In the introduction of Business Intelligence & Data Analytics, we discussed how it is the role of Business Intelligence & Data Analytics to answer business questions and track the performance of a firm’s goals (in short). This blog is about the benefits of those projects and a small sampling of what kind of goals are typical.
Benefits of making investments in Business Intelligence and Data Analytics projects?
First, it forces the business to address the issue of data and information silos. Information or data silos occur whenever a data system is not integrated or inharmonious with other data systems. Such data silos show to be a stumbling block for businesses that seek to utilize and make use of data mining to make constructive results using this data.
Imagine a Cold War-era America and her nuclear arsenal. Imagine further that each individual missile silo had a wealth of information about a specific area of interest but was unable to communicate or match data with other silos. This is not the most effective management of something so consequential. In fact, it could be considered dangerous.
A business needs to make sure that Enterprise ERP systems, CRM systems, business-specific applications, and digital & marketing channels are all speaking the same language – Data.
The second benefit, once the data silo issue is managed, Business Intelligence and Data Analytics allow the senior management or stakeholders to monitor the company’s performance from non-traditional angles. A stakeholder could be a person or group of people who has an interest in a department or company and can either affect or be affected by the business.
It's important to involve them because they have more knowledge about the specific needs and wants of the organization and how they will use the data to generate actionable insights. Instead of just using balance sheets and profit & loss statements, more granular analysis is at the decision maker’s fingertips to identify outliers and concerning business trends.
The last benefit we are going to discuss is accessibility. Data accessibility means removing restrictions to fully leverage the data on the database. This process allows users to easily access or retrieve data that can be stored, move or manipulate. There's a different level of access for each individual depending on their role or function. Data access can help determine the access capability of administrators and users. For example, administrators may have the power to remove, edit and add data, while general users may not even have "read" rights if they lack access to particular information.
Using the right technologies allows all the correct users have access to the right information they need. This is an essential factor when you are tasking people with root cause analysis of business inefficiencies or planning a marketing rollout of a new product.
The standard thinking in Business Intelligence and Data Analytics is the axiom “ If it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed.” Giving the right owners of objectives access to the right data is an essential task if being a modern or agile business is an important factor in the long-term growth of the company.
Next time, we will continue discussing the goal-setting of Business Intelligence & Data Analytics projects.