Have you ever heard of “Business Intelligence” or, as it’s often called, “BI”? You’re probably wondering exactly what it is and why everyone’s talking about it.
What is Business Intelligence?
Imagine you’ve got a mountain of books in front of you, and you want to understand the main theme of each one without reading them in their entirety. That’s what BI does, but with data. Business Intelligence is the art of transforming vast quantities of raw data into meaningful, actionable information to help companies make informed decisions.
How does it work?
Let’s take a simple example: suppose you have an online store selling shoes. Every day, hundreds or even thousands of people visit your site, some buying, some not. BI would help you to understand why certain customers buy, when they’re most active, which pairs are most popular, and so on. It takes all this data, analyzes it, and presents you with a clear picture of what’s going on.
For example, when a customer visits your online shoe store, every action they take leaves a digital footprint. Whether it’s browsing the various pages, clicking on a specific pair of shoes, adding an item to the basket or removing it, each interaction generates data.
This data is then stored in databases. Imagine these databases as vast digital libraries, filled with shelves of “books” containing stories from every visitor to your site. BI, in this context, would be like the expert librarian who knows how to read and interpret each story.
Why is this so good?
- Informed decisions : No more guesswork or relying solely on instinct. With BI, you have hard facts and figures to guide your choices.
- Anticipation: BI can help you anticipate future trends, so you’re always one step ahead of the competition.
- Personalization: By better understanding your customers through BI, you can offer them a more personalized experience.
Is this just for large companies?
Not at all! Although large companies were among the first to adopt BI, today even small businesses can benefit. User-friendly, affordable BI tools are available, making data analysis accessible to all.
BI is more than just graphs, dashboards and complicated algorithms. At the heart of BI is the aspiration to decipher the language of data. It offers a systematic approach to extracting relevant information from seemingly incoherent piles of data, helping us to find patterns, trends and valuable insights.
We live in an age where almost every action we take generates data, whether browsing the internet, making purchases or using apps. This abundance of data creates incredible potential for businesses and individuals alike. BI provides us with the tools to harness this potential, turning every click, every purchase and every interaction into a learning opportunity.