process, it provides two types of tables, namely dimensions and facts. Dimension tables provide analysis of the results your business produces. They study your sales according to three parameters: the customer, geography, and products.
The fact tables list the results recorded by your company: deliveries, sales, services, etc. They bring together all the data you want to analyze. The configuration of these tables forms an information structure called an OLAP cube and makes it possible to present the results obtained to end users.
The data warehouse helps you store your data in a centralized warehouse. It optimizes the analysis and use of your company’s information. Unlike traditional transactional databases, it also allows you to get effective results faster. As for data mining, it is crucial to extract the information contained in your data. Thanks to its analysis techniques (clustering, regression, etc.), it can also help companies predict market trends, identify customer behavior patterns and detect fraud.
These are data visualization tools or software. They allow you to present important information concisely and clearly. However, they differ on certain points. Dashboards, for example, instantly provide you with insight into your business performance indicators. Reports help you identify trends and patterns in data.
Business intelligence helps businesses increase the efficiency of internal and external operations. Collecting and analyzing a large volume of data via BI tools makes it possible to streamline processes and reduce manual tasks. It is also very useful for monitoring business performance and sending critical data relating to their area of expertise to the head of each department.
This work also plays an important role in identifying problems and bottlenecks that negatively impact productivity. Likewise, it improves the quality of products and services provided by your company. As a result, the processes put in place are more efficient, which significantly reduces operating costs. But that’s not the only advantage this approach offers.
By deploying business intelligence software and tools, you have real-time, detailed access to information related to your company’s activities. Data presented in dashboard, report, and graph formats also facilitates decision-making by allowing you to more clearly see patterns and trends within your business. They also provide you with insight into relevant information, saving you time and money. Thanks to this, you are able to make decisions more quickly based on tangible information and not on intuitions or external situational studies.
By helping you make more informed decisions quickly, business intelligence offers you several competitive advantages. In particular, it allows you to predict the success of actions implemented in the company and to develop a strategy based on coherent data. This increases your profitability prospects and helps you be more responsive to changes.
Thanks to predictive analyses, business intelligence tools are very useful for identifying new market trends and customer preferences and anticipating them. In doing so, they help you more quickly develop the products and services that best meet the needs of each customer.
One of the major challenges professionals encounter in implementing business intelligence is related to data quality. It is common for the information collected to be inaccurate, inconsistent or out of date. Sometimes it is also difficult to put management processes in place to ensure their accuracy. This problem often compromises the reliability of analyzes and reports generated by BI systems.
In the deployment of business intelligence solutions, the costs and complexity of implementation also represent significant challenges. And for good reason, most companies set a limited budget. However, the financial investment necessary for the acquisition of software, hardware infrastructure and the training of human resources can be significant. Likewise, the integration of different data sources and the creation of warehouses can generate additional costs.
When implementing BI, security and confidentiality issues must be taken into account. Keep in mind that the handling and dissemination of sensitive information creates risks of leaks or unauthorized access. In this context, you must put in place foolproof security measures to protect data and enforce the regulations in force in the sector.
Business intelligence is constantly evolving to meet business needs and adapt to new technologies. In the years to come, the growing development of machine learning and AI and their integration into BI strategies will undoubtedly enable more advanced predictive analyzes. This will also be very useful in automating repetitive tasks.
The use of AI and machine learning in BI will provide deeper and more enriched insights. The focus will be on real-time analytics and mobility of business intelligence to facilitate immediate decision-making and access to critical information from any location.
Business intelligence requires the use of several tools. Despite the challenges it faces, BI offers several benefits to businesses. However, it is only just beginning. In the future, it will play a key role in communication, sharing analysis between teams and departments within a company. It will enable the company to accelerate its digital transformation, adapt to rapid market changes and constantly innovate. Clearly, business intelligence will be at the center of the growth of companies, whatever their sector of activity.