We are living in the digital age where technology is king. This cyber “survival of the fittest” has revolutionized daily life, and it extends well beyond and into the realm of the business world. Companies have access to an array of data-driven tools that allow them to better strategize and gain more customers as well as an advantage over their competition. And yet, there are still tons of businesses that don’t make use of these resources. This shows a lack of business intelligence. What is business intelligence? Let’s take a closer look and dive into why it matters.
What Is It?
Business Intelligence is the term used to refer to all of the strategies, practices, technologies, and applications, that a business can use to collect, analyze, integrate, and present information that is significant to the business. The idea behind Business Intelligence is so that a business can make better and more informed decisions. It allows a business to access information that is vital to its success across its various different departments including marketing, sales, finance, HR, etc. As is the case with most things the terms can get complicated, so it is important that you have a few common business intelligence terms defined and on hand when reading further into business intelligence. When it is used effectively it is able to equip your business with actionable data, give insight and help you keep up with industry trends, and it helps a business formulate a better decision-making model.
One of the best things about it is that it enables a business to reduce unnecessary costs by improving efficiency and productivity. It also improves sales and highlights areas that need to be improved. It measures everyone and everything in a business and can be used as a valuable tool by management to measure the organization more easily. It makes guessing a thing of the past as you have all of the information you need about how the business is doing right there in front of you.
Why It’s So Important to Your Business
Now that you know what Business Intelligence is, we are going to break down why it is so important for businesses today.
Actionable Data
As we mentioned earlier, one of the many benefits of effective Business Intelligence is being equipped with tools that allow you to identify important patterns and trends. It enables you to clearly understand the effects of various processes and changes, which means that you are able to make informed decisions and act in accordance with what the data says.
Real-Time Data
Real-time data is one of the most important things a business needs access to. When decision-makers within a business have to wait for reports to be put together and filled by their respective departments, there is a massive risk of the data being outdated before it even reaches decision-makers. It is also prone to human error. Business Intelligence systems give businesses access to data in real-time, eliminating human error and making it quick and easy to assess and implement the necessary strategies.
Insight
One of the biggest reasons businesses invest their time and money into Business Intelligence is because it gives them the ability to observe and analyze current buying trends more accurately. It gives businesses access to what their consumers are buying and why, and this information can be used to better market products as well as make necessary changes to products and services that aren’t necessarily doing that well.
Competitive Advantage
This is one of those buzzwords – you hear it all the time, but no one really explains how to achieve it. As we said above, Business Intelligence strategies allow you to gain insights. These insights can also give you access to what your competition is doing and allows you to keep up with trends and even get ahead of them, giving you that competitive edge over the competition.
Improved Visibility
Businesses that have good Business Intelligence practices have better control over their processes and standard operating procedures. This comes as a result of the visibility of these functions and being able to easily analyze and understand them. Gone are the days of having to skim through endless pages of annual reports to assess the performance of individual departments as well as the business as a whole. The areas that need improvement are easily identifiable and you can make informed changes rather than reactive ones.
Business Intelligence makes it possible for your business to combine data from across different departments into one place and an easy-to-read format for important stakeholders to clearly see what is going on. You can see the big picture and make smart business decisions that grow your business. They are an important tool for any business hoping to make it in the digital age as well as the competitive nature of the business world.
