Competitive brands are more productive, produce quality goods, and offer top-notch services, and they thrive at exceeding customers’ expectations. While competition may not sit well with some, it’s healthy and crucial for business success.Â
Companies that use business intelligence are thriving business brands that have a competitive edge. Unlike low-performing brands, they leverage the power of competitive intelligence. According to a Forbes report, at least 73% of companies invest more than 20% of their technology budget in big data analytics.Â
Don’t let your competitors outpace you because they are one of the many companies using business intelligence. If you’re wondering how to go about staying competitive while utilizing the latest digital solutions, this is where business intelligence comes to the rescue. Companies that use business intelligence are guaranteed to remain competitive in the digital world.
So, how does business intelligence help companies? We’ve put together this guide to show you how to compete favorably by leveraging business intelligence in your operations. So, let’s get to it!
What is Business Intelligence?
What is business intelligence? Business intelligence is a system used to collect, store, and analyze data from an organization’s activities. The system synthesizes data and transforms it into easy-to-understand information for quick decision-making.
A good business intelligence strategy should give you a snapshot of the current state of your organization and the ability to ask important questions and find those answers. More importantly, you can use BI services and technology to transform raw data into actionable insights to improve your business.
How Companies Use Business Intelligence
The business intelligence (BI) process starts by mining data using AI and machine learning data mining tools. These tools dig into databases to unravel specific customer behavior and company data.
The data is then analyzed using specific BI data analysis tools and then synthesized into an easy-to-understand snapshot of information in the form of metrics and dashboards with the ability to generate reports. These metrics, dashboards, and reports are customized and configured based on your company’s goals and needs, and are easy to present to the organization’s decision-makers for action on key decisions.
The decision-making process involves comparing performance metrics with historical data and is a great way to know if the business is on track or not, recognize trends, and unlock the power of data in a visual way. Â
Why Business Intelligence is Important
Business intelligence is crucial for all types of businesses, regardless of the industry. Not every business needs the latest name-brand BI software, as there are no one-size-fits-all BI solutions on the market and the solution you choose should fit your business needs. The most important factor is having a business intelligence solution and strategy in place so as not to be outpaced by your competition, who likely is using one. Â
Historically, leaders leveraged BI insights through spreadsheets that were updated manually, by pulling data from various sources, which was time-consuming and lagged with real-time information. Today, many solutions allow live visualization, and once set up, with just a few clicks it is easy to build dashboards and perform analysis whenever they are needed.Â
Leveraging business intelligence allows your business to make insightful decisions quickly which can impact revenue, customer satisfaction, increase efficiency, and improve processes. Your business needs access to this powerful data if you want a competitive edge and companies using business intelligence will certainly have that advantage.Â
Wrapping Up
Business intelligence and AI are maturing, smarter, and more capable. While it was only available to large companies before, it’s available to small and mid-sized businesses today.Â
Don’t let your competition outpace you when it comes to BI and AI. Not sure where to start? We are experienced business intelligence strategy professionals. We’ll analyze your business needs and goals to recommend the technology that best serves your business. Let us use our experience to help you avoid mistakes and customize a solution for you. Be sure to reach out to us today to get started.