Asking whether your business is intelligent might seem like an unusual question but the response is becoming more important to companies that want to get ahead of rivals and maintain a competitive edge.
Business intelligence is a set of techniques or tools used to acquire and transform raw data into meaningful information that can be used to analyse the business and benefit decision making processes. Business intelligence technologies are capable of handling huge amounts of data that can help identify and develop business opportunities and risks that can then be incorporated into an effective business strategy. If done correctly business intelligence can provide companies with stability and give them an edge in a competitive market place.
The concept of business intelligence is becoming increasingly important as businesses are now expected to react and adapt to changing environments and trends. One of the main advantages to investing in business intelligence is the ability to analyse current customer buying trends and using this information to develop products that match current needs, thereby increasing profitability.
There are lots of ways to assess whether your business is intelligent. Try answering these 3 questions to see if you should invest in a business intelligence solution.
- Do you gain meaningful insights from your data?
Gathering large amounts of data is just part of making your business intelligent. The real benefits come from interpreting the information so that it has context and can be used to further business decisions. Your aim should be to create information that you can act on, such as insights suggesting a new trend your customers are moving towards, identifying areas where cost savings can be made or highlighting potential risks.
- Can you combine data from multiple sources?
You should be able to combine data from many different sources that focus on various aspects of your business. One of the main benefits of big data is that various datasets can be combined together to create an overall picture of the business and flag up specific opportunities and risks by correlating this information.
- Is your data information used throughout your organisation?
Insights that are gained from big data should be used throughout your whole organisation, it doesn’t just impact the IT department. If your sales, marketing, finance and other departments aren’t using the information gleaned from the data you’re collecting and storing it may be time to go back to the drawing board to assess how you can make your business more intelligent.