In this blog, we’ll explore BI features that are invaluable in the context of business growth. First, it’s important to define what BI technology is so you can determine if it’s the right fit for your company.

What is BI software?

A BI platform utilises software that gathers and processes vast quantities of unstructured data from internal and external sources. This includes documents, images, videos, journals and much more.

Once this data has been gathered, BI tools help to analyse it and present data in reports, dashboards and visualisation charts. Thus, the data can be transformed into actionable insights and used to improve decision-making, speed up employee productivity, identify new market trends and increase revenue.

Exploring useful BI features

BI dashboards

A key BI feature to be aware of is a dashboard, which allows data from a wide variety of sources to be viewed in a single location. A dashboard works through important data being collected via artificial intelligence (AI) automation and then being shown in an easy-to-understand format.

There are several advantages to having a data centralisation tool like a BI dashboard:

• Time saver: You don’t have to spend hours hunting for vital company information across different systems as everything will be readily available.
• Greater visibility: Users have quick access to the data they need, enabling businesses to stay ahead of the latest industry trends.
• Insight into KPIs: As BI dashboards source data from multiple areas, users can have a better overview of current KPIs and see if anything needs to be changed from a business perspective.
• Efficient embedding: In the case of a self-service BI dashboard system like Panintelligence, businesses can embed the technology into existing software for greater efficiency.
• Self-service: Another benefit is that the intuitive nature of dashboards means users can build their own and customise them to specific preferences.

Reporting

Reporting tools are another useful feature of modern BI systems. There are several types of reports within a BI platform, such as ranking, interactive and ad-hoc reports.

To be more specific, ranking reports let you quickly see the best and worst performing parts of your company, showcasing information such as products or marketing campaigns. Interactive reports may help to condense a huge quantity of information into a range of possible views.

It all depends on your preferences and there are many benefits to using reports:

• Fast notifications: Built-in machine learning enables key team members to be alerted to any specific changes. This means they are in a stronger position to pivot if necessary.
• See data in real-time: Reports can be automatically scheduled so you have the most up to date information as soon as you need it.
• Ease of use: BI reporting tools are extremely versatile, meaning users don’t have to have a technical background to be able to create a report.
• Personalisation: All reports are highly customisable, and they can be distributed in any format.
• Different levels of access: Security measures can be put in with certain reports to ensure that only the right team members have access and there are no data breaches.

Predictive analytics

In the context of BI, predictive analytics refers to using historical data and AI to predict what will happen in the future. The historical data is placed into a maths-based model that considers patterns and trends and is then applied to current data to see what could happen next.

BI systems have the power to set up these predictive analytic models through a combination of AI and machine learning. Once you’ve established the right controls and parameters for your models, you can train the software to continually grow and look to the future.

Other benefits of predictive analytics include:

• Intuitive model: Predictive analytics is a scalable data model solution that doesn’t require an education in data science to understand it.
• Self-service: The data model can be understood by everyone, and a self-service structure can be created for unlocking insights with machine learning.
• Automation: With predictive analytics, companies can automate decision making to reduce human involvement and save time.

Harness the power of BI software with Panintelligence

These features are just a glimpse of the kind of capabilities BI software has. To see how these components work in real time, book a free Panintelligence demo today.