Business Intelligence (BI) System. Who Is It For And Which Tool to Choose?

Business Intelligence (BI) is a modern solution that enables comprehensive data analytics. This system can significantly improve decision-making processes and help gain a competitive advantage in the market. In the following article, we explain when it is worth deciding to implement this tool.

A BI system (short for Business Intelligence) is an environment and set of tools used for advanced business analysis. It is a very broad field that focuses on finding savings, optimizing production, creating "what-if" analyses, or generating complete financial balance sheets.

The decision-making process in many enterprises requires a parallel combination of advanced digital solutions with vast amounts of data. Many companies still use multiple systems or sources that are not integrated with each other.

In the long run, this leads to significant delays and complications in key processes, over which control may eventually be lost. Business Intelligence tools are the answer to these problems, enabling effective management of a company's most important operational areas.

BI solutions allow for efficient data integration, which in the short term enables:

• Quick aggregation and retrieval of data.
• Finding relationships and correlations between individual events.
• Understanding these events and reaching accurate business conclusions.

Current BI systems are so advanced that they can independently recognize data and then generate tables or entire spreadsheets.

Naturally, all datasets can also be cleaned or processed in many ways. BI tools enable data analysis and organization using various functions, such as drag-and-drop, which significantly simplifies operation for users within a company.

As it turns out, when implementing a BI system, employees do not need to have specialized programming knowledge. Examples of using these tools in daily work include:

• Analyzing the correlation between salary increases and staff inefficiency.
• Studying the relationship between demand and the price of a given product or service.
• Analyzing economic cycles.

The ultimate goal of business analysis tools is to find dependencies between phenomena and make significant business decisions based on them.

Knowing how analytical technology works, the next question is about specific solutions. When choosing the right BI system, it is worth paying attention to integration capabilities and market leaders. The most popular tools include:

• Power BI – One of the most popular systems on the market. It integrates perfectly with the Microsoft ecosystem (including Excel and Azure) and allows for the creation of highly interactive dashboards.
• Tableau – A powerful tool famous for its extremely advanced and aesthetic data visualizations. It is ideal for huge datasets and deep analytical explorations.
• Qlik – A modern BI system distinguished by its associative engine. It allows users to freely explore data in all directions instead of following predefined query paths.
• BI Modules in ERP systems – Many ERP systems have built-in tools that analyze company data in real-time without the need for external integrations.

Many people still believe so – however, this is not true. Currently, the market provides entrepreneurs with BI software versions that are completely free or available in flexible subscription models (SaaS).

Even free demo versions, despite limited capabilities, allow for downloading sheets and basic data linking or visualization. This allows entrepreneurs and potential users to familiarize themselves with the logic of the business data analysis system before making a final investment decision.

The market for BI system users is very diverse. When focusing on an advanced implementation (which includes a pre-implementation analysis), you must ensure that your company needs such a solution. It is about economic justification—specifically, having enough data that can be turned into profit.

It is difficult to set a strict limit at which a BI system becomes indispensable. However, a good evaluation method is to look at the number of employees and the company's turnover.

For smaller companies, the key criterion is the nature of the business. For example, should a company with 15 employees doing simple sales invest in a powerful analytical system? Probably not. However, there are cases where a team of only 30 people processed such vast datasets that implementing BI became a condition for their further growth.

Excel is well-known to employees in most companies and is very easy to implement. However, when faced with Big Data, its significant flaws appear:

• Static analyses instead of real-time updated models.
• Complicated and error-prone merging of datasets.
• The monotony of manual report refreshing.
• Limitations on the number of records that can be processed.

Direct databases solve the capacity problem but create a barrier in usability – the need to know SQL. Presenting data from two tables is simple, but when there are hundreds of tables, constantly writing SQL queries becomes inefficient. This is where Business Intelligence systems come in.

If an enterprise already has ERP software, it is halfway there. These tools generate reports that allow for constant monitoring of company efficiency and decision-making. However, they are not built for predictive analytics but for handling current operations.

ERP tools use OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) databases, designed for immediate, secure data entry. In contrast, BI systems are often based on OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) databases, which are most effective for analysis. It is worth remembering that ERP solutions are usually not the only ones collecting company information. Therefore, a tool (e.g., an integrated BI system) is needed to combine data from ERP, CRM, and other sources, visualizing it in one place.

If financial resources allow and analytical needs are growing – as soon as possible. By deciding on a BI system at an early stage of digitalization, you enforce order and a consistent data architecture.

Later implementations, in an environment burdened by "technical debt" and information chaos, tend to be much more expensive. Equipping yourself with a data warehouse and appropriate BI tools will facilitate every subsequent step in the company's technological development.

Every professional system should be implemented with the help of a team of specialists. There are two common methods used during implementation:

1. Potential Analysis – The software provider, together with the client, looks for areas requiring improvement. Information problems and challenges at the intersection of different systems are identified. The competence of BI consultants is key here.
2. Proof of Concept (PoC) – A test implementation on a limited sample of data. It checks whether a given BI system will meet the company's requirements in practice. The PoC results in a final purchase decision.

Implementing BI tools is a significant challenge. The project involves both logistical and purely organizational obstacles. To avoid problems, pay attention to these key risks:

• Too much data – Integrating everything "as is" unnecessarily prolongs the process. You should focus on KPIs that have real business significance.
• Dirty data – Gaps and errors often lower the credibility of results. To avoid this, data should be cleaned before implementation.
• Resistance to change – Even the best system is useless if the staff avoids it. The keys are training and showing employees how the new system will facilitate their daily work.

First and foremost, customize the dashboards. Different experts play different roles and need different data. A CEO wants to see margins from a "bird's eye view," while a production shift manager needs real-time machine failure rates. Views must be personalized.

Use only the necessary tools. Depending on the technology and provider, some systems offer advanced reporting features and numerous data access points. However, there is a risk that these "gadgets" will eventually cause information noise. It is better to use only the tools you truly need – simplicity and utility win.

Implementing Business Intelligence is not just about mechanically replacing Excel sheets with pretty charts. A modern BI system allows you to look at your company from a completely new, often surprising perspective.

A fresh perspective helps in continuous optimization and quick reactions to dynamic market changes. Before you decide to buy a specific solution, ask yourself: How will these analyses directly improve my company's financial results?