Business Intelligence (BI)

What Is Business Intelligence?

This section defines what business intelligence is.
When people think of business intelligence they may think of data, information, reporting, analysis and
on line analytical procession (OLAP) cubes. But over the last several years, business intelligence has
become much more than that. Companies are trying to make use of the enormous amounts of data
and information generated by their ERP systems and other applications, and business intelligence is
now an essential part of strategic and tactical business management. In fact, a recent survey of 1,400
CIOs by Gartner, an independent IT research firm, reveals that business intelligence has surpassed
security as the top technology priority in 2006. Business intelligence is becoming a strategic tool to
help people lead, measure, optimize, discover, and innovate in order to change the landscape of their
organization.

The challenge lies in being able to access the right information at the right time and transform it into
insight, knowledge and smart decisions. And this is how business intelligence software can help. In
terms of business intelligence offerings – business intelligence can be described as any technology that
enables companies to gain insight into their business (and their data) to better understand what is
going on. In this context, business intelligence encompasses all solutions, tools and features which
enable users to gain insight to make better decisions about current and future activities.

When it comes to acquiring business intelligence, many small to medium-sized companies are often at
a disadvantage. Compared to larger companies, they may lack the resources and the appropriate
systems and software to process their data and turn it into meaningful business insight. Or the systems
and methods they use cannot keep pace with their company’s growth and changing needs. And this
can limit their ability to optimize performance and compete effectively.