Business Intelligence

Business intelligence is not the type of intelligence that we would associate with government agencies. Though corporate sabotage has been known to happen, business intelligence deals with a business's ability to understand and use data. Any business owner or manager will tell you that knowledge of the company and market place are some of the keys to running a successful venture.

Basics of Business Intelligence

Business intelligence is the process of turning raw data into useful information. The information provided through business intelligence can help a company reduce expenses, launch new projects or focus advertising campaigns. Since business intelligence has to do with data analysis a major component to a business intelligence plan is data warehousing. Data warehousing is the storing, collecting, requesting, analyzing and presenting of information.

Data can be stored in data cubes that can be accessed through network servers. Data cubes allow users to generate reports based on analyzing multiple factors, also known as dimensions. Information pulled off of a data cube can be presented in a visual format. The visual format can allow users to easily comprehend what would otherwise be incomprehensible.

In order for business intelligence to be useful, the information must be made available through easily accessible formats. A larger company that uses an internal network would be well served to make the data warehouse available to necessary network users. The Internet can also be used to link the data warehouse to a variety of satellite locations. Reports can be published and made available to employees through the Internet or business network.