The Benefits of Business Intelligence
In this fourth blog we take a look at the benefits of implementing a BI platform and the BI applications that can be built from it.
1. YY Tsang (Senior BI Consultant DBI)
Improving Operational Efficiency
One of the main benefits of a BI implementation is that it can automate so many processes in the collation of data for reports – usually in combining ERP data with the type of data that resides in spreadsheets. We have seen this frequently with our customers who have been able to free up so many man-hours of manual data-mapping or inputting. This is because we can design scripts to automate the collection of their data and apply all the business rules. This also reduces errors that are often made in manual reporting.
Operations can also be improved as inefficiencies become more obvious, such as when purchase orders are on automatic repeat even when stock is not moving. Supply chain management is one of the areas where we see huge improvements once the stock applications are in use, often by lowering inventory costs.
2. Olatz Iturbe (Senior BI Consultant DBI)
Driving Marketing Campaigns
One of the strengths of our applications is their ability to allow profiling of Customers and Products. By taking the raw data and applying logic that works out patterns in behaviours around sales or purchasing, we can highlight where promotional activity is required and how successful it is. This often drives marketing campaigns and allows for targeted marketing, or seasonal marketing.
As the reporting gives immediate feedback, marketing can be dynamically reactive to the success or failure of a customer or product initiative. Analysis can highlight new trends and opportunities which help businesses see where they need to adapt to reach a competitive advantage.
3. Elaine Breen (Senior BI Consultant DBI
Financial Management
When we integrate Financial Systems, we can add value through the ability to create time-based comparisons and by allowing users to carry out detailed analysis into the underlying data from top level P & L or Balance Sheet reports. We also incorporate budgetary or target data so that actuals can be compared side by side with targets. The time dimensions make it possible to look at these either as single periods or cumulative periods such as YTD or QTD. Having access to a data model with all the dimensions and summary fields is extremely popular with our accountancy users as they can make enquiries into the models without having knowledge of any scripting language, as SQL.
4. Lorenzo Lumanlan (BI Developer/Consultant DBI)
Flexibility in Data Presentation
BI software allows us to offer the presentation layer of data insights in multiple different ways, which can be fitted to the capabilities and roles of the users. Data insights can be presented in complex reports, or easy to follow dashboards using graphs and KPI indicators.
The reporting that comes with an ERP system is often designed as “one size fits all”, whereas with BI tools you can create bespoke views that give each type of user the best experience for their role. E.g. an accountant might prefer to see detailed data in numeric format, that can be interrogated through all the dimensions and summaries in the data model, whilst a room full of telesales staff might just need to see a chart showing the day’s “sales versus target” displayed on a big wall-screen, so they can measure their performance daily.
This flexibility also extends to users being able to customise their own dashboards to create “favourites” in a view that keeps everything they view frequently more easily accessible.
5. Jer Colbert (BI Consultant DBI)
Scalability and Coping with Diverse Data Sets
Many businesses do not grow simply by attracting new customers or adding new products and services. Often a business will grow by the acquisition of similar companies or companies that offer a compatible service or product.
These acquired companies will most likely be using a completely different ERP system. The existence of separate data sets makes it difficult to see the overall business performance in one place. This means that the main business must consider migrating the new acquisitions into its own ERP system. Alternatively, it can use a BI Platform to carry out a mapping exercise so that the ERP systems can still continue to run as separate entities, but the data is consolidated into an overarching BI layer. This process can bring in data from multiple different ERP systems and make it all look the same, saving the pain of migration.
6. James Grace (BI Consultant DBI)
Improved Collaboration
As an additional benefit related to bringing together the data from different ERP or other systems, the data is centralised for all users from all parts of the business. This means that everyone is working with a single version of the “truth”, and it makes collaboration across the company much easier. When attending meetings, the decisions they need to make can be based on data that is aligned across the business, rather than wasting time on cross-referencing why figures from different systems do not match, as is often the case when there is no centralised reporting system.
