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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.

Business Intelligence Special Interest Group

Special Interest Group (1371 members)

Forum about Business Intelligence

Discussions about Business Intelligence.

🔥	NEW Sense Making in Decision Making Support Hi, I'm currently writing my master’s thesis. It's title is: "Sense Making in Decision Making Support". According to (...)

	Setting up a BI Unit What are the steps required to create a Business Intelligence section in my department to facilitate business planning, (...)

Best Practices about Business Intelligence

Here you find the most valuable discussions from the past.

🥇	Business Intelligence History Wikipedia says In 1989 Howard Dresner, a Research Fellow at Gartner Group popularized "BI" as an umbrella term to descri (...)

🥈	Decision-centric BI (DCBI) I recently read a new term: "Decison-centric BI" in an article by Dan Vesset from IDC in SASCOM. DCBI is the move from i (...)

🥉	Business Intelligence Tools for SMEs For the last two years I have been working giving some advice on processes improvement to local companies from small to (...)

	Creating Decision Making Dashboards Companies must make common dashboards available, integrating all relevant information to support the decision-making pro (...)

	Business Intelligence Definitions Business Intelligence (BI) is the process of gathering, maintaining and analysing a vast amount of data for taking fact- (...)

	Business Intelligence Software What is the actual role business intelligence (BI) software is playing in the actual strategy process of an organization (...)

	Evaluation of Business Intelligence Systems. Metrics I am looking for metrics to evaluate BI systems. Someone has a clue? Is there a standard available for this? (...)

	Combining GIS and BI Sometimes we can combine a GIS with BI to provide a better way to make a decision. (...)

	Business Intelligence Quotes Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted - Sun Tzu, 4th century B.C. (...)

	Self-servicing Business Intelligence Bill Hostmann from Gartner Research in a SAS magazine expects that information will be increasingly self-servicing. Gett (...)

	Business and Strategic Intelligence Is strategic intelligence the same concept as that of business intelligence? The only difference I picked up was that st (...)

Expert Tips about Business Intelligence

Here you will find advices by experts.

	Business Analytics Best Practices / Business Intelligence Best Practices Business Intelligence, Business Analytics, Evidence-based Decision Making, Big Data (...)

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	Using BI for Competitive Advantage - Best Practices Business Intelligence, Competitive Advantage, Best Practices (...)

	Common Business Intelligence Pitfalls Investing in BI, Avoiding Pitfalls, Getting Full Value out of Business Analytics (...)

	Limitations of Real-time Business Intelligence Decision-making, Business Analytics, Decision Support (...)

	Generic Benefits of Real-time BI Decision-making, Business Analytics, Decision Support (...)

	What are the Main Categories of BI Tools? BI Types, BI Categories (...)

	Preparing for Implementation of BI systems Generic Steps to Consider, Checklist (...)

	3 Steps in Solving Problems with Data Credibility Improving Data Reliablility, IT, Business Intelligence (...)

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	Relevance of BI to Strategy and Decision-making BI, Decision-making, Business Analytics (...)

	Defining Real-time Business Intelligence Decision-making, Business Analytics (...)

Information Sources about Business Intelligence

Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc.

	Performance Management with Business Intelligence Business Intelligence, Corporate Performance Management, Key Performance Indicators, ERP, Predictive Analysis (...)

	Implementation of a Business Intelligence Strategy. Steps Business Intelligence, BI Strategy, BI Process, BI Steps (...)

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	KPIs and KPI Management Understanding KPIs, Introduction (...)

	Business Intelligence Diagram Business Intelligence (...)

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