Key Self-service Business Intelligence (BI) Practices to Follow in Business
In today’s business climate, the trend of self-service business intelligence continues to gain momentum as people have become data-savvy and IT companies have constantly been innovating and thriving by adopting new tools. Over the last decade, using data analytics to make quick and informed decisions has become a common task across organizations. As more and more companies capture and analyze large volumes of data, it is evident that robust experimentation, digital business models, and radical customization will be the new hallmarks in a highly competitive business environment. Business users want faster and smooth access to data and BI tools and that’s when self-service business intelligence comes in demand to address such challenges and drive superior value.
Unlike traditional business intelligence tools, advanced predictive analytics techniques are quickly becoming accessible to organizations as a tool for making timely strategic and operational decisions without reliance on third-party users — data scientists and IT experts. Besides accelerating decision-making and ensuring data security, the scope of business intelligence encompasses a wide range of solutions that solve complex logistical problems, recommend products & services in systems where customer preferences change rapidly and enable your business to achieve higher efficiency and success.
Self-service business intelligence solutions are turbocharging the ranks of data aggregators that collate & analyze information from multiple sources to transform operational processes, alter corporate ecosystems, facilitate innovation, and generate valuable insights. At the outset, it is clear that players are making data and business intelligence a core element of their work strategy. Let’s read about how you can keep your fingers on the pulse of your business and reduce your time-to-action by following the best BI practices:
Involve all stakeholders, business partners, and users: It is advised to acquire sponsorship from company administrators to make uniform decisions aligning with organizational objectives. To move forward with a BI enterprise, the involvement of stakeholders, business partners, and users is important to ensure strategic planning on mission-critical project priorities. The involvement of actual decision-makers enables easy collection of data, performance analysis, and report generation with collaborative efforts.
Develop a BI blueprint: It is highly imperative to outline the key project scope and assess requirements to build a cohesive approach. Identify the type of information that is most critical to each stakeholder and establish a baseline for reporting needs while working on scalability. To implement a BI solution effectively, business users should consider identifying data sources and integration methods and collaborate with all stakeholders to achieve uniformity & agility in desired metrics. It can be argued that a strategic BI blueprint formed in the beginning sets a strong foundation to build upon in later stages of development. The more concise implementation during the outline, the clearer the implementation process will be to approach key business objectives.
Execute a quality data governance framework: With data governance in place, it is no question that the era of business intelligence holds the potential to yield new opportunities. Data governance encompasses enforcement mechanisms for individuals & information systems, decision-making rights, policies, data accountability. A well-structured data governance framework is a valuable enterprise asset that promises functional efficiency, regulatory compliance, reduced operational costs, enhanced security, and improved data quality. An effective data governance framework makes real-time personalization possible for customer-centric needs.
Design dashboards on universal standards: One of the most essential tools in business intelligence reporting is a dashboard that corresponds with your brand. While designing a dashboard for analysis and reporting processes, it is vital to consider factors like simplicity, consistency, clarity, and purpose so that your audience can extrapolate data trends seamlessly.
Empower broader business community: By educating & training individuals on established company technology and metrics, you can elevate comprehension, work performance, and investment in key business objectives. With increased data literacy and constantly evolving business intelligence, business users can remain agile and adapt innovations into their business intelligence strategies.
The Bottom Line
To efficiently serve the diverse analytical needs of your business, self-service business intelligence solutions are the most reliable & cost-effective way. Through business intelligence practices and forward-looking policies, organizations can focus their efforts on managing the data, analyzing the past performance, predict potential opportunities, and avoid triggers even before they have taken place.
At Polestar, our end-to-end BI approach starts with the identification of opportunities and building capabilities to sustain analytics advantage over the long term.
It’s time for you to follow the best BI practices for your business. Start Today!