5 Business Intelligence Technologies to Watch
The business world doesn’t run the way it has in the past. It used to take an incredible effort for companies to collect and use data in any kind of meaningful way. And even if an enterprise was able to use data, there was no guarantee on its accuracy. Today, data is everywhere. This is especially true in the corporate world. While in the past, Business intelligence was limited to large organizations, small companies are now adopting BI at a faster rate. This is a major sign that the tides of the BI world are shifting. Here are five business intelligence technologies to watch right now.
Real-Time Analytics
As previously stated, companies used to have to do a lot of groundwork before they could get anything substantial out of their data. This was simply a byproduct of existing in a different time when computing power wasn’t as readily available. Today, people don’t want to wait around for days, weeks, or even months to be able to access and act on collected data. Oftentimes, this amount of deliberation will make the data itself outdated for any applicable purposes. Real-time analytics solves this by making collected data available for use right away.
Search Analytics
Another technology accelerating the speed at which data can be exploited in search analytics. A business user simply enters a query (“number of widget sales West Coast 2018”) into a search-engine-like interface. The BI tool returns an answer and corresponding graphs almost immediately.
Yes, these are the kinds of business intelligence technologies business owners have dreamt of for years. There is no need for extensive training or expertise because the process is so familiar to web users. It allows for quick answers to ad-hoc queries and provides unlimited potential to teams across an organization. This is undoubtedly one of the biggest ideas to ever hit the world of BI.
AI Analytics
This next technology works hand in hand with the previous section. AI analytics anticipates user queries to deliver an answer to questions that haven’t even been asked yet. Piggybacking off the above example, if a business user search “number of widget sales West Coast 2018” they might also receive a graph, map or other visualization depicting the most profitable disruptors of widgets in surrounding areas. This may empower the user to recommend aiming more resources at these distributors. Of course, automated insights are just one area AI analytics is boosting the power of BI technologies. Others include on-the-fly calculations, guided search, improved data modeling, great security, and the ilk.
Embedded Analytics
As outlined by Daniel Harris on Software Advice, embedded analytics is where business applications overlap with business intelligence. Embedded analytics allows for BI visualizations to be placed into a variety of user-friendly business applications. This makes it easier than ever for employees to interact with data.
Mobile-Accessible
This next one is more of a hopeful prediction than anything else. Everything is becoming more mobile these days. Whether it’s shopping or checking email, more people are doing things on mobile devices than ever before. So why shouldn’t the same be true for BI? It’s not always convenient for you to be in front of a computer when you need insights. What if you’re out on a worksite, far from the office, and need to look something up? It’s possible you’ll need to check something while in transit. Of course, mobile-accessibility for BI is hardly the norm; but one can hope.
The business world is changing at an extremely rapid pace. Advancements in BI technology are helping to catalyze this development. These five BI technologies are some of the most prevalent for the future of commerce and industry.
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