Comparing Business Analytics and Business Insights
Business Analytics Vs Business Insights
Business owners are always looking for new ways to boost profits, and one key strategy is basing decisions on proven data and advanced analytics. However, relying too heavily on platforms and dashboards can skew your view.
Fortunately, a powerful solution exists that can help you identify critical trends and gain valuable insights. This solution is called business intelligence.
What is Business Intelligence?
Business intelligence is a collection of technologies and processes that helps organizations review internal data to improve decision-making, spot new opportunities, reduce costs, increase efficiency and grow revenue. Business intelligence includes the use of reporting and online analytical processing software, data visualization tools and, in some cases, predictive modeling tools (more on that in a bit).
Modern BI solutions are built around self-service data management and digital business analytics, combining best business practices with infrastructure, hardware and software to optimize decision-making. Business intelligence provides insights into how a company is performing and can help identify inefficiencies and industry trends to quickly adapt to market and supply changes.
To be effective, business intelligence needs to be accessible for businesspeople without the need for IT support. Ensure that your BI solution offers intuitive point-and-click or drag-and-drop functionality that allows users to discover and analyze data from different angles. Consider a solution that also has mobile capabilities so that your businesspeople can access the information they need from anywhere, at any time.
What is Business Analytics?
Business intelligence tools, such as Google Cloud’s Looker and Sisense, collect data from a company and then analyze that information to create actionable takeaways. Generally, these tools are used by larger organizations to improve current functions and operations and plan for the future.
Business analysts can take their findings and share them with others in the organization to help improve processes or make strategic decisions based on those insights. This can include things like highlighting a problem area or suggesting an opportunity to grow revenue.
In addition, business analysts can also provide context to existing benchmarks. They can show how a company compares to its competitors by analyzing historical performance data, which helps managers set realistic and stretch goals for their companies. Airlines and hotels use BI for forecasting flight capacity and room occupancy rates, and school systems implement BI to monitor student performance metrics and improve classroom learning. Business analytics is considered a more predictive field, where data experts use quantitative tools to develop future strategies for growth.
Which is Better for Your Business?
Whether or not business intelligence is better for your business depends on a variety of factors, including the size and age of the organization, how much you’re willing to spend on your data analytics solution, and your current or future needs. For instance, if you are looking to streamline internal workflows, flag potential pain points, or boost efficiency, then business intelligence tools may be your best bet.
On the other hand, if you’re looking to predict or prescriptively guide your company into the future, then you might need to take a look at more advanced business analytics solutions. The two solutions are interrelated, so a strong command of BI can help you dive deeper into predictive analytics in the long run. One prevalent school of thought is that business intelligence focuses on a company’s present challenges, while business analysis uses previous data to predict how an organization should run in the future. However, these distinctions can be misleading.
Which Solution is Right for You?
Choosing the right solution depends on your needs and objectives. Business insights provide an overview of what is happening now, while business analytics takes a predictive view of the future to help you make more informed decisions for your organization.
If your team uses BI tools, they can quickly discover answers to their questions without waiting for IT reports to come in. BI software also allows them to take action based on their findings, which results in improved employee efficiency, cost savings and better decision-making.
Many BI solutions feature data visualization capabilities, which are essential to communicate your findings in a way that makes them easy for you and your stakeholders to understand. Look for a BI solution that provides visual reports, dashboards and data-driven storytelling that can be used on desktops, tablets and mobile devices to provide a holistic view of your company’s performance and health. Look for options that allow you to mash up and analyze internal and external data sources, too.