Business intelligence is a collective term used for the collection of business information. It is a combination of all the tools, techniques, applications and strategies that are applied to transform raw data into meaningful information for the business. This collection of data from various sources is used by businesses to help them analyze the risks and make better decisions. Applying business intelligence to businesses is essential, yet there are quite a few advantages and disadvantages to it.
The many advantages of implementing business intelligence to your business include:
- Use of combination of resources for analyzing data like ERP, budgeting, spreadsheets, CRM, etc.
- Fast collection of data and information
- Fast decision making
- The whole business is aligned and revolves around a central set of metrics and Key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Better predictions of trends
- Can be alarmed of any unwanted change or activity that should be taken care of immediately.
Similarly, there are a few drawbacks of applying business intelligence to an organization. The most major disadvantages of BI are that it makes decision and analyzes based on historical data. The rules it prompts are based upon the previous internal rules applied. The cost of applying business intelligence tools and applications is high. They are complex tools that require special expertise and skills. Another basic disadvantage is that businesses and strategies keep developing and evolving. So any BI application and tool needs to changed and upgraded frequently. This makes it limited and time consuming.
Overall BI is considered an essential part of the organization if a business shows a turnover of more than $50m. At the end, it is a ‘tool’ that helps you makes decisions. It does not make and implement the decision for you.
References
Association of Modern Technologies Professionals. Business Intelligence. 2013. 7 November 2013 <http://www.itinfo.am/eng/business-intelligence/>.
Rouse, Margaret. business intelligence (BI). 21 November 2006. 7 November 2013 <http://searchdatamanagement.techtarget.com/definition/business-intelligence>.
