Data Intelligence: how to make the most of data with BI tools

Today's software tools are designed to help businesses use business intelligence and analytical models to make the most of their organisation's data. In this data analytics tutorial, we look at the use of data discovery, location intelligence and operational intelligence applications.and operational intelligence, with the aim of achieving operational and strategic benefits.

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3 BI tools for harnessing Data Intelligence

These days, organisations have a wealth of data at their fingertips, which they are looking to better manage and use to their advantage. Using data operationally and strategically is important for businesses of all sectors and sizes in today's competitive marketplace, and today's software tools aim to Business Intelligence (BI) and analytical models to maximise the utility of organisational data.

Three applications from the BI and analytics sector are gaining prominence in the world of data intelligence thanks to their ability to help organisations make the most of the information in their possession and tackle the business problems that are specific to them. But before we take a closer look at these applications, let's first look at some general criteria for evaluating BI and analytics applications on the market today. To make effective use of data for operational and strategic considerations, organisations should look for applications that are :

• are easy to install, configure and use
• offer self-service (SaaS) tools, so that users can analyse their data with little or no technical assistance
• incorporate new technologies to speed up the process of analysing and interpreting data, such as mobility, easier access to a greater number of sources, content search capabilities, real-time capabilities, etc.
• incorporate functionalities specific to the vertical market

Beyond these basic criteria, there are many aspects to consider when making an assessment of BI, because today its applications offer many very useful functions for aspects specific to business operations.These include searching for information models (with data discovery applications), understanding the relationship between location and data (location intelligence) and interpreting business performance (operational intelligence). In this article, we'll give you an overview of these three main types of BI application, explain how their analysis of information can improve business processes and strategies, and explain how BI can be used to improve business performance.In this article, we will give you an overview of these three main types of BI application, explain how their analysis of information can improve business processes and strategies, and finally detail what specific functionality each type of solution should have.

1. Data discovery software

Data discovery applications are specifically designed to provide users with the ability to connect to and explore a wide variety of sources. The absence of predefined data search paths allows users to interact with the data and easily derive clear representations from it. Users can take advantage of these tools not only to quickly create prototypes, but also to deliver more robust data exploration and representation projects where required.

With 'ease of use' and 'freedom' at the core of these solutions, data discovery applications enable organisations to quickly access a wide range of data sources and begin to explore, analyse and gain deeper insight into the information they hold.

Key features of data discovery applications include

• Data integration capabilities
• Exploration tools and advanced cross-database exploration capabilities
• Exploration capabilities for both structured and unstructured data
• Powerful, practical data modelling and representation tools
• Enterprise and content data search capabilities

2. Location Intelligence software

It should come as no surprise to anyone that, for certain types of business, the ability to detect and pinpoint the exact location of very specific information can be critical. For example, the ability for a distributor to detect where certain categories of customers are located and to know their buying behaviour can help to determine whether it makes sense to set up a new branch or shop in a given area. As another example, being able to assess the frequency of crimes committed in a specific location can be extremely useful to police stations in adopting security measures where they are really needed.

In response to user needs and demands, BI software publishers have enhanced their data analysis solutions with geolocation information and geographical representations. In addition, the availability of sophisticated mapping applications, such as those provided by Esri or the more popular mapping services (such as Google), has encouraged and increased the use of geographic information for many different purposes, including BI.

Location intelligence applications contain the following elements:

• Data integration options, particularly from real-time sources (RSS feeds, sensors, transactions, etc.)
• Powerful representation tools, including maps and other related information
• Analysis of spatial relationships
• Tools for incorporating standard or custom geometric shapes, such as points, lines, polygons or other shapes, to identify data associated with specific locations/regions on maps
• Dynamic recalculation and updating of data based on navigation on a map or on the user's GPS position, detectable on the devices they are using
• Augmented reality features such as associating real objects with relevant information

3. Operational Intelligence software

Operational intelligence solutions have been created to bring visibility to business functions. By collecting information generated in real time, this type of tool gives access to the data generatedThis type of tool gives access to data generated directly from the source, before analysing it and then observing business activities to determine performance and detect risks and opportunities.

Many organisations work with huge amounts of data that needs to be collected, monitored and interpreted in real time. In such organisations, real-time information analysis is essential to provide the parties involved (information workers and key decision-makers) with the information they need to make the right decisions, before putting them into practice within a reasonable timeframe.

Operational intelligence helps companies make these decisions through dynamic (real-time) business analytics, which provide real visibility into operational data and, in extenso, business operations.

Operational intelligence applications contain the following functionalities:

• Data integration options, particularly from real-time sources (e.g. RSS feeds, sensors and transactions)
• Tools for data mining and powerful detection capabilities
• Representation tools
• Multi-dimensional analysis options
• Real-time data monitoring tools
• The ability to create data mashups
• Enterprise reporting tools

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Improving market knowledge through data intelligence

Business Intelligence solutions go beyond what was previously possible by using and manipulating organisational data to achieve operational and strategic objectives. Data discovery, location intelligence and operational intelligence are three important types of Business Intelligence that provide today's organisations with new and more comprehensive ways of gaining in-depth insight into their business.

To find out more about how data and analytics are being used to succeed in business, read Jorge Garcia, Business Intelligence and Data Management Analyst at TEC, who recently published a report that explains how to combine Big Data and analytical models to reussify commercially, outlining how companies can leverage Big Data with advanced analytical services to improve their business diagnostics, marketing, customer service and financial strategies.