Every day, your company generates an enormous volume and variety of data. You need ways and tools to turn your data into actionable insights to make better decisions, discover problems, and be profitable. All data management solutions, including business analytics and business intelligence, are used to interpret historical and current data and generate insights.
But what’s the difference between these options, and which one is best for your company’s requirements? The distinctions between BI, data analytics, and business analytics are complex, and the terms are frequently used interchangeably, adding to the confusion. Let’s start with some basic definitions before we get into the discrepancies
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Business Analytics and Business Intelligence Solution Definition?
The process of gathering, storing, and evaluating data from corporate operations is known as business intelligence(BI). Company intelligence provides complete business metrics in near-real-time to help you make better decisions. With greater business information, you can develop performance benchmarks, recognize market trends, raise compliance, and improve practically every element of your organization.
The method of using your company’s data to predict trends and results is known as business analytics (BA). Data mining, statistical analysis, and predictive modeling are all aspects of BA that aid in making more informed decisions.
Business intelligence vs. business analytics
The questions that business intelligence and business analytics address are fundamentally different. The focus of business intelligence is descriptive analytics. BI places a premium on descriptive analytics, which summarizes historical and current data to show what has occurred or is presently occurring. BI provides answers to the “what” and “how” questions, allowing you to duplicate what works and adjust what doesn’t.
Predictive analytics is the emphasis of business analytics. BA, on the other hand, places a premium on predictive analytics, which employs data mining, modeling, and machine learning to forecast future outcomes. BA responds to the question “why” to develop better-informed forecasts about what will occur. With BA, you can foresee changes and make the required adjustments to succeed.
Determine your business intelligence and analytics needs
Trying to figure out whether business intelligence or business analytics is better isn’t a productive method of approaching data management. To flourish, a company needs both business intelligence and business analytics, including descriptive and predictive analytics. Plus, people in the business world often use both phrases interchangeably, so you should focus less on BI vs. BA and more on what you need the data system to perform and who will be using it when picking the type of technology, tools, and talent you want to invest in. To adopt a BI system, you must first develop a business intelligence plan. Inquire about critical issues like:
Who are the most important stakeholders? Who is going to use this system?
What departments require business intelligence, and how will this information be measured?
What kind of help do content creators and information consumers require?
What do business analytics and business intelligence solutions do?
Business intelligence solutions enable business leaders to make more informed business decisions by eliminating as much of the guesswork and gut feeling from the decision-making process as possible. BI tools offer a complete overview of data by bringing all the collected data into a single unified view allowing managers to get a complete overview.
What features to look for in business analytics and business intelligence solutions?
There are a plethora of options available, ranging from simple reporting tools to far more sophisticated solutions, as well as company management software with some BI features. Whatever option you choose, you’ll almost certainly require the following features:
Collecting, analyzing, and visualizing data
Customizable dashboards and reports
User security
Predictive analytics
Integration with other tools
Choosing the best business analytics and business intelligence solution
Choosing the best business analytics and business intelligence solution is difficult, despite the abundance of options available. If you’re looking for the best business analytics and business intelligence solution or an enterprise business solution for your organization, we’ve made it easier for you by studying and comparing the top five options so you can make an informed decision faster.
Have a look at the best business intelligence and business analytics solutions and check out their top features and the best fit for your business.
1. Scoro
Scoro is more than just a business intelligence and analytics tool; it also allows you to manage your entire company from a single location. Using an all-in-one solution to manage your sales and customers, schedule your team’s time and projects, and measure your business results can help you set your company up for success.
Highlights:
Real-time KPI dashboard
A complete picture of your projects, clients, and funds
Integration with a variety of business tools
Automated reporting
Unique feature:
Scoro’s highly customized KPI dashboard provides a real-time picture of all aspects of your job, and automated reporting enables you to expand your business with actionable insights.
2. Dundas BI
Dundas BI is a complete business intelligence and analytics platform that allows companies to analyze and visualize data. Dundas allows you to swiftly turn raw data into actionable information via dashboards, reports, and visual data analytics. It also connects with existing systems, administration, and online portals to provide white-labeled data access from within your apps.
Highlights:
Tools for dragging and dropping
Data analysis in real-time
Reports and visuals can be customized.
Combines data from a variety of sources
Unique features:
The entire Dundas BI platform offers an open API, allowing users to connect and integrate with any data source.
3. MicroStrategy
MicroStrategy is a business intelligence tool that helps small buisnesses make better decisions and streamline their processes. A multi-functional dashboard, big data solutions, and advanced analytics are all available. You can simply visualize your data and access location-based insights using this business intelligence application.
Highlights:
Big data solutions
Predictive analytics
Multi-functional dashboard
Location-based analytics
Unique feature:
Data mining and visualization are both supported by MicroStrategy.
4. Zoho Analytics
In the area of web-based or digital business solutions, Zoho is a household name, with Zoho Office being a household name. Zoho Analytics provides a comparable visually appealing dashboard and allows you to collect data from a variety of sources. Users can combine data using a simple online interface and export the findings to a variety of ecosystems, including Zoho, Google Drive, DropBox, and Quickbooks, to mention a few.
Highlights:
System of unified analytics
A variety of visualization possibilities
Simple integration with a variety of tools and databases
Simple to use
Unique features:
Zoho Analytics excels in creating interactive dashboards with visual representations of data. For Mac users, one of the greatest business analytics and business intelligence tools.
5. SeekTable
SeekTable is a complete solution that allows users to make data-driven decisions and reap the benefits of a comprehensive tool. It is ideal for start-ups and small businesses. You may execute ad-hoc analysis of all your business data collected from different sources with this business analytics and business intelligence tool.
Highlights:
Calculates percentages and running totals
Generates live reports
Interactive reports with sorting and filters
Unique features:
SeekTable allows you to obtain quick access to user-friendly reports while also providing data analytics and operational reporting.
Other business intelligence and analytics solutions not explained in this article include the following:
Oracle Business Intelligence, Tableau, MicroStrategy, Sisense, GROW, and Datapine.
Benefits of Business analytics and business intelligence solutions
1. Quick and accurate reporting:
Employees can monitor KPIs using a range of data sources, including financial, operations, and sales data, by using templates or customized reports. These reports are prepared in real-time and employ the most up-to-date data, allowing organizations to make swift decisions.
2. Useful business insights:
Companies can assess staff productivity, revenue, overall success, and departmental performance. Because BI technologies assist firms to learn what works and what doesn’t, it can reveal strengths and problems. Setting up alerts is simple and can assist busy executives in keeping track of the KPIs that are most important to their company.
3. Competitive analysis:
The ability to manage and manipulate huge amounts of data is in and of itself a competitive advantage. Furthermore, budgeting, planning, and forecasting are extremely effective ways to keep ahead of the competition, go far beyond standard analysis, and are simple to implement with business intelligence software.
4. Improved data quality:
Data is rarely spotless, and errors and mistakes can appear in a variety of ways, especially in a hacked-together “database.” Businesses that focus on gathering, updating, and providing high-quality data are more likely to succeed.
5. Customer satisfaction has improved:
Companies can use BI tools to better understand customer patterns and behaviors. Most organizations collect customer feedback in real-time, and this data can help them keep customers and attract new ones.
6. Recognizing market trends:
Identifying new opportunities and developing a plan based on supporting data can provide organizations a competitive advantage, have a direct impact on long-term profitability, and provide a complete picture of what’s going on.
7. Improved, more precise decisions:
Competitors move swiftly, therefore businesses must make decisions quickly as well. Failure to address accuracy and speed issues could result in the loss of clients and income.
8. Increased income:
Any company’s primary purpose is to increase revenue. By making comparisons across several dimensions and spotting sales shortcomings, data from BI tools may help firms ask better questions about why things happened.
Real-world applications of BI and BA
Let’s look at some real-world BI and BA examples to demonstrate the differences. In this case, you’re using an online store to sell your handmade jewelry. Business intelligence delivers useful reports on your company’s past and current state. According to Business Insider, sales of your blue feather earrings have increased in Utah during the last three weeks. As a result, to keep up with demand, you decide to produce more blue feather earrings.
“Why did sales of blue feather earrings surge in Utah?” asks business analytics. You discover that the majority of traffic to your website came from a post by a Salt Lake City fashion blogger who wore your earrings by mining your website data. This knowledge aids you in deciding whether or not to send complimentary earrings to a few additional well-known fashion bloggers in the United States. If the bloggers post about the earrings, you use the prior sales data to estimate how many earrings you’ll need to create and how much supplies you’ll need to order to keep up with demand.
Conclusion
To sum up, the topic we’ve covered in this post, you should now know what to expect from both words. Nonetheless, we want to emphasize that you can deconstruct your assumptions and gain more accurate and valuable data by combining the use of business intelligence and business analytics solutions. Simply put, business intelligence and business analytics give you the skills to innovatively analyze your business and observe reality as clearly as possible. That said, the importance of both will have an impact on a company’s business operations, whether small or large, and the need to combine the two will undoubtedly become an operational must-have for a successful market presence.