Business Intelligence Overview

Business Intelligence: A Complete Overview

• Business intelligence (BI) combines data analytics, data mining, data visualization, data tools, and infrastructure, and best practices to help organizations make data-driven decisions. Modern BI prioritizes flexible self-service analysis, governed data, empowered users, and speed to insight.
• BI has a history stretching back to the 1960s, evolving from information sharing to include computer models and eventually self-service BI solutions.
• BI includes processes and methods for collecting, storing, and analyzing data to improve performance.

How Business Intelligence Works

• The modern analytics workflow involves:
  • Promote & Govern: IT/BI professional oversight
  • Access & View: Data availability and visibility
  • Interact: Information consumers interacting with data
  • Share: Data sharing across users
  • Analyze & Discover: Data analysis and insights

BI Methods

• Data mining: Uses databases, statistics, and machine learning (ML) to find trends in large datasets.
• Reporting: Sharing data analysis with stakeholders for decision-making.
• Performance metrics & benchmarking: Comparing current performance with historical data using dashboards.
• Descriptive analytics: Analyzing historical data to understand what happened.
• Querying: Asking specific questions to the data to get answers.
• Statistical analysis: Using statistics to understand historical trends and patterns in the data.
• Data visualization: Presenting data in a visual format (charts, graphs, histograms) for easier understanding.
• Visual analysis: Communicating insights using visual storytelling to communicate data insights.
• Data preparation: Preparing data for analysis by compiling it from multiple sources and identifying dimensions and measurements

How BI, Data Analytics, and Business Analytics Work Together

• Business intelligence uses data analytics and business analytics as parts of a larger process.
• Data analytics focuses on discovering patterns and forecasting future trends using advanced statistics and predictive analytics.
• Business analytics includes data mining, predictive analytics, applied analytics, and statistics and is part of a larger business intelligence strategy.
• Data analysis is a cyclical process involving data access, discovery, exploration, and information sharing, to react to changing questions and expectations.

Benefits of BI

• Data clarity: Increased understanding of business data
• Increased efficiency: Streamlined processes and better use of data
• Better customer experience: Deeper insights into customer needs
• Improved employee satisfaction: Enhanced ability to use data for better work processes

How to Develop a BI Strategy

• Understand business strategy and goals.
• Identify key stakeholders.
• Assign a sponsor from the key stakeholders.
• Choose a BI platform and tools.
• Create a dedicated BI team.
• Define the scope of the project.
• Prepare data infrastructure.
• Establish goals and a roadmap.

Categories of BI Analysis

• Predictive analytics: Models future outcomes based on historical and real-time data.
• Descriptive analytics: Identifies trends and relationships in historical and current data.
• Prescriptive analytics: Provides recommendations based on data analysis, aiming to answer "what should my business do?".

Advantages and Disadvantages of BI

• Advantages: Data visibility, accurate reports, and streamlined processes.
• Disadvantages: Initial cost, user resistance, and a data skills gap

BI Platforms

• BI dashboards combine complex data to be aggregated and viewed in one place and are interactive, real-time, customizable, and use standard templates. Key features in BI tools include intuitiveness, dashboard variety, smart insights, alerts, AI integration, flexibility, and data connectivity.

BI and Big Data

• Big data is characterized by "the four Vs": volume, velocity, value, and variety, which presents challenges and opportunities for BI platforms. Good platforms can grow with increasing demands

Using Self-Service Business Intelligence (SSBI)

• Self-service BI allows users to interact directly with data, managed by IT for security and access. Modern analytics platforms (like Tableau) support every step of analytics, including preparation, analysis, discovery, sharing, and governance. This empowers more people to explore and share insights.

Explore the fundamentals of Business Intelligence (BI) in this quiz. Learn about its evolution, core components, and modern analytics workflows that empower organizations to make data-driven decisions. Test your knowledge on BI methods and practices in a comprehensive overview.