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In our previous article, entitled ‘The Provocative Possibilities of Combining Business Intelligence and Social Media’, we talked in generalities about the opportunities of combining BI with Social Media to better leverage the potential of social media networks and internet marketing and to accurately measure the success of these programs and plan for the future.

Social media is a critical component of market success in today’s interactive culture and economy. With an ever increasing user base and ever expanding social media platforms, the focus on marketing, advertising and product and market analysis must include internet marketing, pay-per-click, search engine optimization, and social network marketing. Customer and prospects are focused on various personal, consumers, community and business topics and they find, share and express this focus using social media.

There are many other factors a business must consider when it elects to acquire or change reporting packages. In this article, we will focus on three of the most common problems a business faces in compiling, displaying and analyzing information to gain true business intelligence and create useful, clear reports and presentations.

The problem with cookie cutter solutions is that every business has different requirements and reporting and business intelligence needs are as unique as each business and each employee within that business.

Successful sales force management is dependent on up-to-date, accurate information. With appropriate, easy access to business intelligence, a Sales Director and Sales Managers can monitor goals and objectives. But, that’s not all a business intelligence tool can do for a sales team. In today’s competitive market, marketing, advertising and sales teams cannot afford to wait to be outstripped by the competition. They must begin to court and engage a customer before the customer has the need for an item. By building brand awareness and improving product and service visibility, the sales team can work seamlessly throughout the marketing and sales channel to educate, and enlighten prospects and then carry them through the process to close the deal. To do that, the sales staff must have a comprehensive understanding of buying behaviors, current issues with existing products, pricing points and the impact of changing prices, products or distribution channels. With access to data integrated from CRM, ERP, warehousing, supply chain management, and other functions and data sources, a sales manager and sales team can create personalized business intelligence dashboards to guide them through the process and to help them analyze and understand trends and patterns before the competition strikes.

Independence! The term evokes images of freedom and expansive possibilities. When it comes to technology independence, most businesses find it difficult to see the possibilities. Organizations are often constrained by best-of-breed applications, legacy systems, out-of-the-box solutions and a plethora of silo systems, networks, applications and packages that do not play well with each other. And there are other factors and considerations make it difficult for an enterprise to achieve technology independence. If the business is looking at its IT resources and technology landscape, it must also think about frameworks, platforms, operating systems, special skill consultants, and complex licensing issues. If a business truly wants technology independence, it does not have to start over to reinvent the IT environment. There is a way to keep existing solutions, platforms, systems and vendors, and protect your IT investment now, and in the future, while at the same time achieving and enabling technology freedom.