Business Intelligence (BI) is used to college, manage and interpret information using an intelligence system which is computerized. This intelligence helps a business make an informed decision with regard to the business plan, expansion or basically anything (Spruit & de Boer, 2014). It helps make intelligent monitoring of the business operation. BI uses a combination of tools like decision support system, database management system, statistical analysis, and data mining. BI is basically used to analyze raw data of a business. It makes use of key performance indicators (KPIs), automated monitoring, and dashboard to obtain essential data.
BI is a lot different from the other general decision support system as BI focuses on the entire operation of the company and not a specific type of decision, making it more comprehensive. The execution period is rapid and can be considered to be close to real-time in the continuous basis, making it possible to get integrated, ongoing view of the business with BI. It can be said that BI has a mind of its own i.e. it’s intelligent. That makes it possible to not only integrate the internal information to the organization but also checks the information related to specific competitors or market conditions (Yogev, Even & Fink, 2013).
Considering an example to look at how BI works in a company. Let’s consider a restaurant business which specializes in server burger. For the example, it’s named as Big Burger. The business started its service in Kathmandu several years ago and have introduced a few new products to its offering some months back. The business wants to attract new customers to the outlet to try these new menu items. Few months down the line, they want to determine, which item was a big hit while which failed. For this, they can look at the data presented by the BI software which they have installed and allows to determine exactly that. After reviewing the data, Big Burger realized that its egg burger was a big failure. With that decision, they can now focus on other products which brought success to the business and drop out egg burger from their menu.
BI powers companies to gain a competitive edge. Companies can make use of the business intelligence software’s information to identify which items are doing well and which aren’t by looking at the demand, profitability of the products. It also helps improve the performance among the sales team with modified practices relating to individual and teamwork. The system also provides a business to do predictive analysis. With this, a business can forecast how a business will look in the next few days, weeks, months or even years. They can also make predictions about the competitors and what will provide them with a competitive edge in the future by analyzing the trends (Wynn & Brinkmann, 2016). All these couldn’t be done through a round of brainstorming or other forms of thinking. And, this is where business intelligence provides a significant advantage to the company to capitalize upon.
References
Spruit, M., & de Boer, T. (2014). Business Intelligence as a Service. International Journal Of Business Intelligence Research , 5 (4), 26-43.
Wynn, M., & Brinkmann, D. (2016). Exploiting Business Intelligence for Strategic Knowledge Management. International Journal Of Business Intelligence Research , 7 (1), 11-24.
Yogev, N., Even, A., & Fink, L. (2013). How Business Intelligence Creates Value. International Journal Of Business Intelligence Research , 4 (3), 16-31.
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where students share, stay up-to-date, learn and grow.
Business Intelligence (BI) is used to college, manage and interpret information using an intelligence system which is computerized. This intelligence helps a business make an informed decision with regard to the business plan, expansion or basically anything (Spruit & de Boer, 2014). It helps make intelligent monitoring of the business operation. BI uses a combination of tools like decision support system, database management system, statistical analysis, and data mining. BI is basically used to analyze raw data of a business. It makes use of key performance indicators (KPIs), automated monitoring, and dashboard to obtain essential data.
BI is a lot different from the other general decision support system as BI focuses on the entire operation of the company and not a specific type of decision, making it more comprehensive. The execution period is rapid and can be considered to be close to real-time in the continuous basis, making it possible to get integrated, ongoing view of the business with BI. It can be said that BI has a mind of its own i.e. it’s intelligent. That makes it possible to not only integrate the internal information to the organization but also checks the information related to specific competitors or market conditions (Yogev, Even & Fink, 2013).
Considering an example to look at how BI works in a company. Let’s consider a restaurant business which specializes in server burger. For the example, it’s named as Big Burger. The business started its service in Kathmandu several years ago and have introduced a few new products to its offering some months back. The business wants to attract new customers to the outlet to try these new menu items. Few months down the line, they want to determine, which item was a big hit while which failed. For this, they can look at the data presented by the BI software which they have installed and allows to determine exactly that. After reviewing the data, Big Burger realized that its egg burger was a big failure. With that decision, they can now focus on other products which brought success to the business and drop out egg burger from their menu.
BI powers companies to gain a competitive edge. Companies can make use of the business intelligence software’s information to identify which items are doing well and which aren’t by looking at the demand, profitability of the products. It also helps improve the performance among the sales team with modified practices relating to individual and teamwork. The system also provides a business to do predictive analysis. With this, a business can forecast how a business will look in the next few days, weeks, months or even years. They can also make predictions about the competitors and what will provide them with a competitive edge in the future by analyzing the trends (Wynn & Brinkmann, 2016). All these couldn’t be done through a round of brainstorming or other forms of thinking. And, this is where business intelligence provides a significant advantage to the company to capitalize upon.
References
Spruit, M., & de Boer, T. (2014). Business Intelligence as a Service. International Journal Of Business Intelligence Research , 5 (4), 26-43.
Wynn, M., & Brinkmann, D. (2016). Exploiting Business Intelligence for Strategic Knowledge Management. International Journal Of Business Intelligence Research , 7 (1), 11-24.
Yogev, N., Even, A., & Fink, L. (2013). How Business Intelligence Creates Value. International Journal Of Business Intelligence Research , 4 (3), 16-31.