Business intelligence tools and approaches provide actionable insights that help companies solve problems and make informed strategic business decisions. This is why if we look around us, we’ll see plenty of great use cases and business intelligence examples in the world.
In this article, we discuss further what business intelligence is, why it is important, and the examples of business intelligence that positively impact companies and users like us. Keep reading to learn how companies improve business intelligence to make more effective decisions.
What Is Business Intelligence?
Business intelligence refers to the techniques, services, and tools to enhance business performance based on structured and unstructured real-time data. The datasets are collected from different sources and processed into a single dataset for data mining, data modeling, statistical analysis and predictive analytics.
The purpose is to find patterns, trends, and inconsistencies in the current business state. Unlike data analytics, business intelligence ensures that the data is presented on interactive dashboards and graphical representation reports. This analytical processing helps companies identify strategies to progress towards business goals.
Where Is Business Intelligence Used?
- Research
- Financial services
- Healthcare
- Marketing
- Small businesses and corporations
Why Is Business Intelligence Important?
By providing actionable insights, business intelligence helps organizations enhance business processes, create comprehensive business strategies, and improve the customer base. It enables business leaders to look beyond information, understand consumer behavior, and come up with data-driven decisions, giving their companies a competitive edge.
Business insights from past and current data can also identify potential problem areas and propose recommendations before they happen. They can also help companies create products to meet customer demands. This type of data processing and reporting gives valuable insights that can be maximized for improving business growth and increasing market shares.
Real-World Examples of Business Intelligence
The business intelligence process covers data gathering, data storage, data analysis, and knowledge management. To keep up with the pace and dynamism of the business landscape, companies employ this process and take advantage of business intelligence strategy, technologies, and systems. Below are some good business intelligence examples and applications:
- Self-service BI
- Enhanced insights for training systems
- Visualization of massive databases
- Centralized data for financial analysis and reporting
- Analytics for market opportunities
- Automated reporting for operational effectiveness
- BI tools for marketing and sales intelligence
- Internal reporting for enterprise-wide users
- Visualization for cloud-based solutions
- Personalized recommendations for enhanced CX
10 Great Examples of Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence Example 1: Self-Service BI
Cummins is a data-driven manufacturing company that serves multiple business segments. To ensure that its business users get real-time and accurate data, Cummins needed a solution that balances governance and autonomy in report creation while including advanced analytics. This is where Cummins introduced self-service BI by integrating Power BI by Microsoft in their systems.
Business Intelligence Example 2: Enhanced Insights for Training Systems
Johnson Controls needed to roll out an effective training strategy that tracks various aspects of the training and analyzes data from 20,000 employees in training. Through a business intelligence platform, it was able to manage processes, avoid disparate reporting, and use insights for training optimization. The company was able to access analysis and insights through a dashboard with a user-friendly user interface.
Business Intelligence Example 3: Visualization of Massive Databases
Walmart websites collect massive data from its 10 websites to a Hadoop database. Using business intelligence, the company was able to streamline a large amount of unstructured data and present them in a visualized format. This made it easier for senior management to get valuable insights from data and have better-informed decision-making.
Business Intelligence Example 4: Centralized Data for Financial Analysis and Reporting
Metro Bank has taken advantage of the integration offered by business intelligence. With its centralized data for financial analysis and reporting, the company was able to make its services and processes much more efficient and responsive to customer needs. Business intelligence allowed it to have effective processes without having to implement massive transformation to its IT and computer systems.
Business Intelligence Example 5: Analytics for Market Opportunities
Starbucks uses business intelligence to find profitable locations by performing analytics of demographics and average customer incomes. Business intelligence analysts further look into more factors to find the right place for their franchise.
This is why customers can easily find a Starbucks on their way to work. Advanced analytics through business intelligence also helps them come up with Starbucks drinks that will be a hit among customers in a neighborhood or during certain weather, which leads to high customer satisfaction scores.
Business Intelligence Example 6: Automated Reporting for Operational Effectiveness
HelloFresh benefits from business intelligence by creating reliable digital marketing reports at a much faster pace. Because of this, the marketing teams can already plan effective campaigns that can be tailored to factors of customer behaviors. This has not only helped the company operate more efficiently but also provide improved services and products to its customers.
Business Intelligence Example 7: BI Tools for Marketing and Sales Intelligence
Coca-Cola has taken advantage of business intelligence in its social media data from its millions of followers across platforms. Combining BI tools and AI image recognition tools, Coca-Cola was able to track customer behavior and interaction with its brand.