Business intelligence (BI) has continued to be a hot topic among enterprises and according to Gartner, is the number one investment priority for CIOs. Gartner has also reported that the business intelligence and analytics market will reach $16.9 billion in 2016, which represents an increase of 5.2 percent from 2015.
What exactly is business intelligence and what are the top trends you should be watching?
5 Business Intelligence Trends to Watch in 2016
Business intelligence encompasses tools, applications and infrastructure to access and analyze information in order to make better decisions within an enterprise. It also includes best practices that can optimize performance. As 2016 approached, numerous articles were published discussing the top trends for business intelligence. Below are the top five BI trends that will impact telecom and IT.
1. There’s more data available now than ever before.
From customer relationship management (CRM) systems to sales tracking to accounting platforms, there is more data available to the enterprise than there ever has been in the past. There are tools that compile massive amounts of data that can give valuable insight into your business, allowing you to make better decisions. This data can be mined and consolidated to give a fuller picture of the inter-workings of the business, especially performance.
2. Enterprises are looking outside of BI specialists.
Many enterprises have hired specialists to assist with business intelligence. While these experts provide a valuable service, technology has allowed organizations to get critical data without them. Specialized knowledge is no longer necessary, as software tools provide insight into how technologies within the enterprise are working together. There is a further prediction in terms of self-service capabilities related to business intelligence. The belief is that more self-service information will be available to the masses.
3. Data integration is improving.
Data integration is getting better and better thanks to new advanced tools that are able to pull together information across software platforms. There has also been an evolution in the BI space, which is providing more data sources.
4. Cloud data and analytics have become critical.
The demand for cloud analytics is going up in 2016, as enterprises want data faster. Storing data in a cloud also offers scalability and is easy to create and access. According to a recent Forbes.com article, “2016 is going to the year where the highest-performing Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) revolutionize how their customers drive new revenue, launch and manage new channels, and increase upsells and cross-sells across their customer bases.”
Data visualization is essential to better understanding of BI.
It doesn’t matter at what level someone is within an enterprise, everyone loves pictures. Images help people comprehend and recall information, which is one reason why graphics will be an even bigger part of business intelligence. Many of the BI applications today incorporate graphics that satisfy data engineers, as well as executives. These visualizations make it easier to understand data and are essential to business intelligence.
Business intelligence is going to continue to grow and evolve in 2016. Make sure your enterprise is on top of data and how it works together.
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