In the past the business intelligence (BI) industry has grown based on IT centric platforms which are highly governed and centralized with IT pushing out reports to IT managers. The majority of businesses continue to struggle to get the desired value out of their BI investments. The time consuming process of trying to access business critical data they need to support a decision when they need it can be challenging.
Recently the demand for user friendly BI tools has been on the increase with business users seeking a more flexible and mobile BI experience. So what are some of the top priorities of businesses looking to invest in a business intelligence project?
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Customizable Dashboards.
One of the biggest needs of a business is having easy to user interfaces that can be customized depending on the need of the user. With different users from different departments seeking different insights from the data, businesses are seeking the ability to customize their dashboards based on the KPIs required from each user.
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Self Service BI
In the past users relied on IT to create the reports they desired. Nowadays users are empowered to explore new data sets without much help from IT. Visual data discovery tools allow users to access information in real time ensuring that decisions can be based on up to date information, improving operational efficiency.
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Go Mobile with Business Intelligence
Mobile will continue to drive BI adoption in 2014. The ability to access business critical information on the move anytime anywhere helps users to stay in touch while on the move. Users are able to make faster, smarter decisions with real time access, meaning you are never without intelligence even when you are on the go.
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In Memory Technology
A big trend in 2013, in memory technology helps to improve the overall performance of the business. Traditional BI cubes and queries requires a lot of help from IT in terms of running the queries and setting up the associations.
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Social and Collaborative BI
Decisions aren’t made in isolation, they’re collaborative. Business users from all departments can collaborate on data, analysis and decisions. This enables users to drive innovative decisions and achieve common goals more effectively. The ability to combine data from multiple sources and deliver that information and analytics more effectively helps to inform your business decisions, from typical day-to-day discussions right up to the most urgent and critical matters.
The demand for user friendly, customizable business intelligence is on the increase. Business users who previously didn’t understand the reporting methods within traditional BI are now able to collaborate and make more meaningful decisions based on real time information. The need for agile, self-service BI has never been greater and is definitely something to look out for in 2014!
For companies interested in Business Intelligence Software, download the guide on how to avoid the 10 pitfalls of Business Intelligence.