Business intelligence (BI) is defined by Gartner as an umbrella term that includes the applications, infrastructure, tools, and best practices that enable access to and analysis of information to improve and optimise decisions and performance.
A Business Intelligence (BI) solution provides enhanced insights by giving you a single view of the data that matters most to your business. At Allsop we devlelop a range of BI solutions using Microsoft Power BI. Power BI allows for raw meaningless data to be transformed into visuals which unlock insights, thus enabling you and your employees to make informed decisions. With the wealth of data collected by modern businesses, organising this data into KPIs and metrics can improve decision making and help your company to grow.
Improved decision making is a key driver for the introduction of a Business Intelligence Solution but there are actually several more benefits that will impact your business.
Benefits of using a Business Intelligence (BI) solution
Save time with Automation
Using a BI solution allows you to easily set up automated reports. Automating your report process means that the time your employees spent gathering and collating the correct data for the report is eliminated. Freeing up your employee’s schedule means that more time can be spent on the analysis of such reports.
Competitive Advantage
Having a much greater insight into your business can allow you to see opportunities before your competitors. You are able to identify key market trends first and therefore act quickly to take advantage of these before competitors. In-depth analytics can also enable you to identify areas in your business that may not be performing efficiently. Having this insight allows you to remedy any operational difficulties to help reduce your operating costs.
Anytime, Any place Access
A business intelligence solution built using Microsoft Power BI can be accessed on any device, in any place and at any time providing you have an internet connection. This allows for easy access to your analytics and can enable you as an employer to offer more flexible working perks, such as allowing your employees to work from home.
Centralised Reporting
Ensure report users are looking at the same information at the same time, this avoids any issues around differing figures. Data is always kept up to date with scheduled refreshes.
Improved Data Quality
A Business Intelligence solution allows you to apply business logic and rules to your data model. This helps to reduce the chance of human error and therefore ensures more accurate reporting.
Identify Market Trends
Visualising the data within your business can bring meaning and reveal insight that would have been lost in an excel file or database. This insight can often enable you to identify market trends first and be able to react accordingly.
As we mentioned, we develop a range of Business Intelligence Solutions using Microsoft Power BI. Check out our Business Intelligence Dashboard Demos.