When choosing a BI tool and augmented analytics solution for your business, one of the most crucial concerns is the features and functionality of the prospective solution and how this solution will meet user and organizational needs. It is important to remember that there are also specific features a business should consider, like embedded BI and easy-to-employ Integration APIs, that will assure user adoption and appropriate ROI and TCO.
When a business considers business intelligence and augmented analytics initiatives, it should include Embedded BI and Integration APIs to improve ROI, TCO and user adoption. If an enterprise does not understand the risks of data silos, and restrictive analytics solutions, it is not likely to make the right choices. With appropriate planning and execution, businesses can create a solid foundation, and provide benefits for all users, managers and IT staff.
When I speak to friends and colleagues about reaping the benefits of business intelligence, they are often frustrated by the inability to a) access data and build reports and insight without the assistance of IT or analysts or b) access tools that allow them to use a BI tool or solution in a way that is meaningful to them. In other words, they either have NO access to business intelligence tools or they have access but those BI tools are restrictive and provide no flexible, agile way to gather, see and analyze data for the type of role they perform within the organization.
Business Intelligence is mandatory! Without intelligence you have no insight into your customer buying behavior, your competition or your organization. In order to achieve business intelligence in today’s environment, you need modern BI tools and augmented analytics that is suitable for your business users.
Don’t underestimate your business users! They have market, domain and professional expertise that add value to the organization and, with the right BI tools and features, business users can gather, analyze and make decisions using data from all across the enterprise. You don’t have to leave the business intelligence and analytics efforts to IT or business analysts or data scientists.
Oh, the mysterious world of data preparation! It is daunting and confusing and…wait, no! It doesn’t have to be. If you aren’t employed as an IT professional, a business analyst or a data scientist, you probably see this arena as confusing and intimidating and you probably want nothing to do with data preparation. BUT, when you need a report, or you have to provide a recommendation to your boss in a staff meeting, you desperately need that data and that analysis, don’t you?
One of the most valuable aspects of self-serve business intelligence is the opportunity it provides for data and analytical sharing among business users within the organization. When business users adopt true self-serve BI tools like Plug n’ Play Predictive Analysis, Smart Data Visualization, and Self-Serve Data Preparation, they can apply the domain knowledge and skill they have developed in their role to create reports, analyze data and make recommendations and decisions with confidence.
When a business wants to roll out advanced analytics to its business users, it must consider the average skill level and understanding of analytical techniques and ensure that the solution it chooses will support its project goals. One of the most important factors of business user analytics is user-friendly, simple analytics in an augmented analytics environment.
Why would anyone want or need to use predictive analytics? What good is forecasting anyway? Doesn’t it always end up being wrong? Well, no! That’s why wise businesses use these techniques to plan and forecast and to understand how a change they are considering might impact their business success. Nearly every organization today is using analytics to improve productivity, competitive positioning, market presence, financial investment strategies, price point planning, risk mitigation and many other business factors.
When you launch an analytics solution within your enterprise, you are probably concerned about getting your business users to adopt that solution. If you can’t engage the business user and achieve user adoption, your return on investment (ROI) will be poor! But, it is important to understand that the right augmented analytics solution can provide the structure and foundation for business users without requiring them to have a sophisticated knowledge of algorithms and analytical techniques.
