What is Business Intelligence
Business intelligence is the conversion of data into information and then into intelligence. It is the ability to access meaningful data in a timely, efficient manner. The main aim of this broad field of study is to make high quality decisions. Many factors help in making high quality decisions. These factors are customers, competitors, business partners, economic environment and internal operations.
In this, moving and sharing data throughout the organization or between departments, offices and business partners is also given equal importance. Any business may have the best data integration technology in the world, but it is of little value if the person cannot use it to provide quality service to consumers. The new economy is based on experience as much as it is on information and technology. Giving consumers the most advantageous customer experience not only means gaining their business, it also means gaining an advantage over the competition.
The main purpose of the business intelligence is to make better decisions so that more of the opportunities can be achieved. This in turn leads the company towards the success factors and even at time the performance of the company is also improved a lot. The company is able to achieve both competitive edge and advantage to its competitors. Business intelligence is the factor which makes sure that the company is working properly or not and if any improvements are needs or not.
The work on business intelligence’s methodology is done by computers, databases and a group of analysts. Each company has their own business intelligence methodology that fit their specific needs. Many companies also have Goal Alignment Queries, Baseline Queries and Metrics related Queries to create popular indicators. Most companies collect a large amount of data from their business operations. To keep track of that information, a business and would need to use a wide range of software programs for various departments throughout their organization. Using multiple software programs makes it difficult to retrieve information in a timely manner and to perform analysis of the data.
Some of the functions of business intelligence are the following:-
Analyzing sales trends Tracking customer buying habits Managing finances and evaluating sales and marketing campaign effectiveness Predicting market demand and analyzing vendor relationships Assessing staffing needs and performance