You may not realize it yet but your company may already be using a business intelligence tool to help manage your business. There are some very common ones out there that have been around for years. Most software can be considered a business intelligence tool even though you may not categorize it that way. We will take a look at four of the key programs your company may already be utilizing and see how you can use them to improve on what you already have. Decreasing cost, increasing functionality and increasing efficiency are some of the key reasons you will want to use a business intelligence tool.
Business Intelligence Tool: Excel
Your business along with millions of others has probably been using Microsoft Excel for years. What you may not have known is it is the most widely used business intelligence tool around. There are many reasons why Microsoft Excel is at the top of the list as a business intelligence tool:
Cost: Microsoft Excel is extremely cheap to purchase and it has a great deal of functionality to it. There are many different things that can be handled with the Excel program and more than likely your business has been doing this for years.
User Friendly: Because Microsoft Excel is so common, it is one of the more user friendly systems around. Once you have created a spreadsheet with Excel you can send it on to the next department and you can be sure that they will already know how to read it.
Great Number of Tools: Microsoft Excel alone can do many different things. This allows it to be very flexible when it comes to creating reports and sending data.
Business Intelligence Tool: Reporting Tools
Custom built reporting tools as well as commercial reporting tools are the second most widely used business intelligence tool today. The ability to be so flexible allows them to stay accessible to a number of different businesses. Business operations reporting and dashboards are the two most common uses for a reporting tool.
Business Intelligence Tool: OLAP Tool
If your business handles a lot of multidimensional analysis then you are probably already using OLAP tools. These are great for a variety of reasons but multidimensional analysis is the most common.
Business Intelligence Tool: Data Mining Tools
Your IT department may be the only department to use data mining tools but if they do use them then you know how valuable they can be in your company. The ability to take information from a variety of sources and combine it into one report is exactly what data mining tools are for.
The Bottom Line
No matter which business intelligence tool you choose to focus on, you will be able to see its benefits in no time. Anything that can be done to streamline your office will only help you be more efficient and save money in the end.