What is Business Intelligence?
Since we began to come into contact with the business world, the formal education system has always stressed the importance of decision-making. And to make the right decisions, you need data. Until very recently, collecting reliable data was very expensive and whoever managed it had power over their market.
Business Intelligence involves turning an unimaginable volume of data into a differentiating kuwait city name list report that leads a company to success.
Business intelligence (BI) is a set of processes, technologies and tools that help organizations collect, store, access and analyze data to make informed business decisions.
It covers a variety of activities, including data mining, online analysis, query analysis, and operational business intelligence.
The goal of BI is to provide detailed information about the state of the business in order to improve its performance through better decision making. By transforming large volumes of raw data into meaningful information, companies can identify patterns, trends, and opportunities for process optimization, developing competitive strategies, and improving operational efficiency.
Infographic on decision making based on information provided by business intelligence
Difference between business intelligence and big data
The business data universe is dominated by two main players: Business Intelligence (BI) and Big Data. While Business Intelligence refers to the set of techniques and tools for transforming data into useful and accessible information, in order to facilitate decision-making, Big Data aims at the management and analysis of huge volumes of data that cannot be processed in a conventional way. The latter encompasses data from various sources and types, focusing on obtaining value from quantity, speed and variety.
Focus and purpose
BI focuses on analyzing historical and current data to produce actionable insights aimed at improving business decisions and future strategies. It primarily uses structured data from various business sources to generate reports, dashboards, and visualizations. On the other hand, Big Data focuses on analyzing large sets of data - structured and unstructured - looking for patterns, trends, and insights that are not obvious or possible to find with traditional methods. Its purpose goes beyond simple decision computing, extending to innovation, discovery, and prediction.
Business Intelligence Tools and Applications
In the BI space , we find analytics and reporting tools that enable the creation of data visualizations, dashboards, and detailed reports. Software such as Tableau, Power BI, and QlikView are typical examples that help companies understand their operations and markets. Big Data , in contrast, uses advanced technologies such as Hadoop, Spark, and NoSQL database management systems to process and analyze petabytes of data. These technologies are essential to handle the velocity, volume, and variety of Big Data, enabling complex, real-time analysis.
Applications in business
BI is invaluable for improving decision making through historical and current data, optimizing processes and increasing operational efficiency. For example, a BI analysis can reveal the reasons behind poor sales performance in certain regions and suggest corrective actions. Meanwhile, Big Data is used to explore new business opportunities, develop innovative products and personalize customer experience based on predictive analytics. This includes everything from sentiment analysis on social media to real-time supply chain optimization.
Integration and synergy
The integration of BI and Big Data offers a more complete and detailed overview of the business environment, combining operational and strategic insights with predictions and in-depth analysis of emerging trends. Organizations that achieve this synergy can not only better understand their current and past situation, but also anticipate the future and adapt more quickly to market changes. This integrated approach enables more informed and proactive decision-making, opening doors to innovation and maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage.