Business Intelligence

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What is Business Intelligence? Definition

Business Intelligence (BI) aims at making better business decisions through the use of a broad category of Management Information Systems, applications and technologies for gathering, storing, analyzing, and providing access to data. BI uses timely and accurate information to make decisions.

Typical BI activities

Typically, BI activities include decision support, query and reporting, online analytical processing, statistical analysis, forecasting, and data mining. BI represents those systems that help companies understand what makes the corporation successful, and to help predict the future impact of current decisions. These systems play a key role in strategic planning process of the corporation.

Business Analytics versus Business Intelligence

What is the difference between business analytics (BA) and business intelligence (BI)?

Both processes involve data as their main component. And both are aimed to improve "decision-making". However the decisions being supported are different:

• BI is used to run the current business smoothly on a strategic/tactical level, like perhaps by what % did our market share increase in market X? Or should we invest in country A or B. While BA is used to create ongoing improvements to certain operational processes of firms, like perhaps optimizing online suggestions to clients for cross selling purposes.
• BI has a strategic focus on making use of available data to take managerial decisions, whereas BA focuses on operational/tactical improvements typically automating them using predicitive analytics.
• BI focuses on the present (what should we do now). BA focuses on future improvements of some process.
• BI is typically used for things like reporting, KPI monitoring, scorecards, performance management. BA is typically used for statistical, quantitive, and predictive analytics.

Typical Business Intelligence Applications

Typical BI systems are: customer profiling, market basket analysis, anti money laundering, anti fraud, customer contact analysis, market segmentation, credit scoring, product profitability, inventory movement as well as certain risk related applications.

Business Intelligence software

BI software provides better steering information to managers, enabling them to make better business decisions, ultimately leading to increased shareholder and stakeholder value creation. BI systems play a key role in strategic planning process of the corporation.

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