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Gain a comprehensive understanding of what Business Intelligence (BI) and Business Analytics (BA) are, their importance in today's business context, how they differ, and how they complement each other for better decision-making.

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Learn how to apply BI and BA tools in real-world business scenarios to drive performance improvements, enhance decision-making processes, and leverage data analytics for business growth.

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Develop practical skills in using leading BI and BA software tools, with an emphasis on data visualization, data analysis, and creating actionable insights from complex datasets.

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Interact with real-life case studies that demonstrate the practical application of BI and BA in various industries, fostering a deeper understanding through discussion and analysis.

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Business intelligence (BI) provides data that helps companies make timely and informed decisions. We explain how implementing BI software can give companies of any size a competitive edge. Plus, we share examples of how some of the most tech savvy companies are using BI.

What Is Business Intelligence (BI)?

Business intelligence refers to the technology that enables businesses to organize, analyze and contextualize business data from around the company. BI includes multiple tools and techniques to transform raw data into meaningful and actionable information.

BI systems have four main parts:

1. A data warehouse stores company information from a variety of sources in a centralized and accessible location.

2. Business analytics or data management tools mine and analyze data in the data warehouse.

3. Business performance management (BPM) tools monitor and analyze progress towards business goals.

4. A user interface (usually an interactive dashboard with data visualization reporting tools) provides quick access the information.

German market research firm Statista estimates the volume of data created worldwide by 2024 will be 149 zettabytes. This vast amount of data, or "big data," has made business intelligence systems relevant for companies that want to harness its power for a competitive advantage. Many BI systems use artificial intelligence (AI) and other capabilities as a part of business analytics.

Key Takeaways:

Business intelligence offers a wide variety of tools and techniques to support reliable and accurate decision-making.

The most successful companies use BI to make sense of ever-increasing amounts of data in a fast and economical way.

BI-based, data-driven decision-making helps companies stay relevant and competitive.

Where Is BI Used?

Sales, marketing, finance and operations departments use business intelligence. Tasks include quantitative analysis, measuring performance against business goals, gleaning customer insights and sharing data to identify new opportunities.

Here are examples of how various teams and departments use business intelligence.

In a genuinely data-driven company, every department and employee can take advantage of BI-generated insights.

What Is the Value of Business Intelligence?

Business intelligence's highest value is its ability to support data-driven decisions. BI transforms pools of raw data into useful information that informs decisions and leads to actions that yield positive bottom-line impact.

BI systems drive decisions based on historical, current and potential future data.

BI software gathers sales, production, financial and many other business data sources. Many companies use industry data to benchmark performance against competitors.

Visualization

Advanced interactive dashboard representations of data using simple user interfaces offer the ability to visualize information in a graphical format to understand data more insightfully.

Connection

The ability to manage and meld access to various data sources provides a 360-degree view of your business and your company that is not possible in a siloed data environment.

Collaboration

Tools enable data-informed improvements in various business functions like marketing, finance, sales, operations, finance, support, HR and customer care individually and together.

Multi-Platform, Multi-User

BI applications work online and in mobile environments. Tools improve system performance so enterprises can distribute more information to targeted users faster. In multi-terabyte data warehouses, these tools provide excellent query performance.

Scalability

Many systems offer user scalability to support advanced reporting and analysis. Dashboards and reports are available to many users, not just restricted to the organization's data analysts or executives.

Speed and Competitive Edge

BI can perform faster reporting, analysis and planning because of access to global data. The system's analysis capabilities make it possible to react to market or other conditions quickly.

Trusted Data and Accuracy

Reports can be highly customized, and KPIs monitored using more than one data source. Real-time generated reports offer relevant data, which helps organizations, and their employees make better decisions. These reports provide insights, access, accuracy, and relevance.

Analysis and Insights

BI processes vast amounts of data to forecast, budget, plan, and stay current. Competitive analysis helps companies understand the competition and benchmark competitor performance. This business intelligence enables product and service differentiation.

Decision-Making Support

Companies gain a competitive edge when they can leverage the existing data at the right time to make accurate decisions faster.

Efficiency and Productivity

A 360-degree view of all activities helps companies identify issues, improve operations, increase sales, and in turn, increase revenue.

Customer Satisfaction

BI can help you identify what services or products you're lacking and improve customer satisfaction by making necessary changes. Reports help you understand customer behavior, develop user personas, and use real-time data on the customer's feedback to make corrective changes and improve customer service and, therefore, satisfaction.

Employee Satisfaction

Using BI data, you can assess team members' strengths and weaknesses and assign relevant training modules to support success. BI tools can automatically recognize positive behavior while regularly tracking worker contributions and improvement.

Savings

BI insight into the corporation's raw data will help decision-makers analyze cost-saving opportunities like excess inventory, human resource redundancies, marketing overages, too many vendors or waste in facilities management.

Savings and Profitability

BI tools can analyze any discrepancies, inefficiencies, or errors. BI helps to increase profit margins by providing insights that lead to future sales and guide where to spend future budgets.

Strategic and KPI Targeting

BI assists companies in gaining a competitive edge by helping them find new opportunities and build smarter strategies. Use the data to identify market trends and help improve profit margins for the company. Reports based on tracking established KPIs ensure the enterprise stays on course to match or exceed goals.

Business intelligence has many benefits and can be a useful tool to achieve positive outcomes for your business.

Case Studies: Real-World Examples of Business Intelligence at Work

Fast, data-informed decision-making can drive success. High customer expectations, global competition and narrow profit margins mean many organizations, regardless of size or sector, look to BI for a competitive advantage.

What is an example of business intelligence? Using data to serve up personalized ads based on browsing history, providing contextual KPI data access for all employees and centralizing data from across the business into one digital ecosystem so processes can be more thoroughly reviewed are all examples of business intelligence. Here are some case studies that show some ways BI is making a difference for companies around the world:

Use Cases: Examples of Business Intelligence Strategies Prominent Companies Use

The most successful companies use BI to drive revenue, customer loyalty, operational effectiveness, ad delivery, drive shareholder value, predict customer behavior and develop new business opportunities.

Examples of How Leading Companies Use BI to Propel Their Success

What companies use business intelligence? From financial institutions like American Express to social media giant Facebook and outdoor retailer REI, the most advanced and successful companies in the world leverage BI. Here's how some are using BI to power their prosperity.

1. American Express:

Business intelligence is instrumental in the finance industry. American Express has been using the technology to develop new payment service products and market offers to customers. The company's experiments in the Australian market have rendered it capable of identifying up to 24% of all Australian users who will close their accounts within four months. Using that information, American Express takes steps to retain customers. BI also helps the company accurately detect fraud and protect customers whose card data may be compromised.

2. Chipotle Mexican Grill:

The restaurant chain has more than 2,400 restaurants worldwide. It implemented BI to track operational effectiveness. Chipotle can now monitor every restaurant's operational efficiency and serve up detailed information in dashboards. By standardizing the reporting and working from the same data ecosystem, Chipotle was able to make uniform KPIs for benchmarking and sharing improvement and success stories. That solution saves thousands of hours for the company.

3. Coca-Cola:

With 35 million Twitter followers and a whopping 105 million Facebook fans, Coca-Cola benefits from its social media data. Using AI-powered image-recognition technology, the company can tell when photographs of its drinks post online. This data, paired with the power of BI, gives the company important insights into who is drinking their beverages, where they are and why they mention the brand online. The information helps serve consumers more targeted advertising, which is four times more likely than a general ad to result in a click.

4. Delta Airlines:

Big data and BI support customer service and differentiate the Delta experience. Flight attendants now have the tools to personally thank and recognize valued corporate travelers. Positive customer experience coupled with thoughtful programs help position Delta as a leader in the business travel space. While any Delta customer can receive personal recognition, the airline goes the extra mile to serve corporate travelers and its medallion members. This enhancement provides more opportunities to thank flyers and build customer loyalty.

5. Ellie Mae:

The company processes 35% of U.S. mortgage applications. Record low-interest rates created a high demand for loan processing. To make data more accessible for lenders, Ellie Mae developed a hosted data warehouse model that allows lenders to analyze data by connecting a BI application directly to their systems without replicating the data to a local data warehouse. Capital market teammates can use that data to navigate volatile markets, allowing them to provide excellent service and process loans for their customers.

6. Lowe's:

The home improvement company uses business intelligence to merge what the customer tells them with actual behavior occurring online and in the store. They use this data to discover deeper insights that lead to better product assortment and staffing at specific store locations. The process of data analysis drives sales and also serves the customer. For instance, Lowe's uses predictive analytics to load trucks specific to individual zip codes, so the right store gets the right type and amount of product.

7. Netflix:

The online entertainment company's 148 million subscribers give it a massive BI advantage. How does Netflix use business intelligence? Netflix uses data in multiple ways. One example is how the company formulates and validates original programming ideas based on previously viewed programs. Netflix also uses business intelligence to get people to engage with its content. The service is so good at targeted content promotion that its recommendation system drives over 80% of streamed content.

8. REI:

REI uses its business intelligence platform for customer segmentation analysis, which helps inform decisions like member lifecycle management, shipping methods and product category assortments. BI-based decisions also inform member acquisition initiatives with detailed demographics on factors such as gender to personalize ads. The insights from BI help determine everything from how to display content on the website and how to segment email campaigns.

9. Starbucks:

Through its popular loyalty card program and mobile application, Starbucks owns individual purchase data from millions of customers. Using this information and BI tools, the company predicts purchases and sends individual offers of what customers will likely prefer via their app and email. This system draws existing customers into its stores more frequently and increases sales volumes.

10. Tesla:

The innovative automotive company uses BI to connect their cars wirelessly to their corporate offices to collect data for analysis. This approach links the carmaker to the customer and anticipates and corrects problems such as component damage, traffic or road hazard data. The result is a high customer satisfaction score and better-informed decisions on future upgrades and products.

11. Twitter:

The social media company deploys BI with AI to fight inappropriate and potentially dangerous content on its platform. Algorithms rather than human users identify 95% of suspended terrorism-related accounts.

BI and AI also support fine-tuning to improve the overall user experience. Twitter personnel and its business intelligence tools monitor live video feeds and categorize them based on subject matter. They use this data to enhance search capabilities, and help algorithms identify videos users might be interested in viewing.

12. Uber:

The company uses business intelligence to determine multiple core aspects of its business. An example is surge pricing. Algorithms monitor traffic conditions, journey times, driver availability and customer demand in real-time, meaning prices adjust as demand rises and traffic conditions change. Dynamic pricing in real-time action is akin to what airlines and hotel chains use to adjust cost based on need.

13. Walmart:

The retail behemoth uses BI to understand how online behavior influences online and in-store activity. By analyzing simulations, Walmart can understand customer purchasing patterns, for example, how many eyeglass exams and glasses are sold in a single day, and pinpoint the busiest times during each day or month.

How to Improve Your Business Intelligence to Make Your Company a Leader

BI and tools like AI may seem complicated. However, current user interfaces are straightforward and easy to use. So even smaller companies can take advantage of data to make profitable and positive decisions.

Examples of Business Intelligence Tools and Techniques

What are examples of business intelligence tools? Predictive modeling, data mining and contextual dashboards or KPIs are just some of the most common BI tools. Here are more tools and how they're used.

Online Analytical Processing (OLAP):
OLAP is a technique for solving analytical problems with multiple dimensions from various perspectives. OLAP is useful for completing tasks such as performing CRM data analysis, financial forecasting and budgets.

Examples of Business Intelligence Trends

BI is continually evolving and improving, but four trends - artificial intelligence, cloud analytics, collaborative BI and embedded BI - are changing how companies are using expansive data sets and making decisions far easier.

Embedded BI:
When BI software is integrated into another business application, it's called embedded BI or embedded analytics. Some of the benefits of embedded BI include enhanced reporting functionalities, and it's been shown to improve sales and increase customer retention.

Many companies look to cloud-based or software-as-a-service (SaaS) instead of on-premise software to keep up with growing warehousing requirements and faster implementations. A growing trend is the use of mobile BI to take advantage of the proliferation of mobile devices.

Examples of Business Intelligence Software and Systems

BI software and systems provide options suited to specific business needs. They include comprehensive platforms, data visualization, embedded software applications, location intelligence software and self-service software built for non-tech users.

Here are some examples of the latest BI software and systems:

How NetSuite Improves and Increases the Value of BI for Your Organization

BI tools can have an enormous impact on your business. They can help you improve your inventory control, better manage your supply chain, identify and remove bottlenecks in your operations and automate routine tasks. But for BI tools to be most effective, you first have to centralize data that's stored in multiple disparate systems.

NetSuite business intelligence tools take the data stored in your enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and provides built-in, real-time dashboards with powerful reporting and analysis features. By centralizing data from your supply chain, warehouse, CRM and other areas with an ERP, NetSuite business intelligence tools can help you identify issues, trends and opportunities, along with the ability to then drill down to the underlying data for even further insight.

It's likely your business has large amounts of data that could be used to boost your profitability. The challenge is organizing and structuring your data in such a way that you can then glean insights. From there, you need to create clear, concise and actionable reports and data visualizations and distributing them to key stakeholders on your team. None of this can be done without advanced software, such as ERP products that collect and manage all your data.

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BI transforms data into actionable information. Learn how leading companies are using BI and how you can, too. Plus, trends & the tools you need.

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Receive comprehensive handouts detailing step-by-step guides on how to utilize popular BI and BA software tools, including tips and best practices to get the most out of them.

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Are you considering implementing a business intelligence tool? Then you'll happy to hear you have tons of different options on the market. Business intelligence tools (BI tools) are all about helping you understand trends and deriving insights from your data so that you can make tactical and strategic business decisions. They also help you idenitfy patterns in the mountains of data your business builds up. But the question is... how do you know which business intelligence tool is best for your business? And which tools will help you achieve your online goals?
Post Updated: April 2022
You're not the only one out there in search of such a solution. Many SMB businesses are hopping on the BI bandwagon, especially as the prevalence of big data continues to rise. In fact, according to Mordor Intelligence, the business intelligence industry is so popular that it is predicted to reach a value of USD 40.50 billion by 2026.

Why use business intelligence tools?

For starters, data discovery, which used to be limited to the expertise of advanced analytics specialists, is now something everyone can do using these tools. And not only that, these tools give you the insights you need to achieve things like growth, resolve issues that are urgent, collect all your data in one place, forecast future outcomes and so much more.

In this article we will explain the top 15 Business Intelligence tools in 2021 and hopefully put you on the right path towards selecting your a tool fit for your business.

Keep in mind: these business intelligence tools all vary in robustness, integration capabilities, ease-of-use (from a technical perspective) and of course, pricing.

1. SAP Business Objects

SAP Business Objects is a business intelligence software which offers comprehensive reporting, analysis and interactive data visualisation. The platform focuses heavily on categories such as Customer Experience (CX) and CRM, digital supply chain, ERP and more. What's really nice about this platform is the self-service, role-based dashboards its offers enabling users to build their own dashboards and applications. SAP is a robust software intended for all roles (IT, end uses and management) and offers tons of functionalities in one platform. The complexity of the product, however, does drive up the price so be prepared for that.

Website: www.sap.com

2. Datapine

3. MicroStrategy

4. SAS Business Intelligence

5. Yellowfin BI

6. QlikSense

7. Zoho Analytics

8. Sisense

Sisense is a user-friendly data analytics and business intelligence tool that allows anyone within your organisation to manage large and complex datasets as well as analyse and visualise this data without your IT department getting involved. It lets you bring together data from a wide variety of sources as well including Adwords, Google Analytics and Salesforce. Not to mention, because it uses in-chip technology, data is processed quite quickly compared to other tools. Thi splatform is even recognised as a leading cloud analytics platform by various industry experts such as Gartner, G2 and Dresner.

Website: www.sisense.com

9. Microsoft Power BI

10. Looker

11. Clear Analytics

12. Tableau

Tableau is a Business Intelligence tool specialised in data discovery and data visualisation. With the software you can easily analyse, visualise and share data, without IT having to intervene. Tableau supports multiple data sources such as MS Excel, Oracle, MS SQL, Google Analytics and SalesForce. Users will gain access to well-designed dashboards that are very easy to use. Additionally Tableau also offers several standalone products including Tableau Desktop (for anyone) and Tableau Server (analytics for organisations), which can be run locally, Tableau Online (hosted analytics for organisations) and many more.

Website: www.tableau.com

13. Oracle BI

14. Domo

15. IBM Cognos Analytics

Business intelligence tools is great, but is there something missing?

Business Intelligence Tools are very versatile and provide you with a lot of useful information regarding your business' performance and where it's headed. However, while great for collating / gathering data from various sources and helping you make sense of it, it does little in terms of collecting data directly from your customers. So why not take it a step further...

The Voice of Customer (VoC) is a critical factor in not only boosting your profits (as we mentioned before), but also creating a sense of loyalty among your customers and appreciation for your efforts to provide them with a meaningful online experience. That, my friends is the true source of success.

So how can you supplement your existing BI tool and gather this Voice of Customer data? Try collecting and analysing customer feedback.

Doing research for your Martech stack?

Be sure to check out some of our other marketing technology tool roundups, such as the best customer feedback tools, customer journey mapping tools, usability testing tools and more.

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Top 15 Business Intelligence Tools (BI Tools) | Mopinion

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Looking for a BI tool that's lined up with your goals, business and budget? Are you considering a business intelligence tool? Here are the top picks!

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Business Intelligence (BI) refers to the strategies and technologies used by enterprises for the data analysis of business information. BI technologies provide historical, current, and predictive views of business operations.

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Business Analytics (BA) involves the iterative, methodical exploration of an organization's data, with an emphasis on statistical analysis. BA is used by companies committed to data-driven decision-making.

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Understanding BI and BA's role in enhancing business operations is crucial. They enable businesses to convert vast amounts of unstructured data into actionable insights, leading to more informed decisions.

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Explore how businesses across various sectors leverage BI and BA to forecast trends, streamline operations, and improve customer service, ultimately driving profitability and competitive advantage.

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Our assessment framework will evaluate participants' understanding of BI and BA concepts, application efficiency of learned tools, and ability to interpret data for business insights.

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What does Business Intelligence (BI) primarily focus on?
A) Data Creation
B) Data Analysis
C) Data Storage
D) Data Collection
Correct Answer: B) Data Analysis

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Which of the following is NOT a typical feature of Business Analytics tools?
A) Predictive Analytics
B) Data Visualization
C) Manual Data Entry
D) Statistical Analysis
Correct Answer: C) Manual Data Entry