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Last Updated on January 20, 2024 by Work In My Pajamas
Companies preparing to leverage business intelligence (BI) tools can find the choices confusing. Doing a BI platform comparison involves weighing the relative advantages of a variety of features and technical issues. This is particularly frustrating when you don’t fully understand how to deploy the platform or even know exactly what you need. BI tools may offer an impressive list of features, but without proper support and training, companies can waste time and money on disappointing results. There’s no simple answer that will fit every business, but there are some things you should know before purchasing a BI platform.
In This Post:
Everything you need to know about BI Platforms
Understand existing systems
The chief benefit of BI software is the ability to combine all of your existing data into one repository that can merge, analyze, and report on all your business operations. However, to be sure a complete technical upgrade isn’t necessary, you should look for a BI platform that will integrate with your existing systems. Accounting software, inventory systems, existing databases, project management, spreadsheet software, and everything else should be able to feed your analytics system with as few compatibility issues as possible. BI software that can’t handle certain data types or file formats means your analyses may be missing critical information.
Training is required
With almost any new software product, there’s a period of adjustment where you have to consult the manual or follow training sessions before you are comfortable with using both the features and the interface. You won’t get real value from your software if it isn’t being fully utilized. When doing any kind of BI platform comparison, one of the key aspects to consider is the training time required before your analytics team is up to speed. Often there’s real technical knowledge required as well as just effectively navigating the software. When presenting new tools to your team, it’s important that they have the time, resources, and training they need to deliver quality results.
Apply Use Cases
Before tackling a new BI platform you should develop some use cases that reflect core processes of your business. This will help to both train your team and start developing useful solutions you will eventually require. By exploring how end users will interact with your tools, your IT or analytics team can deliver dashboards or reporting solutions to provide data for common business problems or performance indicators. Many BI projects can fail because there’s a disconnect between BI teams and the typical end user. For instance, customers aren’t served if support agents aren’t trained with the proper tools.
Plan Security Measures
If it seems like data breaches are a constant problem, it’s because they are. While the internet is one of the greatest informational resources we have, the interconnectivity also gives hackers the opportunity to attack systems all over the globe. Security breaches can lead to pilfering credit account numbers, identity theft, denial of service, and outright vandalism. Especially when considering cloud services as part of a BI platform, it’s important to establish what security procedures can be utilized.
This should include:
- User authentication and privileges
- Logging and auditing
- Encryption
- Isolation of sensitive data
- Regulatory compliance
- Backups and redundancy to safeguard against data loss
Know Your Objectives
The most common requirement in BI platform comparison is flexibility. As your data grows technologies evolve and your business needs change. You want software that can be adapted or customized to follow suit. Think about what you wish to achieve in the long term, whether it’s an ambitious project or constant improvements to efficiency. Determine whether a particular tool will still work for you. Look for a vendor that’s already innovative and provides the opportunity to upgrade and expand in the future.
Checklist
There are some other key questions you should have satisfactory answers to before deciding on your BI platform:
- What data am I collecting and how do I want it analyzed?
- What will be the cost of ownership? Are there licenses? Fees? Add-ons?
- What’s the quality of the technical support provided?
- How much time and what kind of systems are necessary to integrate with your company infrastructure?
- What kind of features can you expect going forward?
Modern business is increasingly data-driven. Nearly every company is looking for ways to collect more data and use it to discover insights that improve the bottom line and provide competitive advantages. A BI platform comparison can seem overwhelming, but you won’t realize all the advantages unless you find a solution that’s right for your business.
