Business analytics tools

Managing a company, especially a large-scale one, is associated with many problems. Currently, one of the largest is the amount of data that enters the system every hour. Their analysis is mandatory, because it allows you to determine the key performance indicators of the company and make changes that really affect the results. Business Intelligence tools are used for this. Which system to choose?

What is business intelligence?

Business Intelligence (BI) – business analytics. This is how processes are defined that collect all information related to the company's activities, subject it to a very deep digital analysis and turn it into knowledge that allows the company to better compete on the market.

Business Intelligence combines mathematics and statistics, economics and information technology. Without the appropriate IT tools, it would be impossible to quickly process the pipeline of data or transform it into clear diagrams and tables that represent the relationships between individual elements. This is important because sometimes the correlation between the actions taken by different departments of the company is not visible at first (or second) glance. That is why business analytics has become increasingly popular in recent years.

What business intelligence tools should be used?

Business analytics is based on IT solutions. Only a good system that provides efficient and automated integration of data from different sources and their processing becomes a good support for decision-making. So the question is what to use.

The three most popular tools used by business intelligence professionals are Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, and Qlik. Which one works best? Here's a quick comparison of the features.

Microsoft Power BI

Power BI is a business analysis tool created by Microsoft. It provides access to a wide range of data and allows their visual representation. Initially, Power BI was an addition to the classic Excel, but later it turned into a full-fledged tool suitable for both small companies and large enterprises. Its advantages include integration with other Microsoft Office applications, an intuitive drag-and-drop graphical interface, and a good price. The program also works on Android and iOS mobile devices.

Tableau

Tableau lets you intuitively transform company data into interactive whiteboards and reports. This allows you to develop a reporting system according to your needs. The program provides automation of data processing, as well as their very transparent presentation and sharing. It is used by both business analytics specialists and IT specialists, managers and economists. Tableau works with data from multiple sources without the need for a data warehouse or OLAP cube. The tool even allows you to create custom analyses, which is why it is used as often as Power BI.

Qlik

Qlik is a modern platform for conducting BI analysis in various areas of activity - from controlling to orders, logistics and marketing. It allows you to create advanced and at the same time transparent control panels with data visualization, provides fast and intuitive reporting, the ability to integrate data from different systems, such as CRM or ERP, and also uses in-memory technology, which contributes to the rapid generation of information.

Which of these business intelligence tools should you choose? It is not easy to answer this question - everything depends on the specific needs of the company and, first of all, on the competencies of the people who will be engaged in business analytics. The tools described above become a reliable and valuable source of information only when they are managed by an expert.