Name: Abdullah Noman | Roll: B18231026 | Section: B

Business Intelligence & Business Analytics

(Tools of BI & BA, Innovation & Applications in today’s business Research, BI & BA
future/scope, Cases/examples on BI & BA)

Business Intelligence

Business intelligence (BI) is a technology-driven process for analyzing data and presenting
actionable information which helps executives, managers and other corporate end users make
informed business decisions.

Tools of Business Intelligence

BI encompasses a wide variety of tools, applications and methodologies that enable

organizations to collect data from internal systems and external sources, prepare it for analysis,
develop and run queries against that data and create reports, dashboards and data visualizations
to make the analytical results available to corporate decision-makers, as well as operational
workers

Business intelligence combines a broad set of data analysis applications, including:

• Ad hoc analytics: Ad hoc analysis is a business intelligence (BI) process designed to

answer a single, specific business question. Users may create a report that does not
already exist or drill deeper into a static report to get details about accounts, transactions
or records. Many times, ad hoc analysis is done in response to an event, such as a sudden
dip in production or loss of customers.
• Online analytical processing (OLAP): OLAP (online analytical processing) is a
computing method that enables users to easily and selectively extract and query data in
order to analyze it from different points of view. OLAP business intelligence queries
often aid in trends analysis, financial reporting, sales forecasting, budgeting and other
planning purposes. For example, a user can request that data be analyzed to display a
spreadsheet showing all of a company's beach ball products sold in Florida in the month
of July, compare revenue figures with those for the same products in September and
then see a comparison of other product sales in Florida in the same time period.
• Mobile BI: Mobile business intelligence is software that extends desktop business
intelligence (BI) applications so they can be used on a mobile device. MBI applications
optimizes traditional BI reports so they can be viewed easily on a small screen and is
ideal for displaying key performance indicators (KPIs) and alerts on small screens with
simple charts, graphs and sparklines. An additional benefit of MBI is that it allows data
that's captured by the mobile device to be integrated on-the-fly so that reports are
currents and mobile workers can make informed decisions in real time.
• Real time BI: Real-time business intelligence is an approach to data analytics that
enables business users to get up-to-the-minute data by directly accessing operational
systems or feeding business transactions into a real-time data warehouse and business
intelligence (BI) system. The technologies that can be used to enable real-time BI
include data virtualization, data federation, enterprise information integration (EII),
enterprise application integration (EAI) and service-oriented architectures (SOA).
Complex event processing tools can be used to analyze data streams in real time and
either trigger automated actions or alert workers to patterns and trends.
• Operational BI: Operational intelligence (OI) is an approach to data analysis that
enables decisions and actions in business operations to be based on real-time data as it's
generated or collected by companies. Typically, the data analysis process is automated,
and the resulting information is integrated into operational systems for immediate use
by business managers and workers. OI applications are primarily targeted at front-line
workers who, hopefully, can make better-informed business decisions or take faster
action on issues if they have access to timely business intelligence (BI) and analytics
data. Examples include call-center agents, sales representatives, online marketing
teams, logistics planners, manufacturing managers and medical professionals. In
addition, operational intelligence can be used to automatically trigger responses to
specified events or conditions.
• Software-as-a-service BI (SaaS BI): Software as a Service business intelligence (SaaS
BI) is a delivery model for business intelligence in which applications are typically
deployed outside of a company’s firewall at a hosted location and accessed by an end
user with a secure Internet connection. Also known as on-demand BI or cloud BI, the
technology is sold by vendors on a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis instead of the
more traditional software licensing model with annual maintenance fees.
 • Open source BI (OSBI): Open source business intelligence (OSBI) is, technically, free
business intelligence (BI) software. Instead of selling traditional software licenses, open
source BI vendors charge for support, documentation and code that's been fine-tuned
for specific implementations. Open source BI code typically supports reporting, online
analytical processing (OLAP) and data mining software as well as dashboards, bundled
data integration and data profiling tools.
• Collaborative BI: Collaborative BI (collaborative business intelligence) is the merging
of business intelligence software with collaboration tools, including social and Web 2.0
technologies, to support improved data-driven decision making. Collaborative BI can
be applied to enterprise-wide reporting and analytics, making the sharing process easier
and enabling more efficient decision making among team members who may have been
working to reach conclusions on an individual basis.
• Location intelligence (LI): Location intelligence (LI) is a business intelligence (BI)
tool capability that relates geographic contexts to business data. Like BI, location
intelligence software is designed to turn data into insight for a host of business purposes.
Such tools draw on a variety of data sources, such as geographic information systems
(GIS), aerial maps, demographic information and, in some cases, an organization's own
databases. It is also an asset management tool that allows an organization to track items
of economic value that can be converted into cash.

In addition, BI technology includes data visualization software for designing charts and other
infographics; key performance indicators in an easy-to-grasp way; and tools for building BI
dashboards and performance scorecards that display visualized data on business metrics.

Cases and Examples of BI

• Lowe’s leverages BI

Though the concept itself may seem a bit vague, there are many examples of large businesses
putting BI to work to solve concrete problems. One of the earliest examples we’ll find of a
large enterprise using BI is Lowe’s, America’s second-largest home improvement store chain.
In 2007, the company started building a new data center in Texas specifically to expand on its
already significant business intelligence capabilities. Like many retail chains, Lowe’s uses BI
to optimize its supply chain efficiency and reduce the rate of fraudulent returns in its stores.
 • Starbucks gets in on business intelligent

The Seattle-based coffee chain Starbucks is also a prominent user of BI technology. Through
its popular Loyalty Card program, Starbucks is able to amass individualized purchase data on
millions of customers. Using this information and business intelligence software, the large
coffee company can then predict what purchases and offers an individual customer is likely to
be interested in. The company informs customers of the offers it believes they will want to take
advantage of via mobile devices. This system lets Starbucks draw existing customers into its
stores more frequently and increase its volume of sales. In this capacity, BI has a use similar to
traditional CRM systems. In fact, many businesses choose to combine BI and CRM systems to
get the most out of their data.

• Amex is big on BI, too

One of the areas of business in which BI has been most effective is the finance industry.
American Express has been a pioneer of business intelligence in this sector, using the
technology to develop new payment service products and market offers to customers. Rather
impressively, the company’s experiments in the Australian market have rendered it capable of
identifying up to 24% of all Australian users who will close their accounts within four months.
Using that information, American Express can take effective steps to retain those customers
who would otherwise be lost. BI software also helps the credit card company detect fraud more
accurately and thereby protect customers whose card information may have been
compromised.

• Amazon and business intelligence go hand-in-hand

Last but not least among the companies that use BI is the online retail giant Amazon. Much
like Starbucks, Amazon uses business intelligence technology to personalize product
recommendations and market products, but it also uses its BI software tools for logistical
business decisions. In fact, in-depth data analysis is what enables Amazon’s massive supply
chain to run smoothly. From optimizing shipping routes to allocating inventory among
warehouses, data and BI tools influence practically every step of Amazon’s supply process.

Amazingly, these are just a few of the many uses to which modern business intelligence
software can be put. From finance to retail and even in the public sector, BI technology is
helping organizations glean useful insights from their data.
Business Intelligence Scope/Future

Business intelligence software is rapidly developing as it becomes a necessity for many modern
companies. The future of BI sees an increase in features that enable ease of use, streamlined
workflows and predictive abilities.

• Collaboration: Business intelligence tools will become more collaborative, facilitating

teamwork.
• Integration: Third-party systems will be increasingly intertwined with BI, simplifying
data processing and reacting to actionable insights.
• Machine Learning: Artificial intelligence analyzes past data to provide insight and
forecasting.
• Data Proactivity: Proactivity-focused features will respond automatically to inquiries
and bring relevant data to users.
• Network Advancements: Technology infrastructure will expand to store large amounts
of data and better support business intelligence systems.
• Data-Driven Culture: Adopting a data-driven culture involves giving all employees the
resources to incorporate Bl into everyday processes.

Business Analytics

Business analytics is the process of collating, sorting, processing, and studying business data,
and using statistical models and iterative methodologies to transform data into business
insights. The goal of business analytics is to determine which datasets are useful and how they
can be leveraged to solve problems and increase efficiency, productivity, and revenue.

Tools of Business Analytics

BA tools include many methodologies and open source solutions that can be leveraged to help
analysts perform tasks and generate reports that are easy for laypersons to understand.

Reporting tools can be obtained from open source platforms to allow business analysts to
manage their processes and present their findings in a relevant, comprehend able way. Some
of the most flexible and user-friendly open source options include:
 • Birt: BIRT is a basic open source analytics tool for reports, dashboards, and
visualizations, but requires working knowledge of Java, scripts, and formatting.
Generated reports are embeddable.
• Zeppelin by Apache: This option is billed as a “multi-purpose notebook” for data
visualization, analytics, and data discovery, and readily ingests data from related
Apache-based technologies including Spark, Hadoop Hive, PostgreSQL, and Python.
• OmniSci: Formerly MapD, OmniSci is a high-performance analytics tool ideal for
business analysts and data scientists, with big data capable of querying, interactive
dashboards, and an SQL engine designed to manage extremely large workloads.
• SpagoBI: SpagoBI is a popular tool with features that include basic reporting,
dashboards, and data management tools. The “cockpit” allows users to create 3-D charts
for reporting at a high level.
• Matomo: Matomo is an open source alternative to Google Analytics, with a high level
of customization and expansive features, including core metrics on visitor numbers,
referrals, bounce rates, and exit pages. Reporting and dashboards make using Matomo
intuitive.
• Metabase: Metabase is an open source BI tool that lets users ask questions about input
data and displays answers in detailed tables or bar graphs for easy reporting.

Cases and Examples of BA

When it comes to business analytics, success often depends on whether or not all parties of an
organization fully support adoption and execution. Successful BA examples—and subsequent
deployment of new predictive-based initiatives—include:

• Predictive Maintenance: Shell

Royal Dutch Shell PLC recently implemented predictive maintenance driven by artificial
intelligence to cut down on time lost to machine failure. The AI-powered tools predict when
maintenance is needed on compressors, valves, and other equipment, can autonomously
analyze data to help steer drill bits through shale deposits, and will soon be able to identify and
alert station employees of dangerous behavior by customers, reducing risks from the drilling
platform to the gas pump.
The systems can anticipate when and where more than 3,000 different oil drilling machine parts
might fail, keep Shell informed about the location of parts at their worldwide facilities, and
plan when to make purchases of machine parts. These systems also determine where to place
inventory items and how long to keep parts before putting them into rotation or
replacing/returning them. Shell has since reduced inventory analysis from over 48 hours to less
than 45 minutes, saving millions of dollars each year thanks to reduced costs of moving and
reallocating inventory.

• Predictive Deliveries: Pitt Ohio

Pitt Ohio, a $700 million freight company, was significantly impacted by Amazon’s same-day
delivery initiative, which ramped up customer expectations. Customers also became more
demanding, requesting up-to-the-minute tracking and estimated times of delivery that were
much narrower than formerly acceptable windows. The company turned to data analysis to find
a way to improve customer experiences.

A cross-departmental project involving market research, sales operations, and IT was launched
internally, leveraging data that was previously unused. The historical data, predictive analytics,
and algorithms that calculated freight weight, driving distance, and several other factors in real-
time allowed Pitt Ohio to estimate delivery times at a 99 percent accuracy rate. The company
estimates that repeat orders increased its revenue by $50,000 per year, and customer churn
reduction equaled retained revenues of $60,000 per year.

• Predictive Banking: Axis Bank

Axis Bank, the third-largest private sector bank in India, implemented robotics process
automation and deep learning to identify customer behavioral patterns and recommend next
best actions to prevent customer churn, including streamlining document processing,
identifying “events” when customers were more likely to leave, and preemptively offering
special promotions targeted to those segmented audiences to prevent churn.

For better customer experience, 125 “customer journeys” were identified, analyzed, and
retooled, and time spent verifying customer-provided data across multiple documents in the
back office dropped from 15 minutes to 2–3 minutes. Axis is now developing a chatbot to speed
customer interactions and reduce wait times for service at busy branches and during peak
interface times.
Business Analytics Future Trends

• Big Data: With an increasing emphasis on digitization in every aspect of life, datasets
continue to expand at an unprecedented rate. This expansion is both an advantage and
a disadvantage—more data means more potential insights, but the sheer volume can be
overwhelming.
• Artificial Intelligence: As AIs become smarter and able to teach themselves, AIs created
by AIs are being developed and launched in industry verticals such as banking, financial
services, insurance, retail, hospitality, engineering, manufacturing, and more.
• Deep Learning: The next step up from machine learning, deep learning leverages the
advantages of vast computing power to manage enormous data sets, identifying patterns
and delivering predictive results that were formerly impossible.
• Neural Networks: Data scientists can now create “brains” which have the computing
power of thousands of human minds. Data can be processed and sorted, patterns can be
identified along a historical timeline, and future predictions are delivered with an
unprecedented level of accuracy.
• The Internet of Things: IoT-driven devices number in the millions, delivering real-time
data to organizations worldwide and allowing intimate entry into the lives of consumers
around the globe.
• Micro-Segmentation: As data becomes bigger, the ability to separate it into smaller and
smaller slices enables organizations to accurately define their “ideal” customer and
create funnels that lead them directly to the desired action. This granular segmentation
is the driving force behind successful digital transformation initiatives.

Innovation & Applications Of BI &BA In Today’s Business Research

In Today’s business research the applications of BI in extended in many ways. Some of them
can be explained in the following ways

• Gain New Customer Insights: One of the primary reasons’ companies are investing
their time, money, and efforts into Business Intelligence is because it gives them a
greater ability to observe and analyze current customer buying trends. Once you utilize
BI to understand what your consumers are buying and the buying motive, you can use
 this information to create products and product improvements to meet their expectations
and needs and, as a result, improve your organization’s bottom-line.
• Improved Visibility: Business Intelligent organizations have better control over their
processes and standard operating procedures, as the visibility of these functions is
improved by a BI system. The days of skimming through hundreds of pages of annual
reports to assess performance are long gone. Business Intelligence illuminates all areas
of your organization helps you to readily identify areas for improvement and allow you
to be prepared instead of reactive.
• Actionable Information: An effective Business Intelligence system serves as a means
to identify key organizational patterns and trends. A BI system also allows you to
understand the implications of various organizational processes and changes, allowing
you to make informed decisions and act accordingly.
• Efficiency Improvements: BI Systems help improve organizational efficiency which
consequently increases productivity and can potentially increase revenue. Business
Intelligence systems allow businesses to share vital information across departments
with ease, saving time on reporting, data extraction, and data interpretation. Making the
sharing of information easier and more efficient permits organizations to eliminate
redundant roles and duties, allowing the employees to focus on their work instead of
focusing on processing data.
• Sales Insight: Sales and marketing teams alike want to keep track of their customers,
and most utilize Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application to do so.
CRMs are designed to handle all interactions with customers. Because they house all
customer communications and interactions, there is a wealth of data and information
that can be interpreted and used to strategic initiatives. BI systems help organizations
with everything from identifying new customers, tracking and retaining existing ones,
and providing post-sale services.
• Real-Time Data: When executives and decision-makers have to wait for reports to be
compiled by various departments, the data is prone to human error and is at risk of being
outdated before it’s even submitted for review. BI systems provide users with access to
data in real-time through various means including spreadsheets, visual dashboards, and
scheduled emails. Large amounts can be assimilated, interpreted, and distributed
quickly and accurately when leveraging Business Intelligence tools.
 • Competitive Advantage: In addition to all of these great benefits, Business Intelligence
can help you gain insight into what your competitors are doing, allowing your
organization to make educated decisions and plan for future endeavors.

References (APA Format)

Websites & Journals

1. Business Analytics: Everything You Need to Know. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.microstrategy.com/us/resources/introductory-guides/business-analytics-
everything-you-need-to-know
2. Conrad, A. (2019, November 11). Future of Business Intelligence: Future of BI For
2020. Retrieved from https://www.selecthub.com/business-intelligence/future-of-bi/
3. Rouse, M. (2019, September 4). What is Business Intelligence (BI). Retrieved from
https://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/definition/business-intelligence-BI
4. Rouse, M. (2019, July 10). What is Business Analytics? - Definition from
WhatIs.com. Retrieved from
https://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/definition/business-analytics-BAWhy
Business Intelligence Is Important. (2020, April 17). Retrieved from
https://www.analytiks.co/why-business-intelligence-is-important/
5. Wpengine. (2018, July 27). Real-world examples of business intelligence at work.
Retrieved from https://www.ccstechnologygroup.com/real-world-examples-of-
business-intelligence/

YouTube Videos

1. Cody Baldwin - Introduction to Business Analytics (Feb 27, 2016) Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IIgH0hNtgk
2. Hitachi Solutions Canada - What is Business Intelligence (BI)? (Jun 27, 2014)
Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDJdkcdG1iA