Business Intelligence and Business Analytics are two terms that mean different things to different people. Some argue Business Analytics is the future and Business Intelligence is the past. Some say there is absolutely no difference.
What does the rise in the interest towards Business Analytics mean for Business Intelligence?
Over the last decade, the google searches for the term Business Analytics has significantly increased but what that implies – no one really knows. Is the rise of one, the death of the other?
So what is Business Intelligence and what is Business Analytics?
There are no wrong or right answers because what these two terms mean vary on how each person perceives them. Here is how we perceive these two terms.
Traditionally, we know that Business Intelligence is all about accessing and managing historical data, coming up with new tools that will aid in reporting, dash boarding, and sharing of these information towards different consumers of the data. All of these is aimed at improving the operational efficiency of the business by making sure that the decision makers have their real-time data at hand when they need it. Business Intelligence enables businesses to identify problems and resolve them through analysis of these historical data.
Meanwhile, Business Analytics is arguably a part of Business Intelligence. It is through business analytics that decision makers can take their data to the next level by allowing people to anticipate with a certain degree of reliability through predictive analytics and predictive modeling, to allow people to follow the thought process as they explore the data, and to allow people to raise questions that is meant for an improvement in the future.
Is Business Intelligence dying because of Business Analytics?
We don´t think so. We think that businesses need both. Businesses need Business Intelligence to enable employees to do their job well. Businesses need historical data to continue to make resolutions to identified problems through historical analysis.
At the same time, businesses need Business Analytics to be able to drive change in the business. They need analytics to propel the business forward by being able to consume intelligent data in a way that it helps them stay ahead of potential obstacles.
Having that ability to look at what has happened and why they happened is a good way to run day to day operations. Analytics enhances that by asking “what do we think will happen next?” and “how should we prepare for that.”
How about you? How do you define both Business Intelligence and Business Analytics? Tell us what you think.
About Performance Canvas
Today, Microsoft Excel remains the number one tool used for Business Analytics. It is not without limitations of course but truth be told – it still works and it is still favored.
Performance Canvas understands the inclination of finance personnel towards Excel which is why it chose to leverage the capabilities of Microsoft Excel instead of trying to dismiss it altogether.
Performance Canvas – a powerful tool used for reporting and analysis, profitability analysis, budgeting, dash boarding, score carding, and consolidating – seeks to deliver data to its users in an automated, secured, comprehensible, and reliable way.
To see a demo of the product or learn more about it email us at info@dspanel.com.
DSPanel offers cutting edge technology platform for business analytics, planning, and visualization. DSPanel designs, builds, and operates with the end users in mind. Performance Canvas was created by DSPanel to answer the unarticulated needs of the market not addressed by previous available solutions. With Performance Canvas, information is transformed into valuable business insights for the business executives to utilize in their decision-making process. DSPanel currently has over 2500 organizations deploying their solutions.
