The term Business Intelligence can be used in several contexts; however, one of the best ways to understand what the term means is to fully comprehend the definition of Business Intelligence and all that is involved with it. Business intelligence is functions and tools such as; various technologies, that are used to not only collect information, but also grant admittance to and examine data and information to support decision-making. Business intelligence is an essential part of a corporation because it can aid a business in making several integral decisions that could determine the success or failure of the corporation. Generally speaking, a company wants to come up with a business intelligence strategy that is straightforward because this makes the entire process run much smoother. There is a lot of data that can be gathered from various sources simultaneously, which can make it difficult to separate the valuable information from the irrelevant information. Business Intelligence Tools have also made gathering information more readily available to corporations that are interested in collecting and sorting through data. A few business intelligence tools include: These business intelligence tools play a crucial rule in business intelligence because there has been a large influx of data that has returned to corporations significantly faster than in previous years. Although it would seem as though it would be a great accomplishment to have as much new data filtering through a corporation as possible, it could also have its challenges. For example, a company could have a constant flow of data circulating throughout the company while lacking the personnel to manage any problems that may be detected. Not being able to control or supervise the data inflow almost defeats the purpose of having a large quantity of data if it cannot be sufficiently monitored and correctly taken care of in an ample amount of time. Regardless of any potential issues that may arise from a business intelligence system, the overall effect of using business intelligence reduces the cost and time of accumulating information. Business intelligence can be used for corporations of all sizes; however, the cost of executing a business intelligence system can be extremely extensive. Once the implementation stage of a business intelligence system has been initiated, there are roughly five fundamental areas to focus on. The first is the response time of the information that is received. This is important because some information may only be necessary on a daily or monthly basis while other information may be needed on a real-time basis. The second area that should be monitored is the data refresh rates, which captures the data. The third area is Visual versus Analytical Dashboards. This is vital because visual dashboards are needed for an immediate glance of the data; especially, since if any changes have been made to the information it will already be highlighted so that it is easily accessible. Analytical dashboards are important because it provides the data in its present state so that it can be further examined. The fourth area is data delivery and it makes sure that the proper people see the information that is relevant to them. The fifth area to consider is scalability, which should allow for any changes to the business intelligence system later on in the future. Although these five areas of business intelligence systems are important, they are not the only areas that should be considered. The more you invest into a business intelligence system, the greater the chance of receiving the results that are desired. The Future Artificial Intelligence used to be a distant thought to most people, but nowadays, it is within close reach. If technology continues to get better, there will not be such a great need for managers because artificial intelligence will be able to take over some of the tasks that managers are currently used for. Business Intelligence already plays a critical role in corporations that have put it to use; however, with the onset of newer and faster technology, one can only imagine what is in store for business intelligence. References:
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