3 BI Tools Every Enterprise Needs to Stay Competitive

Featured article by Calvin Scharffs, Vice President of Marketing for Lingotek

It takes some kind of business superhero to conquer the competition, create global product domination, and earn cheers from investors and stockholders. Who wouldn’t want to tap into some superhuman skills when making strategic business decisions? You might want to get your cape ready, because these three Business Intelligence (BI) tools are going to help you capture big data, provide x-ray vision into your processes, and power up your strategic decision making.

Here are the three BI tools every enterprise needs to stay competitive:

#1 A Cloud-Based Network to Aggregate Your Data

It’s not enough to collect data; lots of applications can collect data for you. The key to harnessing the dynamic information your business generates lies in the ability to aggregate that data. In their book, Enterprise Information Management, Barrenechea and Perkins identify effective information management as “the key—the force multiplier—that will help organizations unlock the untapped value of their information to realize true competitive advantage.”

The barrier for most businesses, one that keeps them from tapping into this superpower, is aggregating the growing volume of data available to organizations. A recent article in Forbes, “Big Data: 20 Mind-Boggling Facts Everyone Must Read,” cited an MIT Technology Review report that found “less than 0.5% of all data is ever analysed and used.” Many businesses don’t have the technology needed to capture and analyze the data. The solution is investing in better, readily-available 21st century technology.

Combining multiple enterprise applications using a single, cloud-based network is an indispensable BI tool that gives enterprises the ability to not only collect data, but also to consolidate it. Collecting data in the cloud gives you real-time insight, agility, and scalability. Networked cloud-based technology can extract large amounts of data so you can scale operations on the fly. All data lives in the network, which gives enterprises a single solution to store, track, and manage all of your information.

Integrated cloud-based technology will put an end to the cycle of retrieving and managing data in several databases and systems; there’s no reason to continue working in silos! Routing data at scale and in real time increases automation and reduces deployment. Baseline predicted in its article, “Surprising Statistics About Big Data,” that “By 2020, at least a third of all data will pass through the cloud (a network of servers connected over the Internet).” This statistic confirms that cloud-based networks are going to be a critical tool for managing data in the coming years.

The Payoff for Businesses That Effectively Manage Data

– The Baseline article reported a 10% increase in data accessibility will result in more than

$65 million additional net income for a typical Fortune 1000 company.

– A McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report estimated that retailers exploiting data analytics at scale across their organizations could increase their operating margins by more than 60 percent.

A decision-ready global market intelligence dashboard that aggregates data from across the enterprise gives users the heroic ability to act at the speed of business to drive strategic and operational business decisions.

#2 BI Dashboards for Insight into Operational Efficiency

X-ray vision gave Superman the ability to see through solid objects. For a business superhero, business intelligence dashboards and reporting provide critical insight into key performance metrics. This allows stakeholders to dive into projects to monitor processes, view inefficiencies, and obtain actionable data that leads to reduced costs and greater efficiency.

BI reports and analytics can provide a wealth of information to help you make more informed decisions. Automated, real-time status reports are another BI tool that helps organizations effectively monitor projects, pace their work, and make agile changes to resource allocation.

But few companies have the time to go digging around to find data or aggregate data from all the sources that might collect it. That’s why dashboards are an indispensable tool for convenient, comprehensive digital display of information. BI dashboards provide real-time business metrics and clear visualization of progress, benchmarks, quality performance, and financial reporting that empowers you to audit operations and measure activities day to day. You can even set trigger alerts for missed deadlines, projects exceeding their budget, or the prevalence of quality issues. Knowing early where problem spots are and working to correct them gives you the ability to run an agile enterprise that can quickly respond to maintain–or even boost–your competitive advantage.

#3 Information That Informs Strategy

From process driven to data driven, BI helps you turn data into business opportunities. A Deloitte Analytics Advantage Survey of executives responsible for data analytics in North America, the United Kingdom, and Asia discovered that analytics drives ROI in two areas: income production and cost reduction. The results reveal that any investment your enterprise can make–that will provide big data and analytics–is a smart investment. Respondents felt analytics delivered in several areas. According to Deloitte, “Nearly two-thirds of respondents say that analytics play an important role in driving business strategy.”

The Payoff for Businesses That Effectively Interpret Data

– Increasing sales

– Identifying innovation opportunities

– Forecasting financial performers

– Understanding financial drivers

The role of data in creating and informing business strategy is only going to increase. Deloitte found 96% of respondents feel that analytics will become more important to their organizations in the next three years.

Despite this, most organization aren’t putting their data to use or find it difficult to make sense of it. Why is that? Because they are using last-generation analytical technology. Enterprises that take advantage of these three Business Intelligence tools will be equipped with the superpowers they need to create a rock solid, strategic foundation for success. Historically, decision making and policy were driven by hunches or best guesses, but the growing availability of cutting edge, networked intelligence technology will change that. Businesses that capture big data will be able to see through organizational processes and strengthen their strategic decision making (and that deserves a few capes).

Calvin Scharffs, Vice President of Marketing for Lingotek

Calvin is a dedicated executive with over 20 years of experience managing products, sales, marketing, operations, and personnel. His experience ranges from work with a Fortune 500 companies to small start-ups