Evaluating BI Technologies

A tool whose primary function is to enable users to examine data in order to glean insights and discern trends, business intelligence (BI) technologies minimize the effort involved to accomplish those tasks. This, in turn, makes it easier to find, combine and examine the data needed to execute a prudent course of action.

With that in mind, it can be challenging to choose the right one for your situation as these platforms proliferate. To ease that burden, let’s take a look at some of the primary considerations to keep in mind when evaluating BI technologies.

Flexibility

The whole point here is to make decision making more efficient by leveraging fundamental data. Placing this capability in the hands of all users makes it even more so. Traditional data analysis required a user to route a query through a member for the IT team and wait for a response.

When data analysis is treated more like running a typical search on Google, Bing or Yahoo!, your data is democratized and bottlenecks are eliminated. Moreover, training is much easier because the queries are performed in the same manner users look for answers on the Internet.

Relational Search Engines, like the one employed by ThoughtSpot, guide users to the information they need by offering suggestions to help them search more thoroughly.

Embedding Capability

Getting the answers is just the first step when it comes to employing BI technologies. The most important aspect is being able to share findings with relevant team members.

Embeddable BI makes this possible, as it can run right alongside applications people are already using. This makes it easier for results to be reviewed throughout the company.

AI & Machine Learning

The best BI tools, gives managers the capability of amplifying performance across the board. It also provides ready response to ad hoc requests and delivers insights that may have been buried quite deeply within a data set.

BI tools incorporating artificial intelligence go beyond delivering the requested information to bring additional relevant information to the fore. Meanwhile, machine learning helps the platform remember what’s important to your team to ensure search results are always as useful as possible.

That the best ones can do all of this in seconds makes them all the more attractive, particularly when you consider it could take a team of people trying to accomplish the same thing manually days — or even weeks to produce less thorough results, with no peripheral insights that might also be useful.

Scalable Governance

One of the key advantages of contemporary BI tools is that they make it easy for anyone to analyze your data to derive actionable results. However, it’s unlikely you’d want just anyone to have the ability to go rooting around in your database.

With governance that is both scalable and centralized, you can keep better control, even while providing your team with broader access and greater flexibility. Moreover, the platform should have the ability to evolve as your business grows. The best platforms enable you to implement specific access permissions over millions of users.

They also make it easy to trace usage to see who asked for what — when they asked — and what they got. You can even customize security down to objects, rows and specific columns of data.

Looking for these traits will help you find an agile platform that is both flexible and robust. Going forward in business, you’re gong to need a tool that answers “what”, “what if” and “what’s next”. As you’re evaluating BI technologies, it’s important to have an understanding of where you are — and where you want to be — in order to ensure the platform is capable of taking you there and getting there with you.