Business intelligence (BI) software refers to applications and tools designed to accumulate, analyze, and present data to help business organizations make insightful decisions. With the aid of business intelligence software, raw data is transformed into applicable insights that will guide an organization’s decision-making processes. BI software helps with the following:
- Identification of substandard products.
- Strengthening of marketing campaigns.
- Overall productivity of the organization’s operations
Key Insights
1. Businesses can easily understand market trends and consumer behaviors since BI software gives them a competitive edge.
2. Most BI software are scalable, easy to use, secure and relatable.
3. BI software enhances data-driven organizational decision and increases productivity.
Importance of Business Intelligence Software
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Informed Decision Making
Rather than relying on the sixth sense or hunch, BI software provides access to data and useful insights, enabling business organizations to make data-driven decisions based on authentic and reliable information.
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Productivity
When a business organization infuses BI software into its operations, it boosts its operational efficiency. BI helps simplify data collection and analysis, leading to overall productivity.
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Competitive Advantage
By utilizing data analytics, a business organization is one step ahead of its competitors. It is possible because BI software assists an organization in gaining a deeper understanding of an already saturated industry. It helps in understanding customer behavior and creating better offers, which in turn improves customer satisfaction.
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Strategic Planning
BI software empowers organizations to formulate and implement strategies that align with their goals. It is done by identifying new opportunities and the latest market trends.
Criteria for Selecting Business Intelligence Software
Selecting the most accurate business intelligence software for your organization is crucial. The various factors to consider before purchasing a business intelligence software include:
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Scalability
Scalability is the ability of BI software to accommodate increased data volumes and user numbers. Regardless of the organization’s size, BI software should be able to handle an increased number of users and customers.
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Ease of Use
Look for business intelligence software with a friendly user interface that will enable technical and non-technical users to create and interpret reports.
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Pricing
Before getting that BI software, there are some questions to go over. What is the cost? Do I need to make monthly subscriptions? Will I pay for updates, or are they automatic and free? Are there hidden expenses as I use it? Will there be potential scalability expenses when more users are added?
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Information Security
Any BI software must ensure that only authorized persons can have access to company data. Security should be top-notch to avoid the leakage of sensitive information to different users.
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Interpretability
Insights that are derived from the analysis of data should be interpretable by users to make informed decisions.
Top 12 Business Intelligence Software
1. Domo ($300/user per month)
Domo helps business organizations transform raw data into interactive visualizations that make it easier to answer critical business questions.
Domo uses AI and machine learning to understand how changes in your data are likely to affect business outcomes. Its vibrant and interactive dashboards give your data context.
Pros
a. Able to handle a lot of data and data sources.
b. Updates much quicker than other BI software such as Tableau
Con
a. High purchase cost
2. Zoho Corporation ($24 per month)
Zoho Corporation is powerful BI software that helps businesses process vast amounts of data. It automates routine sales, gives real-time insights about customers, and filters and cleanses data using intelligent suggestions.
Pros
a.15-day free trial.
b. Excellent data security.
Cons
a. Customer support is only available at some times.
b. There is no social integration in the free version.
3. Microsoft BI ($20 per month)
Developed by Microsoft, Microsoft BI is interactive data visualization software that analyses both historical and current data and presents findings in visual format. It has hybrid deployment support. Users can access AI-powered image, recognition, and text analysis and create custom visualizations with R and Python.
Pros
a. Cost-efficient.
b. Advanced data analytics.
Cons
a. Bad user interface.
b. Lack of collaboration features.
4. Tableau ($70 per month/creator; $42 per month/explorer; $15 per month per viewer)
Tableau is a BI software that is designed to make data analysis accessible anytime, anywhere. It transforms raw data into shareable dashboards, providing insights that aid decision-making. Tableau has a user-friendly interface and drag-and-drop functionality, which simplifies the creation of graphs and charts.
Pros
a. Extensive customer resources.
b. Easy to upgrade.
Cons
a. No version control.
b. Requires manual effort.
5. Sisense (Starts at $1500 monthly)
Sisense is BI software that offers incorporated analytics functionality. It enables business organizations to provide analytic capabilities within their pre-existing software system. Sisense has embedded analytics and predictive analytics with high data security.
Pros
a. Easy to use.
b. Easy to understand and accurate data analysis.
Cons
a. Difficulty in understanding error messages.
b. The elasticube is not user-friendly.
6. Qlik ($30 per month, billed annually)
Qlik business intelligence software allows users to explore data freely. It also enables organizations to use their data to solve problems, meet new objectives, and address critical issues. Qlik has an associative model that consists of centralized sharing and collaboration. It functions seamlessly with data storytelling and reporting.
Pros
a. Flexibility.
b. Scalability.
c. Cost effectiveness.
Cons
a. Slow response.
b. Unable to export a list of all currently licensed users.
7. Datapine ($238/monthly basic; $433/monthly professional; $760/monthly premium)
Datapine is a BI software that empowers business organizations to explore, visualize, and monitor their data. Datapine has fast and easy data connectors, effective KPI reporting, and intelligent data alerts.
Pros
a. It enables both technical and non-technical users.
b. Friendly user interface.
Cons
a. Quite expensive.
b. SQI mode is challenging.
8. Looker ($2900/month)
Looker is BI software that offers a centralised hub for data exploration, reporting, and collaboration. It provides intuitive data exploration, great data modeling and transformation, and a collaborative environment.
Pros
a. User-friendly interface.
b. Unique modeling layer.
Cons
a. High cost of purchase.
b. Customisation complexities.
9. Oracle Analytics Cloud (Enterprise $80 per month)
Oracle Analytics Cloud is a single and complete platform that enables business organizations and analysts to ask questions about their data across any environment and from any device. Oracle has extensive machine-learning features, robust dashboard capabilities, and self-service analysis.
Pros
a. Flexibility.
b. Advanced embedded technology.
Cons
a. Lacks mobile application.
b. Integration with other tools is quite challenging.
10. SAS ($1500/per user for select offerings with restrictions; $10000 for core capacity)
SAS is a software package that allows you to prepare and display data, perform predictive analytics, and forecast. It has data modeling, data column filtering, and data visualization feature
Pros
a. Makes data handling easier.
b. It is robust and reliable in a variety of sectors.
Cons
a. It has a steep learning curve.
b. It could be more flexible and provide more customization.
11. IBM Cognos Analytics ($10 monthly on-demand standard; $40 on-demand premium)
IBM Cognos Analytics is a web-based business intelligence suite by IBM. It helps in reporting, analytics, scorecarding, and monitoring of events and metrics. Its features include web-based data modeling, interactive dashboards, enterprise reports, and data exploration and prediction.
Pros
a. Effective dashboards and reports.
b. Excellent customer support system.
Cons
a. Complexity of use.
b. Costly compared to competitors.
12. Dundas Data Visualization (Starting price: $6 per user)
Dundas is a fully programmable platform for data analysis. It includes data connectivity and Integration, as well as customizable and interactive data visualization.
Pros
a. Customizable dashboards.
b. Custom coding with HTML and JavaScript.
Cons
a. Limited user permission.
b. Lacks online support services.
Business Intelligence Software is such an efficient tool for most organizations that it has made daily organizational activities easy and more productive.
The efficiency of BI tools can be seen in a case study highlighted by Matt David in his article 7 Real World Examples of Business Intelligence in Use. He discusses how seven business organizations utilized BI software, namely Koodos, The New York Shipping Exchange, Carelink, Bug Crowd, DataRobot, Reddit, and Clever.
He gave a before and after view, stating how these organizations were before infusing BI into their daily operational activities and an after view of operational efficiency after they incorporated BI software.
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Conclusion
The impact of business intelligence software on organizations must be considered. This software is a guiding light, empowering businesses to make decisions that improve their day-to-day operations.
Today, technological innovations are no longer a myth. Resources are available at our fingertips; if your organization is not using them, your competitors are utilizing them to their full potential.
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