6 Strategies to Improve Your Business Intelligence Software

From smartphones to desktops, business intelligence can be accessed in such a way that anytime and anywhere, business leaders and employees can collect insights that can be used to create strategies and achieve their long-term goals. As a result, business intelligence is considered to be essential for companies that want to stand above their competition and dominate the market. 

Business intelligence tools and techniques take your data and convert it into information that you have and turns it into data that you can use to future-proof your company. Business intelligence software takes your data and converts it into the information you need to inform your strategies and the knowledge necessary if you want to turn your leads into sales, investments into profit. 

These abilities are only part of the rationale for getting such a software. And according to MicroStrategy, 65% of companies already have plans to increase their analytics investments. If you have your business intelligence system, then you’re already one step ahead of these companies. The next thing you need to do to truly beat the competition is to improve and tailor your business intelligence software according to your needs. Here are 6 strategies that you can employ to do just that:

1. Plan, Execute, and Analyze

The first strategy is to get to know your business intelligence system. Think about what your business intelligence can do in terms of helping you plan, execute, and analyze what you need to know. For instance, the planning stage will require you to determine which dataset you’re going to have to give the system. Executing will involve using the data and any additional information from your software to implement strategies in the best way possible. Finally, the analyzing stage involves taking the results of the strategies and figuring out where it failed, where it succeeded, and what you can improve. 

2. Improve Your Live Dashboard

The second thing you need to do is to talk to your team and find out how their experience with the software has been. Figure out what to do to improve that experience. For instance, you might want to check the live dashboard of your software as it is meant to provide you with real-time data. If it doesn’t provide you with the information you need at the start and end of the day, then figure out how you can improve it. You might also want to pay special attention to the employees who handle the type of data that leads to business intelligence. Through this strategy, you can collect the information you need to really determine if the system you have wins all the business intelligence tools comparison that you can throw at it. This strategy builds confidence and usability.

3. Provide Software Training

 Take your list of features and your newfound knowledge of what your employees do and determine which feature matches their needs. Ensure that once you’ve figured out the matches, let your employees know what they can do to take advantage of each part of your system. It is this part of the strategy that you might encounter problems. Pointing out the features may not be enough because your workforce lacks the knowledge and skills they need to understand what your business intelligence software can do. Aside from technological training, you may also help them gain more understanding of GL Account planning, CapEx planning, and simulation implementation, among others. The end result should be a combination of a capable platform and workforce that can help you make good decisions every step of the way.

4. Integrate Your Excel Sheets

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of today’s technology is customization, and your software may allow for this exact same feature. Aside from using API to integrate with your existing systems to complete your tasks, you can also maximize Excel. 

Doing so allows you to consider that some of the people who may want to see the data, like shareholders, investors, and customers, will not have access to Excel. But, if you export reports, charts, and analytics from Excel, you’d be giving yourself and others the ability to easily view the data. By using BI tools, you can visualize your data so that the data will be easier to digest for your viewers. This strategy is particularly useful if you want people to know what your research has yielded and use that information to improve campaigns and strategies.

5. Use Advanced Analytics Features

One of the key features of business intelligence functionality is the ability to turn data into knowledge and profit. However, you might be missing the benefits of such an ability because you haven’t turned your software into a data warehouse. Such losses include the one benefit of business intelligence software that you don’t realize you need: advanced analytics. This benefit refers to how your system can take normal questions and make further conclusions through modeling techniques. Business intelligence shines best when it has access to the lifeblood, the data, of your company. Without this lifeblood, your business intelligence software is just another system for automation and it may not be a very good one at that. So, input the data and while you’re at it, use the advanced analytics feature.

6. Get Actionable Insight

The final strategy is to use the analytics provided by your software to take the necessary actions that can help address the problems it pinpoints. Be it in terms of inputting more data for analysis or in sharing the insights formed to your strategists, ensure that your business intelligence software makes a difference. For instance, using a Financial Reporting Matrix will compile all data related to your company’s finances. Don’t let such abilities of your system go to waste by failing to act upon what you see and what you now know. Only then will you be able to say that you have improved your system and brought out its full potential.

Competing Through Technology   

Operating a business today requires a lot of resources and effort from you. That is why you need to ensure that no matter what business intelligence tool you have in your pocket, it is performing in the way you need it to. If you find that even after employing these strategies it still falls short of being the system you need it to be, then maybe it’s time to look elsewhere. 

But if these strategies gave you the best possible intelligence software you could hope for, then the next step is to look for any other forms of technology that could help you operate and compete. For example, if you are looking for a mind mapping software to map out and conceptualize ideas and business strategies, you can check out the analysis here for some options to explore, essential features to watch out for, and whatnot.