Guide to Business Intelligence – The Importance of Business Intelligence in a Business
A major and constantly growing trend in all business circles, business intelligence has proven its worth over the past 15 years. Data collection, organization of information, exploitation and analysis; business intelligence is now considered a specialization in itself in order to equip business leaders to make informed decisions. Historically, many companies had analysts who spent 80% of their time collecting data and 20% of their time analyzing it. Today, thanks to technology, business intelligence aims to reverse these figures; 20% collection for 80% analysis to simplify the management process and accelerate decision-making. But who says business intelligence also says digital shift, software architecture and information management. How to succeed? This is what we explain to you in this article. What is business intelligence? Business intelligence is a set of strategies, technologies and applications that allow to deepen the knowledge of a company through the analysis of data. Business intelligence represents the ability to transform data into information, and this information into knowledge, in order to optimize the decision-making process. Contact us to discuss with a business intelligence analyst 4 key elements to optimize business intelligence within your company 1. Collect the right information Before you start collecting data, performing data analysis or even data mining and data modeling, take the time to ask yourself the following questions: what is the end goal? What answers do you want to get? What performance indicators do you want to track? Data quality is also an essential element to plan in a business intelligence implementation process. Skewed input data will only produce skewed output results. How to do? In fact, it all depends on the type of data you are looking to measure. If it is numerical data, it is a question of your teams and you being clear on the nomenclature, the data sources (database for example), the frequency and the way of collecting and indicating these information. Moreover, when it comes to organizational performance indicators , it is essential to properly communicate the business rules to the people responsible for collecting the information and to ensure the rigor deployed in this regard. Finally, since the objective is to have an overview of a multitude of key factors of a company, it goes without saying that a silo approach is counterproductive when addressing business intelligence. At the same time, as noted by Howard Dresner, credited for coining the term “business intelligence” when he was a business intelligence analyst and data analyst at Gartner, business intelligence is not corporate IT responsibility. According to him, a narrow conception of business intelligence, based on a few individuals, is one of the greatest dangers of failure of such a project. To get a holistic view, it is essential to integrate multiple data from different branches and involve multiple employees and functions within a company. Let’s rephrase: you have to break down the silos to get integrated data that has real value. Before embarking on an exhaustive process of implementing business intelligence within your company, it is essential to take the time to ask yourself the right questions, to validate the quality of the data available, to determine precisely what information you want to obtain and above all, above all, above all, above all (above all!) work in close collaboration with many employees from several departments. If there is indeed a scientific process behind the collection of data from databases for example, business intelligence is not an exact science. Questions about business intelligence? Contact us! 2. Structure the information Business intelligence immediately assumes the implementation and use of a large number of software programs that collect and structure various information. Whether at the level of monitoring finances, sales, project management, marketing campaigns, employee retention or any other element, it is inconceivable to want to do business intelligence ”à la main” in an Excel file – as fabulously structured as it is. In order to obtain a real global vision of a company in order to provide support for strategic decision-making, a company must set up or optimize the various day-to-day management software within its various branches. Official partner of the Zoho integrated software suite , it goes without saying that the Cofinia team opts for it when it comes to business intelligence. However, several other integrated or piecemeal software exist: it really depends on your needs. In our opinion, opting for an integrated software suite is by far the best option in order to maximize the possibilities of analysis, dashboards and global information. The idea here is that it is absolutely not necessary to set everything up at once; you can select a few applications, prioritize their implementation and adjust the speed of implementation and the priorities according to the real and specific needs of your company. For example, start with the Zoho Books application in order to solidly structure the financial management of your company, continue with Zoho CRM to put more refinement in your sales pipeline, and then continue with Zoho Project in order to follow the progress carefully of your current projects. Later, you could add Zoho Champaign and Zoho Social for integrated marketing management, Zoho Recruit and Zoho People for managing your human resources, and finally, Zoho Analytics to push the limits of your knowledge about your business. Finally, the idea is that without versatile and complete applications and software suites, implementing business intelligence within your company can become a waste of time and energy. Make an appointment to learn more about business intelligence 3. Manage change Who says business intelligence, software implementation, change in ways of collecting and managing information, also says management of change in work methods! And we know it, humans are not the biggest fan of change in their work habits! In this sense, the successful implementation of business intelligence within your company is closely linked to the participation and support of your teams. Change management, as complex as it can be, is based on 2 key elements: The participation Communication Business intelligence requires a constant and effective communication strategy As a business leader or member of the management team, you have an overview of a multitude of components within the company; you have a comprehensive understanding of the issues and have a
