Is It Time For You To Adopt Self-Service BI Tools?
If you are even remotely related to data analytics, you must have heard about the self-service business intelligence (BI) market. Although self-service BI has turned into a buzzword, it has a somewhat vague definition.
What you commonly read about self-service BI is that it is an approach to data analytics that allows users to work with colossal corporate data despite the workforce’s lack of knowledge reading data mining and statistical analysis. What’s more, these tools enable users to sort, filter, analyze, and visualize data without the involvement of the company’s IT or BI teams.
According to the research of Allied Market Research, a Portland-based research firm, the global self-service BI market is expected to reach $14.19 billion by 2026. This is because of ease of use for non-technical staff, expanding the volume of business data coupled with a surge in need for in-depth competitive insights.
Amidst the popularity, there exists confusion regarding when to know that the organization is ready for self-service BI. Here are some points that would help you understand:
- An unending queue of report reports: If you are swamped with the number of reports to deliver and it seems impossible to complete your daily target despite having one of the finest analyst team at disposal, you may take helping hand of self-service BI.
- The constant demand for analytics from executives: One thing that seniors leadership team never fails to do is asking for a data-driven organization. Instead of making compromising decisions to do so, you can opt for self-service BI instead.
- Reports demanding more reports: Let’s face it, even though somehow you managed to complete every requirement before drafting a report, the follow-up questions give a chronic headache. While having follow-ups makes everything interesting, it also adds extra work on your plate.
- Data is too old: Getting old data is every researcher’s nightmare. Today’s world is driven by instant gratification and the latency created by old data doesn’t make life easier.
- We want visual analysis: Scanning visual forms is far better than reading endless excel sheets, which increases the demand for visual data. Self-service BI helps you develop visual data in no time.
- Where is mashed-up data: Clients nowadays demand relation of Excel sheet data with current market scenario and the addition of third-party market data. While such an amalgam of multiple data can be valuable, it is not practical for a BI team to make every small adjustment.
Compared to businesses that use traditional BI tools, the self-service BI tools are highly flexible as there does not feel any need to hire an IT team or analysts just to maintain access to data. In traditional BI tools, users demand reports and wait for the analyst to deliver, which causes backups and delays. This latency is a major disadvantage if users want to make timely decisions. On the other hand, self-service BI tools use intuitive user interfaces, making the data more accessible.
Contributor:
Writer/ editor/ travel blogger/ trekker living in India. She is deeply fascinated by new technologies and advancements in Technology.
