Business Intelligence: from Silicon Valley to global adoption

Even if terms like big data, artificial intelligence and advanced analytics are not new in the business world, many organisations still have difficulties to understand how business intelligence can work for them.

Companies should find ways to harness their powers to make decisions that can help them achieve their goals. Data is shaping the ways organisations worldwide do businesses, and it’s the moment they to organise raw data in a way that makes their processes more effective.

In the past businesses didn’t have the needed tools to access the huge amounts of data they get, but business intelligence can help them make sense of these data pieces and transform them into pieces of information that can influence their decisions. BI systems use analysis software to check raw data and deliver information organisations can use to establish their setbacks.

Netflix has no other competitor on the market, than sleep. Their services are so great people stop using them only when they have to sleep. But sometimes, the shows this platform provides are so catchy they keep users awake even late at night. And because sleep is a natural process, Netflix has achieved a great performance convincing many of its users to change their sleeping habits to watch their favourite show.

But how did Netflix managed to retain its users? They understand what their clients are interested in. So once one of the users is finishing the show they watched until now, the platform recommends them another similar one. This way the users don’t cancel their subscription and Netflix gains more popularity.

Starbucks is also taking advantage of business intelligence technology through its loyalty card program. This program ensures millions of clients every month. The program provides Starbucks data about its customers and using the information it receives and the BI software, it can estimate the offers and purchases their clients are interested in. The users receive on their smartphones messages with offers they can take advantage of.

The result is that Starbucks attracts clients to its stores regularly and can boost the volume of sales by combining CRM systems and BI.   

Amazon is the best example of an organisation that implemented BI and boosted its success by using it. It’s one of the main innovators of Business Intelligence and Big Data. It uses the software to offer its clients recommendations according to their search history and previous purchases. It’s stated that Amazon ships the product before the buyer even places the order, so good their system is.

They patented this program, and called it Anticipatory Shipping. It basically implies shipping the product to the client in anticipation of the order. They trust Big Data so much they know the client will place the order, before they confirm it. The use of BI allows them not only to make decisions based on past behaviour, but also predicting the future.

The finance industry takes great advantage of Business Intelligence. American Express is one of the first organisations that used BI in this niche. They used the technology to create new payment service products and offers to reach more clients.

Based on the data they receive they can identify the users who will close their accounts in no more than 4 months. This piece of information allows them to take measures and customise offers to retain those clients. Business Intelligence does more than helping Apex identify the clients who want to close their accounts, it also helps them detect possible frauds and prevent data leaks.

As the examples above have shown, BI can provide organisations with a great amount of real value as long as they use it properly. Most of the companies are already collecting the information BI technology is using to provide insights, but they don’t have the right programmes to extract the data they need. When they fail to use the data they already have, they miss opportunities and lose money.

Companies from all sectors can use BI because the same principles can apply to numerous needs. It’s essential to purchase cloud big data technologies from reliable providers, experienced in the industry. If they meet difficulties in using them, the provider can offer training and support.

BI can help companies make smart decisions based on past events and an assessment of their current processes. Some of them prefer to choose predictive technologies instead of BI, but this way they don’t get an accurate picture of how all factors are influencing their operations. This technology does more than analysing the past behaviour and making recommendations, it can predict how certain actions will change the feasibility of a business. For example, a business analytics tool can predict that lowering the price for a certain product can boost sales.

BI is part of a line of technologies that can help organisations succeed  

BI is not the only technology designed to enhance business effectiveness, it should be combined with BA and machine learning to get the best results. Only by mixing multiple resources, businesses can benefit from a powerful tool that can offer them a complete picture of the state of their organisation and on the aspects, they have to further explore. Based on the data BI provides, companies need to research what the results of different what-if scenarios would be.

Business Intelligence creates a strong foundation upon which companies can create their plan of action because it informs them where the things are, what the present state of the firm is, and how things can change according to the processes they choose. If BI is combined with analytics it can facilitate businesses to make decisions that boost their success.

By understanding how Business Intelligence works,  and how companies have integrated it in their processes, companies can gather and analyse unmatched volumes of data.  The conclusion is that when using it organisations can handle more effectively data and with a lower risk of inaccuracy.