What are business intelligence applications?
Business intelligence applications are applications designed to analyze raw data in order to find trends or other information that can be used to make better business decisions.
4 Key Business Intelligence Applications That Can Radically Improve Operations
What is Business Intelligence?
Business Intelligence is the process of analyzing large volumes of data generated during various business operations such as sales, purchases, transactions, etc., to identify patterns and relationships within the data and then using those insights to make better and more informed business decisions. Business intelligence converts raw data into easy-to-understand reports that can go on to assist managers with their decision making.
BI tools use information from different data sources, be it the sales points or supply chain, and generate graphs, charts and reports with data visualization techniques. Both, historical and real time data are gathered by intelligence tools for business users to better analyze their operations.
Advantages of BI Software
- Instead of guesswork and relying solely on past experiences, BI software allows businesses to make informed decisions about their future steps.
- From Sales Forecasting to supply chain needs and inventory forecasting, you can use the predictive analytics tools of business intelligence software to better understand the future.
- Business intelligence tools swiftly integrate with other business management software and pull in all historical and real time data to give users the best analytics reports.
- The intelligence platform will also help you identify the gaps in your business operations and answer all your questions, such as why are sales dropping, and what is the current inventory usage?
- BI tools make the most use of data warehouses to give managers an accurate reading of the operations in real time.
- The intelligence software also gives companies an added edge over their competitors, drives better performance and helps predict future market trends to stay ahead of the game.
Your business is not performing as well as it should be.
You need to use business intelligence applications in order to get the most out of your business. These are 4 ways that they can help you do just that!
4 Key BI Applications- No. 1 Data Visualization
Data visualization is one of the primary jobs of business intelligence software that uses Artificial Intelligence and data-driven processes to gather data and present it in the form of graphs, charts and visual elements that are both appealing and easy to understand. The intelligence software also uses natural language to communicate the information drawn from the data in an efficient and easy way.
Data visualization thus allows employees of all levels and ranks to use the analytics software to best optimize their tasks for better results. The self service BI system powered by data-driven tools such as data visualization no longer requires companies to employ data scientists and analysts to give them an overview of the operations.
No. 2 Sales Intelligence With BI Tools
Customer is king for all retail businesses and as a business owner, you will want deep insights into your customer base. Business Intelligence software will do this and more. BI software collects data from all your customer touch points, such as self service sales points, online portals, etc., and measures their conversion rates, demographics and sales rates. These data sets are then translated into understandable, visual formats such as pie charts, graphs and diagrams for users.
Moreover, intelligence software also uses forecasting tools, such as predictive analytics to help you make the right choices for the future of the business instead of relying on guesswork. Sales intelligence tools provided by business analytics software will help you make data-driven, accurate decisions.
No. 3- Data Analysis and Reporting
As a business establishment, you will have stored large amounts of data in your systems over time. But when this data is just stored for the records, it is of no value. With business intelligence tools, efficient data management and leveraging of data warehouses can reap all kinds of benefits. You can use data collected from your invoices, purchase records, customer information, etc., and run them through your data analytics tools. They will help you extract deep insights from your operations that you may have overlooked.
Reporting, on the other hand, is all about organizing and managing and monitoring the flow of information with the purpose of monitoring the performance of the business. With intelligence software's reporting feature, you can stay on top of your game and be constantly aware of your business operations.
Business intelligence is a powerful tool, but it can be difficult to implement.
Read this article to find out how you can put BI to work for your company.
No. 4- Performance Management
BI software also helps businesses plan their project management, execute them with customized timeframes and monitor their progress. From reaching your sales goals, to your Restaurant Inventory usage goals, your conversion rates metrics, and social media footfall, BI tools can help you keep track and manage all your performance indicators.
As business users, you can track the real time progress of each goal and make changes to your project or metrics accordingly. This not only makes businesses goal-driven, but also efficient and smart with their resources. With the right kind of project management and best practices in place, businesses can boost their profits, revenue and sales using performance management tools.
BI Software Faqs
Q1- Are BI tools meant for all businesses?
A- You no longer need data scientists on your payroll to use business intelligence and advanced analytics. Tech companies have now come up with self service BI tools that are both easy to use and also to understand. Any user can employ business intelligence tools to optimize their operations. Moreover, if you are a small business worried about the expense of investing in analytics software, there are a number of free-to-use options available in the market that can help.
Q2- Are BI tools secure for my company's data?
A- When you are dealing with big data and crucial business information, you are bound to have worries about the safety and security of these intelligence software systems. However, most reputed companies like Hubworks provide business intelligence solutions with guaranteed security of your data.
Restaurants can be a complicated business. Operators have to deal with balancing customer expectations and managing finances, among a host of other things.
Business intelligence software can help restaurants manage their finances, keep track of customer preferences, and do much more.