16 January 2012

Business intelligence back in the hands of the decision maker

Submitted by: Sarann Buckby

There is a buzz phrase in business management and that is self-service business intelligence.  With the BI market predicted to grow by 8.1% into 2012, the question is how well local companies are positioned to benefit from the upswing.

Ian Littlejohn, CEO of BI Insight says, "Business intelligence tools have been sitting in the wrong hands, and thats why the internal uptake of these tools by business users has been in the region of 6 - 8% , a low figure considering the investment that many large companies make in software and data management.  A transition is now taking place, however.  The business manager is beginning to realise the power of using BI tools to visualise and analyse their data themselves to assist in making strategic decisions."

The sluggish process of BI delivery from the IT department to the management office means that BI analysis tools are not used by the people who actually make the decisions. Instead, most managers and decision-makers are using Microsoft Excel to manage and analyse information, often laboriously and without really spending enough time actually analysing information – as little as 20% in fact.

"In the BI workshops that I have run, I have found that many professionals who work everyday on Excel are not even sure how to use PivotTables let alone manipulate the programme to visualise and analyse data effectively."  says Littlejohn. 

Business intelligence was once one of the most exciting areas of IT, but its true value proposition lies in its potential to improve efficiency and productivity in business. Traditionally, the business manager would ask questions of the IT department, who analyse masses of data often using sophisticated hardware and software to do the job.  Innovation in BI software, however, has made it possible for the ordinary managerial 'Joe' to run complex analysis and create interactive dashboards on their own laptops, hence the reference to 'self-service'. 

Creative leaders ask questions that need to be answered by visualising  and interacting with data.  There is no doubt that if managers could get their questions answered more quickly and meaningfully, significant organisational potential would be released.  "Take for example an annual budget.  In times of economic uncertainty, budget decisions could quickly become invalid and fast reporting becomes a business emergency.  It's a matter of fine tuning and efficiency", comments Littlejohn.    

BI tools also allow for 'what if' analysis.  The procurement industry is another example; economic indicators such as the exchange or interest rates can be inserted into the BI software to offer predictions of how the bottom line and other key internal performance figures will change. 

"We have found that decision makers become quite addicted to visually represented BI, as once they discover that their questions can be answered quickly they start asking more and more of their data sets, which in turn inspires better and more innovative business leadership," continues Littlejohn.

Ian Littlejohn is the CEO of BI Insight, a company that offers training on self-service business intelligence, Excel training and Data Analysis Training to decision-makers in business.  BI Insight is also a reseller of Tableau one of the leading global BI software innovators.

For more information please contact Ian Littlejohn on 0861 003 007 or visit www.biinsight.co.za.

Note to editor

For interviews with or commentary from Ian Littlejohn please contact Candice de Carvalho on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Business profile on Ian Litteljohn available on request.

Editorial and profile images also available on request.

About BI Insight

In an economic environment that is experiencing a shift in market dynamics, it is becoming increasingly important for organisations to source and analyse business and marketing data seamlessly.  BI Insight was founded in 2011 specifically for this purpose and empowering the business end-user is the ultimate outcome of both their world-class software products and training. 

There are three main goals at BI Insight: Provide performance measurement, data analysis and interactive dashboard creation; Provide world class software to explore, analyse and visualise business and marketing data; Provide world class training and education to better understand business and marketing data with Tableau and Excel.

Decision makers are able to use these BI tools themselves to ask questions of their data that can affect strategic decisions faster than ever before.  Data analysis and visualisation fast-tracks this process.

BI Insight has experience in a number of different industries, including financial services, insurance, parastatal organisations, telecommunications, fast moving consumer goods and manufacturing. For more information go to www.biinsight.co.za

Resources

1. BI Insight Website:  www.BIInsight.co.za

2. Gartner CIO survey:  http://bit.ly/n7BRy8

Issued on behalf of:  BI Insight 

Contact: Ian Littlejohn
Tel: 0861 003 007
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Issues by: Phatic Communications 
Editorial contact: Candice de Carvalho
Tel: 082 402 5774
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.