In the dawn of growing business intelligence, many companies succeed in planning and management with the help of automated and organized data gathering. Successful companies that have integrated BI software to help them become the gigantic businesses they are today include T.G.I Fridays, Wendy’s, and Rudy’s. Yes, BI software is ideal to almost all types of businesses, from technology-related companies and even to restaurant chains.
But what is Business Intelligence software?
Business intelligence is a collective term that encompasses all types of applications that help companies create a meaningful perspective out of collected data. There are various things that BI software is capable of doing that a regular program such as Excel can’t. This has caused the shift of most companies from a manual computation and data gathering system to a more automated one. Some examples of procedures that a BI system performs are data mining, online analytical processing and reporting. The organized presentation of data creates a meaningful whole that helps managers and business owners in decision-making.
The BI Software has undergone an evolution to arrive at its current version. While data gathering was available in the first BI version, it was not designed for non-technical users. This means that the business owners could not interpret the results by themselves and needed to hire an IT personnel to gather a meaningful conclusion.
The latest versions, however, allow the business heads to work with the software and utilize it for decision-making processes. They can now analyze the data for themselves instead of having to rely on IT personnel to run complex reports for them.
To put it into even simpler terms, business intelligence is software that solicits information about the brand, the target market, and where the business is headed in a simple and easy to use manner.
The BI Team
The business intelligence team is made up of the personnel who will use the software. The team should be composed of people who are directly concerned with the sales of the company. That being said, the system should be spearheaded by top executives and the sales people. The sales team’s aim is to leverage the company’s strengths to generate profit continuously. The data provided by the system will give them a grasp of how the business is doing and will help them plan out strategies to further benefit the company as well as its customers.
With the help of the BI, employees can also evaluate themselves and see where they fall short and where they can improve themselves.
Properly Implementing the BI
Just like any other technology, BI will fail if the users aren’t comfortable or are skeptical about working with it. Strategic implementation of BI can drastically change the operations of the business and how owners plan and make decisions with it.
To successfully roll out the BI system, follow these simple steps:
- Data should be free from manipulation and added changes. You want the data to be organized yet raw, brief yet complete. In short, keep your data clean.
- Just like any other system, you need to invest in training time for all the users. BI systems are different from other programs such as Excel, from its interface to its functionality.
- Avoid being a perfectionist in your reports. Remember that the data can change over time and your reports must also evolve with it. It is a waste of time trying to craft the best report, while data changes continuously. The trick is to deliver the most important reports, then adjust accordingly.
- Create a workable data strategy, something that you can master and familiarize yourself with. Warehousing your data from the beginning of your BI usage could help you organize all the information that you will be gathering in the long run.
- Set your ROI goals clearly. When you engage in business, you want to achieve favorable returns. You can only do this if you set your own goals towards financial success and regularly monitor it as needed.
- Remember your business objectives. Whatever decisions you make from the given data, be sure that it is based on and in line with your company’s objectives. This will help strengthen your brand in the eyes of your consumers and help you firm up your identity in the industry.
Business management could be more interesting and easier if business software is integrated in your system. You just need to fully understand the process to be able make the most out of a BI in your business.
Understanding these guidelines is a good first step to successfully implementing a successful BI solution.
2 thoughts on “6 Tips for Successful Business Intelligence”
As with most other technologically based systems, preparation and training will be key elements in your successful implementation!
You are absolutely right Bruce. Without proper preparation, you may end up with something that is not useful for your business. Also, with out training, user adoption may not be positive making the system useless since no one is using it.