Business Intelligence (BI) is a buzzphrase that is bandied about these days like it's the latest and greatest thing since sliced, multi-grain, wheat bread. And it may well be. BI offers the ability to make better informed decisions more quickly than ever before. Interestingly, the concept of BI has been around for a few years. The term 'Business Intelligence' was coined in 1865 by Richard Millar Devens’ in the ‘Cyclopædia of Commercial and Business Anecdotes’. Devens used the term to describe how the banker, Sir Henry Furnese, gained profit by receiving and acting upon information about his environment, ahead of his competitors.
Whether you employ BI for a competitive advantage, or to help enhance decision making in your organization, BI thought and tools need to be driven down through all levels of your company. How do I do that, you ask? Here are 3 ways to start enjoying the benefits of BI today:
1. Anyone who even touches Microsoft Excel should learn how to create Pivot Tables and make connections to external data sources. The empowerment that derives from these two abilities is phenomenal.
2. Train your accounting and financial analysis staff, as well as anyone in your company who analyzes data, to get graphical with presentations. Beyond just static bar and pie charts, a treasure trove of interactive analysis & presentation tools resides in latest generation Excel products. Power Pivot, Power Query, Power View, Power Map, etc., makes your data come alive right before your eyes. Upgrade to Office 2013 and these tools are at your disposal immediately.
3. Consider implementing Analysis Cubes for Excel (ACE). Data Warehousing used to be the province of mostly larger companies but Microsoft has harnessed the technology of data warehousing in the ACE product. Companies as small as half a dozen Dynamics users or less are now leveraging ACE to assist in data analysis and presentation. For a great YouTube overview on ACE, click here.
When you harness the capability in these tools, you'll be amazed at how quickly and more accurately you're making decisions that positively impact growth and profitability, not to mention employee satisfaction, in your business.
By Frank Hamelly, Senior Dynamics Consultant, I.B.I.S., Inc., Charlotte, NC USA