After the dramatic change the world witnessed during the COVID-19 lockdown; it is now more important than ever for companies to start thinking about how to use business intelligence for more efficient business moves.
Intelligence systems combine different operational data with some analytical tools to provide complex information to management and decision-makers to be able to solve a wide variety of problems. Business intelligence helps in providing information about your competitors or customers as well as information on mergers and acquisitions or recruitment. Financial information, news articles, demographics, biographies, and customer and competitor information are required to answer these requests. Some information can be easily obtained while others require high efforts to be gathered.
This article shows different business intelligence trends of 2021.
1- Artificial intelligence
The first thing we are talking about is artificial intelligence. So what exactly does artificial intelligence mean? Well, it refers to any machine that is capable of doing human tasks such as learning or problem-solving. The machines are programmed to think and act like humans. Companies all over the world are now using artificial intelligence in their businesses. For example, Amazon doesn’t only use artificial intelligence for its famous digital voice assistant Alexa, they use artificial intelligence in collecting data about consumer’s buying habits and hence recommend products and predict what customers need before they even know they need it by using predictive analysis. In addition, artificial intelligence has become crucial in the healthcare industry as now there are robots that assist in surgeries which free up doctors’ and nurses’ schedules.
2- In the Cloud:
One of the major business intelligence trends has been cloud services. Especially now during the pandemic where employees are working from home, cloud-based business intelligence tools make data and applications easily accessible and reports can be shared quickly at any time and anyplace. Also, one of the main benefits of cloud services is the ability for it to easily recover lost data. It also ensures backup for important data and this can reduce companies’ costs significantly. Cloud services will continue to be one of the major business intelligence trends in the future.
3- Data storytelling:
Data analysis helps in uncovering insights, however, being able to communicate and interpret those data is what drives decision making. Putting those insights into action is not easy however with the help of business intelligence tools through data storytelling and data visualization it has become easier. Data storytelling provides the narrative needed for action either through dashboards, interactive reports, or storyboards, which helps put information into context. On the other hand, data visualization turns those data into graphics and charts for the audience to easily understand the data.
4- Mobile BI
Due to the pandemic, mobile business intelligence will be more available. This allows users working from home to access BI-related data and dashboards and so on mobile devices. Mobile BI platforms ensure that data is easily accessible anytime and anywhere. Also, it allows you to get in touch with real-time data quickly as well as setting up alerts, notifications, and features that improve internal communications. Even though implementing mobile BI has many challenges such as limited screen size and design of the interface in ensuring the best possible usability, there is no doubt that mobile BI is going to stay as one of the business intelligence trends in 2021.
5- Data Automation:
Data automation reduces manually collecting, processing, and storing large data. This will result in eliminating any data update delay. There are many benefits of data automation, some of these benefits includes; increasing productivity and reducing costs. It also ensures that the different processes and results of the organization are consistent. Data automation also helps in improving internal processes as well as adding real value as it ensures long lasting relationships between customers and the business and enhances customer satisfaction.
References:
Negash, S., & Gray, P. (2008). Business intelligence. In Handbook on decision support systems 2 (pp. 175-193). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Foley, É., & Guillemette, M. G. (2010). What is business intelligence?. International Journal of Business Intelligence Research (IJBIR), 1(4), 1-28.