Business Intelligence: What you don’t know CAN hurt you!
The decision to invest in business intelligence (BI) tools can and should be an easy one. To put it quite simply, good information and intelligence is required by every organization. In an era where competition is fierce, having ‘accurate’ information in hand can act as a catalyst for building competitive advantages. It can also help an organization to make quicker and more logical decisions, which in the long run leads to a more profitable bottom line.
The decision as to exactly how to invest in BI, however, can be quite involved. With so many established BI software providers – including SAP, SAS, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle – how can you determine which tool will give you the most bang for your buck? How can you maximize the return on your Business Intelligence Investment?
Maximizing return on your BI investment
1. Select the proper BI tool
Every organization has different needs for business intelligence tools. For large organizations with tens of thousands of employees among several business channels, the absolute necessity of a collaborative business intelligence tool will likely justify the investment. For others, sophisticated business intelligence tools that offer many capabilities may not be necessary. Depending on your organization’s needs, it would be a good decision to explore the offerings of both the large BI players and the smaller ones.
It is useless to drive a Ferrari when the allowable speed limit in your area is only 50km/hour.
Bear in mind that even the most sophisticated of BI tools are unable to address all of today’s complex business requirements. Many still rely on customized desktop applications, such as MS Excel and MS Access, to do some analysis for their own areas or departments. The appropriate BI tool for your company will be well aligned with your company’s strategy and organizational capabilities.
2. Choose the right people for the job
Having a BI tool suitable to the organization solves many issues associated with the data itself. Gone are the days of inaccurate data, incomplete information, data error, inconsistent data formatting, and the like. But just how useful is this data anyway? The ability for an organization to draw accurate conclusions from the available information depends on who is actually retrieving the data and performing the analysis. Experienced and knowledgeable staff can make all the difference. To obtain accurate analyses and meaningful insights, your staff must have a strong knowledge of the business as well as sufficient technical experience in using the software tool and its advanced analytics. If someone lacks knowledge of the business, or if they are unfamiliar with the software or best data analysis practices, the conclusions may be inaccurate.
Finding the right talent is the key so that real value can be brought out from having the BI tool.
3. Manage the Change – Even After Implementation
To ensure that a BI tool is continuously being used to its full potential, it is imperative that staff get necessary training during implementation supported by effective change management practices. Post implementation, it is important that users have a robust source for ongoing support for questions and issues.
Finally, working with obsolete software or inefficient processes will not help your business sustain the competitive advantages that it has previously worked so hard to build. As businesses evolve, BI tools are often required to develop too, through software modifications and enhancements. And since many organizations still rely on customized desktop applications, these changes can create some problems down the road when the application needs to be updated or new features need to be added. It is important then that the new implementation and subsequent upgrades follow well documented processes to avoid inefficiencies or worse – analysis that results from corrupt data.
Business Intelligence = Software Tools + Knowledge Management Processes
BI software tools are needed by every organization to make better and wiser decisions. And there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all BI tool. Each organization needs to weigh the benefits against the costs of deploying a particular BI tool and opt for the most favourable alternative. Chances are the optimal BI tool for one organization won’t be the same as the optimal one for another. Furthermore, organizations need appropriate knowledge management processes and they need to ensure the right people are analyzing the right data in the right ways. Keeping in mind the 3 key factors listed here will bring you that much closer to success in your Business Intelligence System implementation.

Natural Language in Data Visualization: A Showdown Between Tableau and Power BI
Two industry-leading data visualization tools, Tableau and Power BI, both offer the ability to query data using natural language. But how do they stack up?

Steering Through Uncertainty: The Impact of IFRS 17 on Risk Management and Control Strategies
With a strong emphasis on accuracy and integrity, insurers are faced with the task of redefining their control environments and governance structures for financial reporting.

Analytical Data Mart vs. Data Lake: Which Approach is Better for Your Analytics?
Welcome to the world of data-driven organizations where it is crucial to have a well governed repository to efficiently store and manage your valuable data.

Mastering IFRS 17 with a Strategic Target Operating Model
When applied specifically to the realm of IFRS 17, a strategic Target Operating Model provides a high-level view of the end-to-end solution design, processes, controls, and close schedule required to execute the new finance model.

The Push for Companies to Prioritize Leadership Development
Leaders have been expected to do more than ever in the past few years. Navigating through uncertainty, dealing with new challenges, and responding to rapid change have all become commonplace demands for management teams.

Navigating a Hybrid Work Environment with Gen Z Employees
Millennials, who have dominated the workforce for the past decade, are now ceding the stage to the next generation of employees – Generation Z.

Developing Early Career Talent: 5 Strategies for Success
A robust and effective early career talent development program is essential for companies looking to grow their future leaders from within.

How to Capitalize on Your IFRS 17 Investment
With guidance and support insurers can move from IFRS 17 compliance to business as usual (BAU) and fully capitalize on their investment.

Leading & Engaging Gen Zs – The Bold Approach
Gen Zs are the new age workforce that is gradually changing the landscape of the corporate world. Leading and engaging Gen Zs in this environment requires a bold approach.

Optimus SBR Named 2022 Most Admired Corporate Cultures™ Winner!
What a thrill it is to be honoured as a 2022 Most Admired Corporate Cultures™ Winner! This award celebrates the Bold Attitude and Entrepreneurial Spirit each of us embodies.

Power BI vs Tableau – Which is Better?
Although Tableau and Power BI are similar business intelligence tools, there are key differences that organizations should be aware of when considering analytical requirements.

7 Drivers of Economic Development
These seven drivers of economic development bring new money into the municipalities, accelerate the velocity of money within the city, increase the engagement of citizens, and propel the generation of new ideas, technologies, talent, success stories, wealth, and global rankings.