What is Business Intelligence? Definition and Solution.

At a glance, the term business intelligence might seem like nothing more than a buzz word used to describe the intellectual capabilities of entrepreneurs. However, if you jumped to that very basic conclusion then you're probably not familiar with the actual practice of business intelligence within large companies. In the corporate space, business intelligence (BI) is a field in its own right, based around data, statistical analysis, and strategy. In essence, it's a term used to describe systems, software, processes, and procedures that involve the collection of data for the purpose of forming crucial business insights. As such, the field of BI encompasses every quantitative and qualitative aspect of operations, serving as the lead department for the company's current and future direction.

Using BI to Measure and Improve Key Metrics

In today's world, collecting BI naturally requires the use of many different digital tools. Centralizing all of that data into a single platform can be challenging, but doing so provides a streamlined method for assessing all facets of a company's growth. Business intelligence systems aim to solve this problem by giving companies all-inclusive, robust dashboards that can analyze and display a diverse range of data, intelligence, and suggestions based on user-defined goals. For example, a business can use BI to improve the company's overall ROI, CRM, employee retention, SEO rankings, individual product sales, conversion rates, and virtually any other mission-critical metric.

Governing and Monitoring Company Data Effectively

Business intelligence also encompasses securing, organizing, and cleansing data of any errors, duplicates, or other problems that would result in inaccurate analysis. BI tools make it easier to implement rules and processes that keep your data ideally formatted and archived for convenient analysis and display. Any progressive company should be using a BI tool that can illustrate a variety of statistics in the form of graphs, charts, tables, lists, and all other insightful formats for data analysis. These graphical representations are perfect for facilitating brainstorming sessions and meetings that help company leaders “get the big picture.”

Drawing Conclusions from Statistical Analysis 

Aside from measuring and monitoring, the tertiary function of BI is to provide logical insights and conclusions that business owners and managers can use to improve their executive capabilities. There are many kinds of business analysis that can be centralized under the umbrella of BI, including competitive analysis, SEO analysis, and content analysis. Having tools that help you track all of those fields within a single robust solution is the best way to gain an edge in any industry. In fact, the importance of statistics and BI for managerial decision-making has been widely covered and is a well-established fact, which is why this term has become so popular in board room vernacular.

Where Do BI and AI Intersect?

Of course, the ultimate outcome of all these developments in business intelligence and artificial intelligence will probably lead to the two fields colliding. When that happens, companies with the best BI and AI tools will have almost supernatural advantages over typical competitors, ushering in an age where technology will undoubtedly be even more pivotal for business success than it is now.