Many people who work in Business Intelligence & Data Analytics frequently get asked the question “so what is it you do exactly?” The industry answer is “I use technologies and applications for the collection, integration, analysis, and presentation of business information” to which the response is “so what is it you do exactly?” Which is a predictable response to that answer.
Explain Further
Firms have business goals. Those goals come with a litany of questions. It becomes the responsibility of Business Intelligence and Data Analytics to answer those questions and track the performance of those goals. The $64,000 question then becomes, HOW? ($64,000 is a bargain price, actually). So we are going to try and decipher the realm of Business Intelligence and Data Analytics over the course of time for those business partners who don’t have the time or the cash to earn a Master’s Degree in analytics or a Ph.D. in Statistics.
When applied correctly, the discipline of Business Intelligence and Data Analytics has the capability to create a tangible and sustained competitive advantage for many businesses in many industries. Learning key pieces of information about customer demographics, buying behavior, or profit forecasting will allow any agile business to take decisive action when faced with opportunities. These are only examples of how BIDA has been used, the actual applications are as limited as the creativity of the project analyst doing the work.
Business Intelligence vs Data Analytics
To parse the difference between Business Intelligence and Data Analytics themselves, it is easy to think about Business Intelligence addressing operational activities with reporting and historical data.
The Data Analytics portion allows companies to describe and get a picture of the future. Both disciplines are not new, but technology has enabled them to be more accessible to everyday business owners.
Using them together can allow a business to get a descriptive and diagnostic view of where they have been and a prescription for where they are going.
Next blog we are going to discuss in deeper detail the Goals and Benefits of Business Intelligence and Data Analytics.
After that, the steps a BIDA projects take and the general workflow of a project, where you can source the data, and then what everyone is waiting for practical examples of Business Intelligence and Data Analytics projects.