Business Intelligence

BI or business intelligence is not a product or system, but rather a combination of architectures, applications and databases.

It permits real time analysis of critical business information, comparing historical facts to evaluate operational performance, thereby helping to correct future trends.

Benefits of BI:

• Share information effectively and efficiently within an organisation
• Easily align functional areas with one operational and financial information source
• Instant view of business operations and capacity to detect new opportunities
• Obtain a scalable and flexible solution that adapts to changes needed by the organisation

Functionality of BI solutions:

• Data management
  • ETL (extract, transform, load) processes
  • Systems integration
  • Data quality
• Data discovery
  • Data warehousing
  • Multi-dimensional OLAP model
  • Data mining
  • Trends and forecasts analysis
• Reporting
  • Control panels
  • Dashboards

How to choose the right BI tool

• Required functions: data management, data discovery, reporting.
• Origin and quantity of data to be analysed: CRM, ERP, multiple databases, scattered files.
• Compatibility with previously implemented architectures: SAP, Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, etc.
• Scope of solution
  • Individual BI
  • Team or departmental BI
  • Business BI
• Project budget, to meet the cost of licences
  • Commercial solutions
  • Free open-code solutions

BI products according to functions and manufacturer

From BI to BIG DATA