Countless articles have been written about the growth of data analytics and business intelligence and their impact on countless companies, from small businesses to large enterprises. But, just like in any other area of a business, the only thing that really convinces anyone is hard, measurable facts. A picture is worth a thousand words as they say, and in business, the same could be said about visual data. So here are a few “pictures” of what BI can do.
1. BI can put palm-readers out of business.
A group of researchers from the University of Rochester and Microsoft found that, using data from 32,000 days of GPS readings taken from 703 people driving 396 vehicles, they could predict where someone would be with 80% accuracy — 80 weeks into the future.
While this seems a little bit like showing off, forecasts like this could have valuable business applications. Knowing a customer’s location in the future could allow travel companies to offer custom-tailored deals or promotions for that destination, putting them miles ahead of the competition. The same would be true of knowing clients’ buying habits during a given time of year.
2. Average ROI for BI Projects is over 1,000%.
A study by Nucleus Research found that the average business intelligence initiative returned $10.66 for every dollar invested.
This one doesn’t really need any explanation. You will be hard pressed to find another investment that returns over $10 on the dollar for your business.
3. 74% of organizations without BI experience one or more negative consequences.
An effective implementation of BI improves the reliability of your business statistics, improves daily operational efficiency, and enables effective, timely decision making. Without BI, those areas suffer.
Info-Tech, an IT research group, reported that 74% of companies found that their daily operations were negatively affected by a lack of accurate, reliable business intelligence. Combined with the benefits BI can provide — specifically increases in efficiency and productivity — neglecting to implement BI can cost a company dearly.
4. Companies who use BI make better, faster decisions than those who don’t.
A study by Bain and Company found that the use of BI is a common denominator of leading companies. From quick, effective decision making to bottom-line performance, BI analytics help companies distance themselves from their competition.
Specifically, they found companies that effectively use analytics are:
- 2× more likely to have top-quartile financial performance
- 3× more likely to execute decisions as intended
- 5× more likely to make decisions much faster than their competition
If you are in a dogfight for market share with your competition, you need to make the right investments — the ones that put you ahead of the pack. The numbers speak for themselves; BI is a strong investment.
5. BI is only getting bigger. Much bigger.
Multiple experts have projected the BI industry to experience explosive growth in the coming years. Forbes summarized these projections and highlighted the following:
- Global spending on business intelligence hardware, software, and services will grow 30%, reaching a total market value of $114B.
- Cloud-based business intelligence will grow at a similar rate of 31%, expanding from $0.75B to $2.94B.
Businesses across the globe are realizing the benefits of business intelligence, driving growth in the BI and Big Data industries. Companies are seeing strong ROI, improved decision making, and clear competitive separation from their BI investments. Now is the time to explore business intelligence. If you wait, you may find yourself playing catch-up.
If you have questions about business intelligence or want to learn how Power BI can help your business specifically, call Jon Thompson at Blue Margin, Inc. at 970-214-1652.
