Simple Ways Self-Service Business Intelligence Can Transform Your Business

Self-service business intelligence may seem like a complex prospect to delve into, but this technology has been embraced widely by leading tech names in the industry. With the objective of providing simple and effective analytics services, many SaaS solutions are available and can be customized to suit your individual business requirements.

In fact, self-service BI is so widespread that many applications offer it as a feature - but many of us are unbeknownst to it, and the fact that we may already be using it! If you are aware of the advantages it can bring to the workings of your business, you can rest assured that investing in a fully-fledged self-service BI platform is going to be an investment that is worth every penny.

Without self-service BI, your IT team will be left to fetch data every time a team member requests it. Requirements vary and depending on how intricate they are, they will consume a lot of time, energy, and resources on the part of your IT department to present the data.

With self-service BI, your team has an interactive dashboard that they can command at the click of a button, to provide data based on unlimited parameters. This can take a large burden off your IT team’s shoulders, as fetching data is purely administrative - and help them focus on more strategic aspects of your business.

While the speed of fetching data has significantly increased and made work easier for IT, your team members receive many more benefits beyond just fast turnaround times. They now have the power to filter data however they need to, which in turn gives them exactly the stats they need. This leads to increased satisfaction rates amongst your team members.

What’s more, they can now also make data-driven decisions just as fast - which gives your business the edge to constantly stay ahead in your industry, and differentiate your business from your competitors.

Owing to interactive dashboards, user-friendly navigation, and limitless options to organize your data, anybody in your team (including less tech-savvy individuals) can make use of your self-service BI platform.

This makes it a versatile item to have on a companywide scale, no doubt. With the ability to customize results comes the added advantage of efficient and accurate information, empowering your team further to research, analyze and improve what you’re doing to further the success of your business as a whole.

Now that we understand how Business intelligence tools play an important role in the transformation of your business. Let's compare business intelligence software and how to choose one for your business. 

Best business intelligence tools perform data analysis by providing all critical information on one single dashboard interface in the form of tables, visualizations, and reports. BI tools provide the capability of importing data from multiple sources to organize them into reports. BI tools help the business owners and managers the power of making informed decisions making for the growth of their business. 

You can deploy the bi analytics tool by cloud deployment, on-premises solutions, or a combination of both. Both the methods have their pros and cons that you should consider while doing Business intelligence tools comparison 

• Cloud-Based BI tools can be implemented easily with the possibility of scalability and easy accessibility. The initial cost of business intelligence software based on the cloud is significantly lower as compared to the on-premises solution. However, there are some disadvantages of the SaaS-based Bi tools such as dependence on the third party, compounding costs, security, and connectivity issues. Cloud base BI tools are best suited for the small and medium-sized organizations 
• On-Premises BI solutions are relatively difficult to implement and hard to scale. The cost of installation and maintaining an on-premises solution is significantly high as compared to the cloud-based solution. However, it is considered a one-time investment with no subscription charges and better security. 

You can compare the business intelligence software based on the requirements of your company and the functionality provided by the business intelligence software vendor. 

• Source Connectivity 

Your BI software should be able to analyze information and data from all sources, including databases, datasets, and files of your business. The basic functionality of your BI tool should be to maximize the value of your available data from all the sources.

• Data Management & Query 

A powerful BI tool is capable of data pre-processing, profiling, cleansing, and validation. and transformation for subsequent analysis. The interface of the BI tool should allow you to run complex correlations through large datasets without the use of any code. 

• Data Visualization 

Reporting is an integral function of Business intelligence software. Data visualization helps you utilize and consume the data in the form of charts, graphs, and visual insights. Real-time dashboards and reporting help you take the crucial decisions for your company. Customization and the permission levels help in displaying the relevant metrics to the relevant decision-maker within the company. 

• Security & Permissions 

The best business intelligence tools provide enterprise-grade security from any unwanted access to your valuable company data. Other security features like permissions allow restricted access to sensitive information only to the relevant executives. A good BI software also keeps and stores the necessary periodical data backups. 

Some of the advanced features of modern-day business intelligence software include the incorporation of Machine learning and artificial intelligence to analyze the data sets. BI tools also integrate the IoT data from the sensors and streamline them with analytics. Most powerful BI tools now provide mobile support as well to enable quick decision-making on the go. 

While performing a business intelligence software comparison, you must consider your budget, the size of the company and industry regulations, etc. After carefully evaluating the features and functionalities of business intelligence products you can talk to your vendor. You must also talk about the type of license, security level, integration capabilities, and user access before making a purchase. 

You can read our comprehensive business intelligence software buyer guide and check our rankings and business intelligence software reviews.