What is business intelligence (BI)?

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In today’s data-driven world, business intelligence (BI) is a critical function. Let’s take a look at what you need to know about it.

What is BI?

Business intelligence is the process of converting raw data into usable information for better decision-making. It is used across all types of organisations, from small startups to large multinationals, regardless of whether it is categorised as ‘business intelligence’ and formalised as such.

BI is approached in many different ways, with a range of software solutions that vary in complexity and sophistication. These can range from query lookups in a customised database or CRM to a spreadsheet with information relevant to a department. BI doesn’t limit itself to numerate or quantitative data, with text, verbal, video or spoken responses also constituting business intelligence under the category of qualitative information.

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What is its value to businesses?

Most organisations deal with vast reams of data on a daily basis, so the challenge lies in transforming it into something usable. Without this transformation process, data is meaningless and has no value. The BI process organises and analyses the data to extract the value and make it relevant to better decision-making.

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How do businesses manage BI?

Many organisations outsource their BI operations, or elements of it, to specialist providers to gain access to skills, cut costs, and minimise processing time; for example, they might use a data analysis company such as Shepper to process and analyse corporate marketing and sales data to provide intelligent insights that help managers to make informed decisions.

Others will outsource the software the businesses can use to make sense of reams of corporate data that can exist in silos and lose value. The key to success lies in having a solid and organisation-wide business intelligence strategy that drives measurable value and enables decision-makers to strategise on the back of valid, valuable, timely and accurate data collected in a compliant and ethical fashion.

Without a business intelligence approach, the value of data becomes lost and organisations have to sift through huge reams of raw data without ever unlocking its full potential.