6.5

Business Intelligence (BI) & Business Analytics (BA)

Business Intelligence & Business Analytics are both new terms for DSS

Business Intelligence (BI)

“BI systems combine data gathering, data storage, and knowledge management with analytical tools to present complex internal and competitive information to planners and decision makers.”
Solomon Negash (204, p178)

Components of BI

Real-time data warehousing

Data mining

Data visualisation

BI combines structured and unstructured data

Structured Data

Unstructured Data

Data Warehousing

Data mining

OLAP

DSS

Graphics

Web pages

Conversations

Spreadsheets

the term is used to describe a range of software applications capable of handling large amounts of data to create actionable insights that can inform decision making and enable organizations to compete

Business Analysis (BA)

“the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive models and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions.”

Davenport and Harris (2007, p.7).

Types of Analytics:

Predictive Analytics

Prescriptive Analytics

Descriptive Analytics (reporting)

Establish what is happening within an organization

Builds on descriptive analytics, using historical data to identify what is likely to happen in the future

Focused on improvement

What, when and why it will happen?

How do we benefit from these predictions?

Create information about the past and current situation

Create knowledge about what might happen

Generate the wisdom (actionable insight) to act upon

A Data Driven Organization
(The promise of BI&A)

It could be seen that BI provides the platform for BA

A general approach to decision making

"Or it could be seen that BA is a key component of BI, the component that provides actionable insights that shapes future decision making"

There are barriers to become a data-driven organization

Waller (2020) stresses that the challenge that organisations face is cultural rather than technical, offering a ten-step guide to becoming data driven, which emphasises the role of leadership.

Berndtsson (2018) Five Enablers to becoming data-driven:

Decision Process

Tools

Data

Organization

Management

All decisions must be made using data

Gut-feel should not play a part

Relate to BI&A

investing in BI&A software will not create a data-driven organisation. With hard work and the right culture, BI&A has the potential to transform organisations,