Common Elements of the Best BI Tools

Enterprises everywhere are vying for any kind of advantage they can get over their competitors. Many are realizing data is the place to turn for answers. The tools an organization uses, however, can play a big role in how well it’s actually able to utilize data analysis. Here are some common elements of the best BI tools, which will help you find the right ones for your own business.

Embedded Analytics and Workflow Integration

Business intelligence tools are supposed to make your organization run smarter. But even if your BI tools are providing great information, it’s not going to have a full effect if it’s difficult for people to access and work with it. Embedded analytics and workflow integration provide a solution to this.

In the past, each BI tool being used by an organization might have had a few useful elements, which required people using them to be constantly switching between applications. This isn’t just a time sink, it can be confusing when you’re constantly toggling between programs. Clearly, there’s a better way than this.

Embedded analytics allows for customizable applications and workflows built around each individual user. This is a massive advancement for a few reasons. First, having critical information right in front of you in one centralized place is far more efficient than having to switch between various applications all the time. Everyone can appreciate a streamlined workflow. Furthermore, when it’s so intuitive to create these kinds of customized experiences, it encourages organizations to utilize them to their fullest potential. Enterprises that adopt these kinds of tools will be able to have more informed employees, who will then be able to make better decisions.

AI-Powered Search

There’s no denying the incredible power of artificial intelligence. Technology that leverages AI has an inherent leg up on competing products. This undoubtedly applies to the world of BI tools, where AI-powered search is making a huge splash.

When looking for the best BI tools, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any modern applications that aren’t utilizing advanced analytics like AI in some fashion. But what is AI-powered search, and how can this be used by an enterprises looking to get more from its business intelligence?

Data analytics platform providers such as ThoughtSpot are pushing the envelope in terms of what BI can do with their AI-powered tool known as relational search. This self-service BI empowers users to run data queries in the same way they would look something up on Google. This is revolutionary, as it totally changes the scope of who can use data to solve problems and how they think about problem solving.

AI-powered search also drastically reduces the amount of time it takes to arrive at actionable insights. Instead of having to wait days or weeks for a request to come back from the data team, users can get the answers they need in minutes. This also frees up data experts to work on projects requiring their more specialized knowledge, as opposed to continually fulfilling queries.

Democratize Data

Continuing from the previous section, data democratization is an important consideration when looking at BI tools. Data democratization is basically making it so more people are able to use data. We’ve already gone through a few reasons for why this is good, such as improving productivity and saving time. But these aren’t the only benefits of data democratization.  

The more people you bring into the fold of using data, the closer your enterprise will get to creating a true data culture. This is where data is an integral aspect of decision-making throughout the organization, for things both big and small. Having a culture of people using data to guide their choices can become an asset in itself for a business.

Intuitive Governance

One of the issues some raise with greater data democracy is the fact that it might create vulnerabilities for sensitive information. While this is a valid concern, there are ways to turn it into a non-issue. Having an intuitive governance and permissions layer within a BI tool can help keep enterprise data safe and compliant. This is worth considering for every organization, but especially for those that deal with critical consumer data.

There’s a lot to learn about the best BI tools. Fortunately, many of the great products out there have some common themes. Looking for these features can help you determine the right BI platform for your organization.