List of BI Tools for Data Analytics
Click on one of the names to learn more about the BI tools you want to know more about. Or consult the Business Intelligence & Analytics Guide™ 2024 for an objective comparison of all these parties to quickly decide on the best BI tool for your organization. The list of tools is sorted alphabetically. Passionned Group is 100% independent, and therefore in no way affiliated with the vendors of the tools.
1. Alteryx
Alteryx is widely known for its products Alteryx Designer, Alteryx Server, Alteryx Analytics, Alteryx Connect, and Alteryx Intelligence Suite. The company is 100% specialized in BI & Analytics. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from Alteryx are strong in the following areas, among others:
- analytics
- generative AI
- cloud platform
- machine learning
- data science
- analysis
- authentication
- data preparation
- Windows
- artificial intelligence
![Alteryx Designer](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/alteryx-1/2024/alteryx-designer-image-3-31669.png)
![Alteryx Server](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/alteryx-1/2024/alteryx-server-image-1-31718.png)
![Alteryx Analytics](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/alteryx-1/2024/alteryx-analytics-image-1-31624.png)
2. DataRobot
DataRobot is widely known for its products DataRobot Artificial Intelligence, DataRobot Core, DataRobot MLOps, DataRobot platform, and DataRobot AutoML. The company is 100% specialized in BI & Analytics. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from DataRobot are strong in the following areas, among others:
- automated machine learning
- Python
- data science
- artificial intelligence
- generative AI
- machine learning models
- reporting
- R
- time series
![DataRobot Artificial Intelligence](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/datarobot-1/2024/datarobot-artificial-intelligence-image-2-32079.png)
![DataRobot Core](https://www.datarobot.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Introducing-DataRobot-Sigma_BKG_V2-1536x576.jpeg)
![DataRobot MLOps](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/datarobot-1/2024/datarobot-mlops-image-1-32218.png)
3. Domo
The most well-known products in the area of BI & Analytics of the company Domo are Domo Platform, Domo Data Science, Domo Business Intelligence, Domo Data Visualization, and Domo Mobile. We analyzed and evaluated these BI & Analytics products in depth and meticulously. The Business Intelligence tools from Domo can be characterized by good support on the following topics:
- data science
- business intelligence
- analytics
- data visualization
- reporting
- dashboards
- machine learning
- real-time data
- Android
![Domo Platform](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/domo-1/2024/domo-platform-image-1-32269.png)
![Domo Data Science](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/domo-1/2024/domo-data-science-image-3-32419.jpg)
![Domo Business Intelligence](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/domo-1/2024/domo-business-intelligence-image-1-32370.png)
4. Dundas
The most well-known products in the area of BI & Analytics of the company Dundas are Dundas Data Visualization, Dundas Dashboard, and Dundas BI Data Flow. We analyzed and evaluated these BI & Analytics products in depth and meticulously. The Business Intelligence tools from Dundas can be characterized by good support on the following topics:
- data visualization
- business intelligence
- dashboards
- reporting
- analytics platform
- analysis
- embedded analytics
- real-time
- interactive data visualizations
![Dundas BI](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/dundas-1/2024/dundas-bi-image-2-32668.png)
![Dundas Data Visualization](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/dundas-1/2024/dundas-data-visualization-image-2-32699.png)
![Dundas Dashboard](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/dundas-1/2024/dundas-bi-image-3-32670.png)
5. GoodData
As far as we have been able to ascertain, GoodData currently has only one primary product: GoodData Platform. Take a look at the screen shots below. The Business Intelligence tools from GoodData are strong in the following areas, among others:
- dashboards
- Slack
- data visualization
- java
- SDK
- scalability
- CSV
- analytics platform
- caching
![GoodData Platform](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/gooddata-1/2024/gooddata-platform-image-3-32826.png)
![GoodData Platform](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/gooddata-1/2024/gooddata-platform-image-1-32827.png)
![GoodData Platform](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/gooddata-1/2024/gooddata-platform-image-2-32835.png)
6. IBM BI & Analytics
IBM is widely known for its products Cognos Analytics, IBM SPSS, IBM Watson, IBM Infosphere, and Netezza. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from IBM are strong in the following areas, among others:
- analytics
- real-time
- analysis
- predictive analytics
- OLAP
- business intelligence
- reporting
- natural language processing
- IBM Netezza
![Cognos Analytics](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/ibm-1/2024/cognos-analytics-image-1-33962.gif)
![IBM SPSS](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/ibm-1/2024/ibm-spss-image-2-34367.jpg)
![IBM Watson](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/ibm-1/2024/ibm-watson-image-2-34269.jpg)
7. Incorta
The most well-known products in the area of BI & Analytics of the company Incorta are Incorta Analytics, and Incorta analyzer. We analyzed and evaluated these BI & Analytics products in depth and meticulously. The Business Intelligence tools from Incorta can be characterized by good support on the following topics:
- analytics platform
- reporting
- dashboards
- SDK
- analysis
- JSON
- SQL
- real-time
- data science
![Incorta Analytics](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/incorta-1/2024/incorta-analytics-image-3-65419.png)
![Incorta Analytics](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/incorta-1/2024/incorta-analytics-image-1-65420.png)
![Incorta Analytics](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/incorta-1/2024/incorta-analytics-image-2-65423.png)
8. InetSoft
InetSoft is widely known for its products InetSoft Style Intelligence, InetSoft Business Intelligence, InetSoft Data Intelligence, InetSoft Style Studio, and InetSoft Data Cleansing. The company is 100% specialized in BI & Analytics. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from InetSoft are strong in the following areas, among others:
- business intelligence
- analytics
- reporting
- dashboards
- big data
- data modeling
- data visualization
- cloud computing
- machine learning
- analysis
![InetSoft Style Intelligence](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/inetsoft-1/2024/inetsoft-style-intelligence-image-2-65545.gif)
![InetSoft Business Intelligence](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/inetsoft-1/2024/inetsoft-business-intelligence-image-2-65519.png)
9. Infor BI & Analytics
Infor is widely known for its products Infor Birst, Infor BI, Infor Landmark, and Infor Coleman AI. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from Infor are strong in the following areas, among others:
- analytics
- dashboards
- business intelligence
- reporting
- performance management
- IoT
- machine learning
- sales analytics
- analysis
- artificial intelligence
![Infor Birst](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/infor-1/2024/infor-birst-image-2-35570.png)
![Infor Coleman](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/infor-1/2024/infor-coleman-image-3-35215.png)
![Infor BI](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/infor-1/2024/infor-bi-image-3-35175.png)
10. insightssoftware BI & Analytics
The most well-known products in the area of BI & Analytics of the company insightssoftware are Logi Info, Logi Composer, Logi Report Server, Logi Predict, and Logi Report Designer. We analyzed and evaluated these BI & Analytics products in depth and meticulously. The Business Intelligence tools from insightssoftware can be characterized by good support on the following topics:
- reporting
- embedded analytics
- predictive analytics
- analytics platform
- dashboards
- performance management
- Windows
- java
- business intelligence
![Logi Info](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/insightssoftware-1/2024/logi-info-image-1-35964.png)
![Logi Composer](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/insightssoftware-1/2024/logi-composer-image-1-36015.png)
![Logi Report Server](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/insightssoftware-1/2024/logi-report-server-image-2-36108.png)
11. Looker
Looker is widely known for its products Looker Studio, Looker API, LookML Dashboards, and Looker Blocks. The company is 100% specialized in BI & Analytics. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from Looker are strong in the following areas, among others:
- dashboards
- business intelligence
- embedded analytics
- SQL
- web analytics
- SDK
- analysis
- data modeling
- analytics platform
![Looker Studio](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/looker-1/2024/looker-studio-image-3-31037.jpg)
![LookML](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/looker-1/2024/lookml-image-2-30985.png)
![Looker API](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/looker-1/2024/looker-api-image-2-31083.jpg)
12. Microsoft BI & Analytics
The Business Intelligence tools from the BI & Analytics vendor Microsoft focus on the support of the following functionalities:
- SQL
- analytics
- machine learning
- data mining
- reporting
- R
- analysis
- business intelligence
- cognitive services
- IoT
Microsoft serves the market with the following products, among others: Power BI, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft SQL Server, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Azure Stream Analytics (see the images below). We took a closer look at them.
![Power BI](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/microsoft-1/2024/power-bi-image-2-36972.png)
![Microsoft Azure](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/microsoft-1/2024/microsoft-azure-image-3-36224.png)
![Microsoft SQL Server](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/microsoft-1/2024/microsoft-sql-server-image-2-37320.png)
13. MicroStrategy
MicroStrategy is widely known for its products MicroStrategy Web, MicroStrategy Intelligence Server, MicroStrategy Analytics, Hyperintelligence, and MicroStrategy Desktop. The company is 100% specialized in BI & Analytics. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from MicroStrategy are strong in the following areas, among others:
- analytics
- business intelligence
- Hadoop Gateway
- in-memory
- mobile server
- reporting
- dashboards
- analysis
- R integration
![MicroStrategy Web](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/microstrategy-1/2024/microstrategy-web-image-1-38115.gif)
![MicroStrategy Intelligence Server](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/microstrategy-1/2024/microstrategy-web-image-3-38117.gif)
![MicroStrategy Analytics](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/microstrategy-1/2024/microstrategy-analytics-image-1-38067.png)
14. Oracle BI & Analytics
The most well-known products in the area of BI & Analytics of the company Oracle are Oracle Database, Oracle Analytics, OBIEE, Oracle Big Data, and Oracle Data Integrator. We analyzed and evaluated these BI & Analytics products in depth and meticulously. The Business Intelligence tools from Oracle can be characterized by good support on the following topics:
- analytics
- big data
- business intelligence
- data quality
- SQL
- in-memory
- data mining
- OLAP
- analysis
- R
![Oracle Database](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/oracle-1/2024/oracle-database-image-2-39312.png)
![Oracle Analytics](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/oracle-1/2024/oracle-analytics-image-2-39263.gif)
![OBIEE](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/oracle-1/2024/obiee-image-2-39439.png)
15. Pyramid Analytics
Pyramid Analytics is widely known for its products Pyramid Analytics, Pyramid Decision Intelligence Platform, Pyramid Data Science Workbench, and Pyramid Smart Insights. The company is 100% specialized in BI & Analytics. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from Pyramid Analytics are strong in the following areas, among others:
- decision intelligence
- data science
- business intelligence
- analysis
- data preparation
- data discovery
- analytics platform
- dashboards
- machine learning
![Pyramid Analytics](https://www.pyramidanalytics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/customvisual.png)
![Pyramid Decision Intelligence Platform](https://www.pyramidanalytics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/DI-on-SAP-infographic-1.png)
![Pyramid Data Science Workbench](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/pyramid-analytics-1/2024/pyramid-data-science-workbench-image-1-25029.png)
16. Qlik
Qlik is widely known for its products QlikView, Qlik Sense Enterprise, Qlik Replicate, and Qlik NPrinting. The company is 100% specialized in BI & Analytics. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from Qlik are strong in the following areas, among others:
- geoanalytics
- data integration
- big data
- Windows
- analytics platform
- reporting
- analysis
- business intelligence
- real-time
![Qlik Sense](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/qlik-1/2024/qlik-sense-image-2-42161.png)
![QlikView](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/qlik-1/2024/qlikview-image-1-42456.jpg)
![Qlik Sense Enterprise](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/qlik-1/2024/qlik-sense-enterprise-image-3-42211.png)
17. SAP BI & Analytics
The Business Intelligence tools from the BI & Analytics vendor SAP focus on the support of the following functionalities:
- analytics
- analysis
- business intelligence
- dashboards
- predictive analytics
- data management
- machine learning
- reporting
- streaming
- SQL
SAP serves the market with the following products, among others: SAP HANA, SAP BusinessObjects, SAP Analytics Cloud, and SAP Lumira (see the images below). We took a closer look at them.
![SAP HANA](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/sap-1/2024/sap-hana-image-2-43610.png)
![SAP BusinessObjects](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/sap-1/2024/sap-businessobjects-image-1-44397.png)
![SAP Analytics](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/sap-1/2024/sap-analytics-image-2-43560.png)
18. SAS
SAS is widely known for its products SAS Viya, SAS Visual Analytics, Dataflux, SAS/ACCESS, and SAS Enterprise Guide. The company is 100% specialized in BI & Analytics. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from SAS are strong in the following areas, among others:
- analytics
- data management
- visual analytics
- forecasting
- OLAP
- data quality
- machine learning
- analysis
- data integration
- customer intelligence
![SAS Viya](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/sas-1/2024/sas-viya-image-3-46629.png)
![SAS Visual Analytics](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/sas-1/2024/sas-visual-analytics-image-1-46722.png)
![Dataflux](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/sas-1/2024/dataflux-image-2-46932.png)
19. Sisense
Sisense is widely known for its products Elasticube Manager, Sisense Analytics, Sisense ElastiCube, and Sisense Blox. The company is 100% specialized in BI & Analytics. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from Sisense are strong in the following areas, among others:
- dashboards
- business intelligence
- embedded analytics
- data mining
- big data
- analytics platform
- complex data
- usage analytics
- healthcare analytics
![Elasticube](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/sisense-1/2024/elasticube-image-1-50511.png)
![Elasticube Manager](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/sisense-1/2024/elasticube-manager-image-3-50537.png)
![Sisense Analytics](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/sisense-1/2024/sisense-analytics-image-3-50439.jpg)
20. Tableau
The most well-known products in the area of BI & Analytics of the company Tableau are Tableau Server, Tableau Desktop, Tableau Online, Tableau Public, and Tableau Cloud. We analyzed and evaluated these BI & Analytics products in depth and meticulously. The Business Intelligence tools from Tableau can be characterized by good support on the following topics:
- analytics
- data management
- analysis
- business intelligence
- advanced analytics
- predictive analytics
- embedded analytics
- dashboards
- data visualization
- Salesforce
![Tableau Server](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/tableau-1/2024/tableau-server-image-2-65746.png)
![Tableau Desktop](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/tableau-1/2024/tableau-desktop-image-2-65896.png)
![Tableau Online](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/tableau-1/2024/tableau-online-image-2-65994.png)
21. ThoughtSpot
ThoughtSpot is widely known for its products SpotIQ, ThoughtSpot Embrace, ThoughtSpot DataFlow, ThoughtSpot mobile, and ThoughtSpot Business Intelligence. The company is 100% specialized in BI & Analytics. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from ThoughtSpot are strong in the following areas, among others:
- business intelligence
- analysis
- iOS
- analytics platform
- Android
- share insights
- in-memory
- MDM
- iPhone
![SpotIQ](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/thoughtspot-1/2024/spotiq-image-3-51784.png)
![ThoughtSpot Embrace](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/thoughtspot-1/2024/thoughtspot-embrace-image-1-51742.png)
![ThoughtSpot DataFlow](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/thoughtspot-1/2024/thoughtspot-dataflow-image-1-51835.jpg)
22. TIBCO
TIBCO is widely known for its products TIBCO Spotfire, TIBCO Data Science, TIBCO Data Virtualization, Jasperreports, and TIBCO Analytics. The company is 100% specialized in BI & Analytics. Take a look at the images below. The Business Intelligence tools from TIBCO are strong in the following areas, among others:
- analytics
- streaming
- data virtualization
- real-time
- geoanalytics
- data science
- analysis
- reporting
- data management
- MDM
![TIBCO Spotfire](https://www.tibco.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/under-link-no-1-620x425.png)
![TIBCO Data Science](https://www.tibco.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/image1.png)
![TIBCO Data Virtualization](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/tibco-1/2024/tibco-data-virtualization-image-1-52755.png)
23. Wyn Enterprise
As far as we have been able to ascertain, Wyn Enterprise currently has only one primary product: Wyn Enterprise Business Intelligence. Take a look at the screen shots below. The Business Intelligence tools from Wyn Enterprise are strong in the following areas, among others:
- dashboards
- reporting
- analytics
- enterprise business intelligence
- embedded business intelligence
- interactive dashboards
- analysis
- self-service BI
- business intelligence platform
![Wyn Enterprise Business Intelligence](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/wyn-enterprise-1/2024/wyn-enterprise-business-intelligence-image-3-21095.jpg)
![Wyn Enterprise Business Intelligence](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/wyn-enterprise-1/2024/wyn-enterprise-business-intelligence-image-1-21096.png)
![Wyn Enterprise Business Intelligence](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/wyn-enterprise-1/2024/wyn-enterprise-business-intelligence-image-2-21125.png)
24. Yellowfin
The most well-known products in the area of BI & Analytics of the company Yellowfin are Yellowfin Signals, Yellowfin Suite, Yellowfin Dashboards, Yellowfin SAML Bridge, and Yellowfin Data Discovery. We analyzed and evaluated these BI & Analytics products in depth and meticulously. The Business Intelligence tools from Yellowfin can be characterized by good support on the following topics:
- dashboards
- business intelligence
- analysis
- data preparation
- reporting
- data science
- data discovery
- web server
- analytics platform
![Yellowfin Signals](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/yellowfin-1/2024/yellowfin-signals-image-2-54134.png)
![Yellowfin Suite](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/yellowfin-1/2024/yellowfin-suite-image-1-54184.png)
![Yellowfin Dashboards](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/yellowfin-1/2024/yellowfin-dashboards-image-3-54284.png)
25. Zoho BI & Analytics
The most well-known products in the area of BI & Analytics of the company Zoho are Zia, Zoho Databridge, Zoho DataPrep, and Zoho Analytics Server. We analyzed and evaluated these BI & Analytics products in depth and meticulously. The Business Intelligence tools from Zoho can be characterized by good support on the following topics:
- analytics
- CRM
- data preparation
- dashboards
- self-service data preparation
- business intelligence
- SQL
- analysis
- Windows
- self-service BI
![Zoho Analytics](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/zoho-1/2024/zoho-analytics-image-2-54676.png)
![Zia](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/zoho-1/2024/zia-image-1-54728.gif)
![Zoho Databridge](https://www.passionned.nl/wp/wp-content/uploads/zoho-1/2024/zoho-databridge-image-2-54776.png)
What can you expect from Business Intelligence tools?
Business intelligence tools provide organizations with reliable management information and refined insights to improve decision-making and collaboration. These tools provide the means for efficient reporting, in-depth analysis of (large amounts of) data, statistics, analysis and dashboards of the relevant KPIs.
The 7 benefits of Business Intelligence tools:
- Provides clear insight into all your business data, external data and big data analytics
- Ensures clear visualization and availability of management information
- Provides insight into how processes run or go wrong
- Empowers users to improve their business processes
- When used, improves the overall performance of the organization
- Offers perfect support for performance management/decision making
- Easy monitoring and clear reporting thanks to intelligent dashboards
Wide range of tools for Business Analytics
In Europe and the US alone, there are more than 20 different BI tools available. They were once developed by mega brands such as Microsoft, Cognos or SAP Business Objects. In addition, there are numerous smaller software developers worldwide who have also built very good business intelligence tools that are suitable for specific industries or different types of BI applications. Not for nothing is the adage: “different tools for different purposes”. Think of parties like Qlik or Tableau Software. Despite the wide choice, finding and selecting the right Business Intelligence tool is often a laborious task. It is quite a job.
The BI & Analytics Guide™ 2024![Image of The BI & Analytics Guide™ 2024](https://www.passionned.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/bi-analytics-guide-1-400x300.png)
Excel is known as “the most abused BI tool.”
Selecting the wrong tool can have considerable impact on your organization. Companies that are not successful often have a problem with their information infrastructure. The BI tools they are using are not efficiently extracting the desired management information. Excel is the most obvious example and is not known as the most abused BI tool for nothing.
How do you make a good choice that fits your organization?
- Define the most important BI tool selection criteria: IT needs and user requirements.
- With this list you contact the vendors for the answers (RFI)
- Analyze all data from the different Business Intelligence vendors
- Start a proof of concept and choose the solution that best fits your requirements
You can skip steps 1 through 3 completely when you purchase our independent BI research. We take care of all the difficult and time consuming preliminary work. You save a lot of valuable time.
Let us help you with your BI tool choice
We know from experience that selecting the right software is a labor-intensive process. We have been helping organizations through this process for more than 15 years, including our powerful assessment tool: the Business Intelligence & Analytics Guide and independent BI consulting.
The 250+ functionalities of Business Intelligence software
Business Intelligence tools come in many different shapes and flavors. Some have excellent reporting functionality and others are great for dashboarding. Others run only on the Windows platform. In our research we compare all these tools on 250+ criteria that are important for achieving the best results with business analytics. So then you don’t need to do this research.
BI tools linked to the decision making process
The Business Intelligence architecture will not be able to produce good results if we cannot link tools to it. This blog provides an overview of the most important Business Intelligence tools (BI Tools) in relation to the decision-making cycle. It also describes the purposes, the features and the workings of these tools.
The decision making process
Each Business Intelligence tool plays a supporting role in one or more phases of the decision-making cycle. The decision-making cycle comprises of the following phases, which can be supported by the following tools (see figure below):
Figure 1: Phases in the decision-making process
1. Collecting information using dashboards and reports
The decision-making cycle starts with gathering the right information: ‘scanning’ the environment (or the internal organization) in order to see if a problem exists. Mainly dashboards and reports are used for this purpose. This first phase should be seen as a ‘wake-up’ moment during which any current or potential deviation from the desired situation is a decision problem. In order to qualify or trace something as a problem, the first phase should – in principle – include (or be preceded by) a process in which we identify our organizational objectives.
2. Designing and analyzing using interactive analysis and data mining
Once a problem is discovered, we know where the issue resides but we do not yet know its exact location or its whys and wherefores. For example: the customer satisfaction indicator on the dashboard flashes. Subsequently, we will want to find out what causes this. We may, for example, use interactive analysis ‘on-the-fly’ to split out customer satisfaction per region, per account manager and, if necessary, per product group.
3. Selecting and implementing using ad hoc query, what-if and forecasting
Once we have established the cause of a problem and we have mapped the (causal) relationships, we can take action – in consultation with managers and stakeholders. Ad hoc query (‘ad hoc’ querying of data sets) can support this. We may for example use ad hoc query to create a detailed set of customers who did not place any orders in the last month, based on the results of the interactive analysis. Subsequently, we can write a letter to the selected customers in which we emphasize the benefits of doing business with us and include some interesting offers. We use ‘what-if’ and forecasting in order to calculate actions in advance. In this way, we gain insight into the impact of our actions before we actually implement them.
4. Evaluating using dashboards and reports
Once we addressed a certain problem by taking action, we use either a dashboard or reports in order to assess whether the problem has indeed been resolved. It may be that the problem reflects a key success factor of the organization, which we did not know about yet. If this is the case, we can place the key success factor – including the associated KPI – on the dashboard or in the report to permanently evaluate it. In this way, it becomes an integral part of the organization’s management model.
Separate components that are hardly related
Relatively many organizations still appear to regard the above-mentioned tools as separate components that are hardly related. For Business Intelligence to be effective, it is however, of the utmost importance that the tools can work together very closely, creating a solid and smoothly operating entity. Users should ideally be able to both use and apply the tools more or less unwittingly in their daily activities. Metadata, web technology and a proper architecture play an important role in achieving this.
Increase the coherence between the BI tools
Additionally, the suppliers of BI tools undertake actions – based on the integral needs expressed by users – to increase the coherence between different tools. Portals are a typical example of this development. However, we cannot start celebrating yet: practice shows that when it comes to integration of different tools within the portal, there is still a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, it also still happens that certain functionalities are present in the desktop version , but have not yet been implemented in the web version.
Need help choosing the right business intelligence tool?
If you need help in the process of selecting the right Business Analytics tool for your company, please feel free to contact us for an appointment or more information.
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