7 Key Elements of a Valuable BI Solution

This is the year that you are going to invest in a business intelligence (BI) solution that puts your business on the path to success. If you’re reading this, you already know the many benefits of BI for business – your problem is differentiating one BI tool from another. Here we will break down the key elements you want to look out for when investing in a valuable BI solution.

BI element #1: Security

A Business Tech article outlined a report by Trend Micro that described South Africa as a ‘playground for cybersecurity criminals’. The report found South Africa to be one of the 30 most targeted countries for malware attacks. That’s why, when it comes to your BI tool, you need to ensure it has state-of-the-art security protocols with continuous monitoring that protects all your sensitive data. Check for security controls such as intruder detection systems, two-factor authentication and vulnerability scanning.

BI element #2: Personalised dashboards

Data is only effective for a business when it’s easily understood and accessible in real-time. This means you’ll need a BI solution that provides personalised or customised dashboards that allow you to view all of your data in one place. With this easy overview and comprehensive summary, you’re able to identify the challenges and opportunities within your business for better decision making.

BI element #3: Report ranking

Another great feature on BI tools is report ranking. This is where you can create data-driven reports focusing on specific categories within the business by drawing on data from multiple sources. Once collated, these reports rank your best and worst performing products, services or regions. This is an incredibly effective way to streamline your operations according to what is actually working – and what isn’t.

BI element #4: Interactive reports

Remaining with the report features, your BI tool should also allow you to access interactive reports which let you perform various types of data discovery and analysis. Among these are drilling down into the data, filtering and sorting data for much more convenient, real-time analysis.

BI element #5: Scalability

As the past two years have made abundantly clear, change can happen at any time. And as the market shifts, so must your business which is why you want to ensure the BI tool is scalable. If you’re looking to grow your business over time, the BI solution needs to have the capacity to scale up as your demands and data needs increase. On the other hand, where data needs diminish, the BI tool must also be able to scale down effectively.

Element #6: Location intelligence (LI)

Businesses need to understand operations in an area-specific context and this means investing in a BI tool with location intelligence (LI). This LI tool will leverage various location-relevant data sources including geographic information systems (GIS), aerial maps and demographic information, among others. This data is then presented in a visual format so that you can understand how your business is performing from region to region.

Element #7: Simplicity

Finally, you want a BI solution that is simple enough for all stakeholders to use and understand – not just the IT department. Check what the user experience is like, whether the system is intuitive and if you’re able to collaborate with colleagues and customers.

Read More: Top Business Intelligence Trends For 2022

Don’t feel overwhelmed by all the BI solutions available, just take the first step which is getting in contact with Canvas Intelligence. Using their granular BI solutions, Canvas Intelligence helps your organisation track operational efficiencies, control budgets and manage costs in real-time. Their BI experts also provide training and consultancy for business intelligence systems.