Business Intelligence - Implementations
Implementing Business Intelligence (BI) involves choosing the right solution to meet your specific needs and challenges. We will take a closer look at different types of Business Intelligence (BI) solutions, each designed to address specific needs and challenges in BI implementation.
The types of BI solutions well discuss are based on how they are built and deployed −
- Out-of-the-box BI
- Agile BI
- Self-service BI
Out of the Box BI
Out-of-the-box BI (OOTB BI) solutions come pre-packaged with reports, dashboards, and functionalities for specific applications like CRM, ERP, or HR modules.
- These solutions are ready to use after installation, saving businesses time and effort compared to custom-developed BI.
- Examples include BMC Analytics for BSM and Oracle OOTB BI.
- The main benefits are pre-built reports, higher reliability due to vendor expertise, and automatic updates as the associated applications evolve.
Out-of-the-box BI (OOTB BI) solutions streamline business intelligence by providing ready-to-use reports, dashboards, and functionalities across various domains like Sales, Finance, HR, and ERP systems, including Excel integrations.
Unlike custom BI solutions, which can be time-consuming and complex to develop, OOTB BI solutions are immediately operational after installation.
For instance, tools like BMC Analytics for BSM and Oracles BI solutions come with a wealth of pre-built reports and features, saving significant development time and ensuring reliability through expert design. These reports are regularly updated alongside application upgrades.
Benefits of OOTB BI Include
#1) Quick Insights − Access valuable information instantly through pre-designed dashboards and reports.
#2) Reduced IT Workload − IT handles backend management while users enjoy both corporate and self-service BI on a private cloud.
#3) Adaptable − Standard reports can be customized to fit specific business needs.
#4) User-Friendly and Scalable − Easy to use and capable of growing with your data needs.
#5) Future-Ready − Start with essential modules and expand seamlessly with new data sources.
Overall, OOTB BI provides an efficient, flexible approach to business intelligence, delivering reliable insights and reducing the need for custom development.
Self-service BI
Self-service BI (SSBI) was once promoted as a game-changer by BI vendors. Around 2010, many business managers were led to believe that SSBI would make BI teams unnecessary, allowing them to create reports and analyze data on their own without waiting for help.
However, by 2020, it became clear that BI teams are still very much needed, and their demand is growing. So, what happened to the SSBI promise?
SSBI is a set of tools within BI solutions that lets non-IT users, like marketing or finance managers, analyze data and create reports without needing to code or rely on the BI team. This feature has become common in most BI tools and helps businesses work faster.
However, there are still some misunderstandings about SSBI. Some think it can be run entirely by non-IT teams, makes BI teams unnecessary, doesnt need a server setup, and gives all users full data access. These myths can create confusion about what SSBI can actually do.
In the end, while SSBI offers flexibility, its clear that the role of BI teams is still essential in making sense of complex data.
Agile BI
Agile practices are used by agile business intelligence to create BI products and/or services.
This approach, contrary to the traditional approach which involves making a flowchart initially, has parallel execution of small functionalities that progress towards a final product.
In the past, BI solutions were often developed using the Waterfall methodology, resulting in lengthy and complex projects that frequently faced delays, failed to meet expectations, or were scrapped. These projects typically produced static reports that required code changes and redeployments to address new questions.
Agile BI emerged in the late 2000s as a solution to these issues. By applying agile development principles, Agile BI focuses on creating scalable modules with quicker returns on investment and adapting swiftly to business changes.
It emphasizes features like self-service BI and interactive dashboards, enabling business users to get answers to their questions faster and more flexibly than traditional methods.
In essence, Agile BI offers a more responsive and efficient approach to BI solution implementation, making it a preferred choice for modern businesses.