Many companies have limited resources and need to get the most out of them. In an effort to do so, many organizations are focusing more on business intelligence.
A business intelligence tool is any software or hardware tool that can be used to collect, store, and analyze data in support of driving decision making in the enterprise. Business intelligence is an umbrella term for a set of technologies and methods used in operations management.
These include data warehousing, performance management, corporate performance management, Supply Chain Management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), predictive analytics and analytics covering financial services.
Business Intelligence is a term I recently learned and couldn’t wait to try it out for myself! With big data becoming such a hot topic right now because companies are making use of it more than ever before, I hope that this blog post will help your company stay ahead of the curve.
Business Intelligence (BI) is a broad category of software and technologies used in business for the purpose of analyzing data to make better decisions.
BI integrates all kinds of data from various sources in order to create seamless flow and easy understanding.
Sometimes, this information is even accessible by portable devices, such as laptops or tablets. The more intelligent your company makes itself, the more you can use it to its full potential.
Business intelligence refers to how a company can use data from their internal operations and external sources in order to make better decisions, reducing costs while increasing innovation and efficiency. Fomoco News has some more tips to increase your company’s efficiency with business intelligence.
These tips can help your company increase its efficiency using business intelligence:
1) Diversify your data sources
Gather data from internal operations, external customers, vendors or other third parties by combining old-school methods such as verbal conversations with modern methods such as online surveys or browsing social media sites. Just because you have data does not mean it is useful.
2) Use a standard reporting system
Create a cross-functional reporting system that can be shared with everyone within your organization. This way, everyone knows how to effectively use the data and makes the most of it. Furthermore, this encourages teamwork and helps eliminate unnecessary emails from being sent out. If you don’t know where to get started, try using a free online reporting tool or a web-based software such as Excel or Power BI.
3) Improve your current processes
Just because you have collected some data doesn’t mean it is going to be useful in the future. However, you need to know how the data can be used again in the future. One way is to have members of your team perform A/B testing on their current strategies. Perform testing on different strategies so you know which one works best with your company’s data.
4) Be wary of missing data points
Don’t simply take every piece of data at face value. Sometimes, certain information may be inaccurate or false and will not benefit your business as a whole. Companies like Amazon and UPS depend heavily on customer reviews and feedback to make decisions about products and services based on other people’s experiences with them rather than what the company thinks its customers want.
5) Create new processes to get your data
One way to use information from your company’s data is to create new processes such as predictive maintenance for machines and software systems. This way, you can lower the risk of downtime while also ensuring that the equipment and software stays in peak condition.
6) Rank and filter your data points for optimal analysis
Think like a researcher: Search your data for specific patterns and trends. For example, if you want to analyze trends in diversity on your team (for example, gender or ethnicity), rank all male employees above all female employees depending on the field of work they are in.
Then, sort these employees by ethnicity on an Excel spreadsheet. This will give you a clear picture of where your company’s diversity is lacking.
7) Think outside the box
Don’t let constant criticism get to you. Some people may think that you are wasting your time collecting data or performing A/B testing, but remember that you are still using your company’s resources efficiently while increasing innovation, productivity and efficiency.
And one way to do that is by working with other companies in your industry to create standards for best practices for information sharing. That way, no matter what your business does, you will have more information available to make better decisions.
Business intelligence not only improves how companies operate on a day-to-day basis, but it also helps make the most out of limited resources.
