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.
1. Data Integration – Executives and team members face real problems with data compilation and integrated reporting when data is coming from disparate sources and delivered in different forms. Without data integration, the executive, manager and employee risk making decisions that are based on incomplete information.
2. Upgrade and Flexibility – A business might find a business intelligence tool or reporting package that is affordable, but in order to be useful to the business, achieve swift user adoption and ROI and improve TCO, that BI solution or reporting software package also needs to be easy and flexible enough for every employee to use and customizable without programmer help. It must also be flexible and intuitive enough for mobile use, and for easy upgrade and change to accommodate a changing business landscape.
3. Reporting vs. Business Intelligence – Some business intelligence tools are basically reporting packages and some BI and CPM tools offer sophisticated analytical capabilities. In order to support reporting needs and provide business intelligence for confident decisions at every level of the organization, BI tools, business intelligence reporting and dashboard software must comprehensively satisfy business requirements.
The typical enterprise will require graphical reporting and presentation, data integration, filtering, sorting, ranking and drill through capabilities, forecasting and predictive analysis, as well as balanced scorecard and KPI features, custom alerts, publishing and sharing and meaningful, personalized dashboards. These tools can be deployed throughout the enterprise to cascade strategy and goals, improve productivity and enforce accountability.
One of the biggest challenges of achieving true business intelligence in any business is to find a practical, simple, affordable solution that can satisfy sophisticated business reporting requirements and needs with simple usability for every level from executive to line employee; from strategic to tactical reporting and analysis – and do it all without the daily assistance of programmers and professional analysts.
