Unleashing the Power of Business Intelligence (BI) Tools
Business intelligence (BI) tools empower businesses by offering a range of data analysis applications. In this article, we highlight some of the most popular types of business intelligence tools that can help you make informed decisions about your company’s performance.
Types of Business Intelligence Tools
BI tools come in many different types, but here are some of the most commonly used ones:
1. Ad Hoc Analysis
Ad Hoc Analysis, also known as Ad Hoc Querying, is a basic element of modern BI apps. It’s also a key feature of self-service BI software. Ad Hoc Analysis allows you to run queries that analyze specific business issues quickly and regularly. The results are then incorporated into dashboards and reports.
2. Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)
OLAP is an early technology of BI that allows data analysis in multiple dimensions. It’s ideal for complex queries and calculations. You can run OLAP analyses directly against columnar databases.
3. Operational Intelligence (OI)
Operational Intelligence, or operational BI, is one of the most popular types of BI tools. This real-time analytics tool delivers information to frontliners and managers in the operations of business. It helps with operational decision-making and enables quicker actions on business issues.
4. Mobile BI
Mobile BI allows you to access business intelligence applications on tablets and smartphones. While it’s often used more for viewing data rather than analyzing it, it emphasizes ease of use. Mobile dashboards usually display only two or three data visualizations.
5. Real-time BI
Real-time BI includes data analysis, collection, and processing. It aims to provide you with an updated view of financial markets, customer behaviors, business operations, etc. The process of real-time analytics supports the use of decision analytics and involves streaming data.
6. Open-source BI (OSBI)
Open-source BI tools typically include two versions. The first is a community edition that you can use for free. The second is a subscription-based commercial release that offers technical support from the vendor.
These are some of the most common types of BI tools available to companies. Other types of BI tools include embedded BI, collaborative BI, and location intelligence.
