A Business intelligence reporting tool is any platform that allows the collection, analysis, transformation, and reporting of data from several different sources. Also, a BI reporting tool helps to provide insights that aid decision making in an organization by visually presenting this stream of data in a meaningful and understandable way through interactive reports and dashboards.
Although a BI report has to be clear, thorough, and understood at a single glance, identifying the perfect BI software that is capable of delivering all three of these characteristics effectively can be quite challenging.
In this post, we will take a quick look at how you can identify the perfect BI software for you.
FEATURES OF A GOOD BI REPORTING SOFTWARE
There are many features you should look out for in a BI reporting application and one of them is user-friendliness. A good piece of BI software, no matter how advanced, needs to have an interface that can be quickly understood by anyone in your company. Furthermore, user-friendly BI software should have a variety of data visualization tools ranging from charts to graphs which will help present data in a way that is easily and quickly understood.
With the perfect BI software, you no longer have to rely on your IT department for BI reporting and the best part is that it improves your decision-making process by enhancing your efficiency. These features afford managers the time they need to focus on new business prospects while keeping a close eye on existing operations.
A good BI software allows the user to:
- Visually present complex BI data by reporting it in a simple way, providing an intuitive and interactive drag-and-drop interface. This allows uses without prior SQL knowledge to effectively produce a great Business Intelligence report.
- Work online without having to go through the technical aspects of downloading and installing the BI software.
- Carry out quick and thorough data analysis, irrespective of the complexities of the collated streams of data. Typically, data analytics using good BI software should be completed between 10 to 20 minutes.
- Save cash over updates and maintenance. Since you most probably will be working online, you will not have to worry about spending extra cash on either updating or maintaining the perfect BI report tools.
- Create and share BI reports wherever you are in the world. You should be able to create, access, and share your BI report as long as you have a good internet connection, and the best part is that you should be able to do all of them using any smart device.
- Directly send the links to the report to anyone you desire. Some BI software allows the user to automatically schedule when a report should be shared with specific recipients.
BENEFITS OF USING A GOOD BI SOFTWARE
Today, companies have to deal with big data every minute of every day. This can make the entire BI reporting process overwhelming to even the most technically minded. Hence, the importance of a good BI software.
Here are a few benefits that using BI software for BI reporting has to offer:
- MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON FACTS: Having to collect and analyze big data can lead anyone to make significant errors which can change the overall result of the report during presentations. Hence, compelling the company to make decisions based on an inaccurate report. This can cost the company a lot of money and, in some cases, vital relationships. Using good BI software help eradicate the possibility of these errors when performing data analytics.
- DISCOVERING NEW BUSINESS PROSPECTS: Finding the best ways to remain competitive in the market is a major concern for most companies. Accurately analyzing data by using good BI software help provide decision-makers the insights they need to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the competition. These insights help them identify actions they need to take to be more effective and yield profitable returns.
- ENHANCING BUSINESS EFFICIENCY: Using good BI software helps businesses save the two most vital commodities in any organization; time and money. A significant portion of the workflow of any company will be slowed-down when they devote a major chunk of their time and resources to acquiring and analyzing data. This then can dampen productivity and both strategic and operational efficiency. However, good BI software will help you identify, collect, analyze, and present data in a significantly shorter time.
BOTTOM LINE
Identifying and using the perfect Business Intelligence software helps in simplifying the data analytics process. This then affords your company the time and resources it needs to go after new business prospects and make the right business development decisions.
