Business Intelligence guide

Business intelligence can be defined as a set ofsimple terms the goal of the organization that the
business processes designed to garner and analyzeprogram will address should be considered. There
business information. It is a vast category of applicationshould be a rough idea of how can the program will
of programs that includes providing access to data tolead to better results.b) Secondly the expense of
help an entrepreneur in his business decisions, task ofadopting a new business intelligence program should
query and reporting, online analytical processingbe estimated. Along with this the risk involved in the
(OLAP), statistical analysis, forecasting and data mining.business intelligence program should also be calculated
Big and small companies collect information to assessand so planning should be done accordingly.c) A
the business environment i.e. to acquire a sustainableperson should also know that who all will be direct and
competitive advantage in the business environmentindirect beneficiaries and who will pay for the initiative.
and also cover the areas of marketing research,Also see what will be the quantitative and qualitative
industry research and competitive analysis. Everybenefits and about employees, shareholders, distribution
business intelligence system has a particular purposechannels etc.d) The information so gathered must be
(be it short term or a long term purpose) based on atracked into well-defined metrics. A person should be
vision statement or organizational goal.sure of the kind of metrics adopted, its standardization
Business intelligence involves different strategies. Theand its performance.e) A person should establish a
BI task can be handled with the aid of applicationprocedure to reach the ideal way of measuring the
software. Application software is broadly categorizedrequisite metrics. In this you must also acknowledge
under class of computer software that enables awhat methods to be adopted and the pace at which
computer to function in accordance with what the userthe organization will collect the data. Make sure that
desires. The application software is different from theyou know about existing industry standards if any and
system software that integrates different capabilitiesthe best way to do the measurements.f) The business
of the computer but these are not directly applied tointelligence program should be carefully governed to
the benefit of the user. The application software isensure completion of the desired targets. You may
designed to help people be prudent in taking decisionshave to make several adjustments or modifications in
by imparting them accurate, current and requisitethe program from time to time. The business
information. This is precisely the reason that businessintelligence program should also be tested for
intelligence is also referred to as 'decision-supportaccuracy, reliability and validity. One should also know
system' or DSS.that how the business intelligence initiative entails a
While framing and implementing a business intelligencevariation in results and how much change was a
program there are several crucial points to be borne inchance product.
mind.a) The goal or the purpose of the program, in