Art of BI: The Democratization of BI

The fast and dynamic changes in the business world have required organizations to respond rapidly to the ever-evolving market conditions. The great advancement, availability, and affordability of technologies like cloud computing in recent years have made them more accessible to a greater number of people. This has, in turn, resulted in increased access to vast amounts of business information on demand, and has also led to the democratization of Business Intelligence (BI).

Top business managers and key personnel have moved beyond the limits of spreadsheets to engage in deeper analysis and use data insights to guide all types of decisions. This has accelerated the creation and adaptation of new tools and methods that are geared toward the needs of the business user. With the democratization of Business Intelligence, businesses can now share information in real time with up-to-date metrics for immediate business activity monitoring. And the tools to accomplish this are more accessible than ever.

The Benefits of Democratization

The Democratization of BI has provided SMBs with a competitive edge by enabling them to easily share their data analysis and insights with little or no investment in the expensive hardware, data warehouses, and IT personnel.

There is also a growing trend of SaaS-based analytic applications focused on solving domain- and industry-vertical business needs. Users are now able to quickly set up and use these SaaS analytics applications without involving IT personnel. With the help of analytics apps, users can get tailored analytics and information delivered directly to them in a clear and understandable format.

The Challenge of Democratization

There is a great need coming from businesses and organizations for faster performance, ease of scalability, reduced costs, and more real-time data insights. The ability to quickly set up and use these cloud and SaaS analytic applications without involving IT experts has grown, however making optimal use of these tools and managing them from a technical perspective is a growing challenge especially for companies implementing Business Intelligence initiatives for the first time.

This has prompted companies to reach out for support from managed services and consulting companies. These outside vendors can perform, recommend, and train teams on specific tasks or infrastructure management strategies related to dashboards and reports, data management, collaboration, best practices, upgrades, and more.

Managed services and consulting companies can build the kind of BI system that allows businesses to easily obtain crucial data that supports real-time decision-making across every level of an organization. Information can quickly be availed to the user in an easily understood format such as charts and graphs, on a personal device, and without prepping the data or making requests to someone in IT to pull the info.

“A new technological era is upon us, one that marries digital business with digital intelligence. It’s what’s known as cognitive business,” says IBM’s Chairman and CEO Ginni Rometty, acknowledging the evolution of democratization of BI.

The Democratization of BI has opened up a world of opportunities for companies diving into Business Intelligence. Organizations that take advantage of expert resources to maximize the available tools will find themselves gaining greater insight that can builder stronger businesses.

Datavail is the largest provider of data and database administration (DBA) services in North America with more than 600 DBAs, analysts, developers and consultants. We offer 24×7 managed services and project consulting in database administration, BI/Analytics, data warehousing, and enterprise performance management. Datavail’s expert consulting team specializes in integrations, implementations, and upgrades for applications across the Oracle stack, including Hyperion, OBIEE, OBIA, GoldenGate, Weblogic, and more.