Business Intelligence software for your business
20 Apr 2022
Igor Kelly
Today, when anyone wants to set up their own business, they must do some serious market research. It is impossible to imagine a situation of expanding or creating a business without a thorough study of the market. Especially now, when we have access to data of different data and analytics.
To correctly interpret analytics data and manage the information received, it is essential to use the appropriate business intelligence tools.
Business Intelligence (BI) is data mining, data visualization, data tools and infrastructure, and best practices to help organizations make more data-driven decisions. Business intelligence delivers when you have a comprehensive view of your organization’s data and use that data to make changes, eliminate inefficiencies, and quickly adapt to market or supply changes.
What are business intelligence tools?
These are specific analytics tools that anyone can use to analyze the data and present the results to get a detailed overview of the state of the business.
Business intelligence (BI) software tools enable companies to analyze events, study trends and market changes and gain a competitive advantage. These BI tools can capture and manage data, whether it is structured or fragmented. These analytics tools create models that provide answers and insights from reports, charts, graphs, and other data display methods. BI software is the backbone of digital transformation. Today’s BI solutions prioritize flexible, self-service analytics, data-driven, trusted platforms, business user empowerment, and analytic speed.
How business intelligence tools work
Business intelligence tools enable top managers to make decisions based on facts and statistics. BI tools offer a complete overview of the data, bringing all collected data into a unified view that gives managers a comprehensive overview.
What features define a good business intelligence tool?
Many options exist, from essential reporting tools to more comprehensive solutions to business management software with some BI capabilities. Regardless of your choice, there are a few key features you may need:
- Data collection, analysis, and visualization;
- Reports and custom dashboards;
- Predictive analytics;
- Integration with other tools;
- User security;
How to choose a BI software tool
To know which BI tool is right for you, you need to go through the basic steps that While focusing on choosing business intelligence software tools, it is helpful to focus on five essential steps:
1. Analysis of existing data sources
Any new solution must use your organization’s existing data. Without knowing what data you currently have and where it is located, it is tough to determine which BI platform to use and what the transition entails.
2. Define your goals
For business analysis to work well, you need to identify the features you need to find a good solution.
3. Find sources of data improvement
The main reason for moving to a more advanced BI platform is to add features and capabilities. You should define what exactly you want from new BI services. The answer to this question will help determine what you want from the new analysis platform.
4. Research Suppliers
A critical element in choosing a solution is matching the requirements with the provider’s functions, support structure, and roadmap. It becomes crucial to determine which provider can deliver the most value with your data, transform your business, and continue to add value in the future.
5. Highlight the desired changes
Any major initiative, including business intelligence, requires changes in IT infrastructure and business processes. Therefore, it’s crucial that the right BI solution fits your organization’s needs, wants, and requirements and provides the capabilities, flexibility, and scalability you need to navigate today’s rapidly changing business environment.
Forbes notes that business intelligence tools are increasingly compatible with mobile and cloud environments, allowing users to access data anywhere. This on-demand access to analytics data could enable companies to have more mobile teams, which also means more workforce choices. In addition to the growing ease of use of analytics tools, there are three main reasons why companies should use them.
Best Business Intelligence Software Tools
Here are some of the top business intelligence software providers:
Domo
Domo focuses on bringing together data from various sources and creating insights through detailed reports and visualizations.
The solution provides sophisticated tools for processing data integration, including visual ETL and dashboards and mobile business intelligence platforms that use intelligent applications to display insights.
Microstrategy
The critical point of this tool is the ability to create powerful and attractive dashboards that pull data from over 200 data sources. The solution works on both PC and Mac. It can provide services based on roles, devices, and other factors. MicroStrategy supports automation and embeds analytics directly into apps and websites.
Oracle Analytics Cloud
This cloud-based business intelligence platform covers all analytics requirements, from data ingestion and modeling to data preparation, enrichment, visualization, and collaboration. It includes built-in machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, including a natural language search feature. Connecting to open source data with built-in connectors simplifies data aggregation tasks.
QlikSense
Qlik Sense dashboards use hundreds of data sources to support complex use cases. It includes self-service visualization, interactive dashboards, natural language search, and powerful mobile features. AI and machine learning support advanced and predictive analytics.
SAP Analytics Cloud
SAP combines business intelligence, advanced and predictive analytics, and planning capabilities in a single cloud environment. The solution serves as an analytical layer for the SAP Business Technology Platform. It is designed for both business users and data scientists. It includes machine-generated insights and analytics designed to link and create operational and financial plans and provide deeper insights.
Tibco Spotfire
The self-service platform for business intelligence and data visualization includes a visually appealing interface and powerful artificial intelligence features to provide advanced data discovery capabilities. It has natural language search, AI-based recommendations, and direct data manipulation. The platform is designed for business users and data scientists. It includes over 60 native connectors and extensive API support.
Sisense
This business intelligence tool does an excellent job of compiling simplified data analysis. Sisense uses AI to create analytics applications that can be embedded anywhere. The platform makes data integrations by collecting them from different sources. Managing this data will suit even people without training. Users can receive real-time data feeds to create intuitive dashboards and reports.
Zoho Analytics
Zoho is a well-known name in business web tools, and Zoho Office is a famous name. Zoho Analytics has the same visually appealing dashboard and supports collecting data from multiple sources. Users can easily mix data through a simple online interface and export the results to various ecosystems, including Zoho, Google Drive, DropBox, and Quickbooks, to name a few.
SeekTable
SeekTable is ideal for startups and small companies. It allows users to make data-driven decisions and enjoy the benefits of a comprehensive tool. With SeekTable, you can perform ad hoc analysis of all your business data and collect it from multiple sources.
GROW
This cloud-based business intelligence tool provides reporting solutions that are great for small and medium businesses. GROW allows users to extract data from various sources. It connects to Dropbox, Salesforce, Twitter, Google Analytics, and hundreds of other sources.
Allows you to extract data from more than 115 sources Intuitive user interface Dashboards with various data visualization elements What is interesting about this tool: With GROW, you can import all your advertising data from social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others to optimize your marketing budget.
Trends in Business Intelligence Software
A good business intelligence tool needs to keep up with trends. It means that such a tool must meet specific vital parameters. Here are some of them:
Machine learning and AI
We can use AI and machine learning algorithms on existing data to learn, predict and improve business forecasts.
Cloud computing
Companies using BI will find that integrating data between AI tools and their cloud data stores is often the logical next step.
In-memory database
In-memory database processing uses RAM instead of disk or hard drive processing to read information. Accessing information in this way increases application performance exponentially.
Choosing the best BI instruments
Comparing all the features offered by these tools can be a daunting task. The main thing you should focus on is the purpose of your collection of business analyses. Depending on your goals and budget, you can choose the best business intelligence software tool. And the tools described in this article will definitely help make your choice easier.