Month: July 2015

If you’re currently in the market for a business intelligence solution, then it’s assumed that your organization is in the mind-state of growth. It’s likely that your business is growing at a pace that is getting difficult to handle or maybe the pace is consistent, but you have a thirst for a new way of managing your analytics and internal statistics.

Whatever your reason, business intelligence (BI) has the potential to revolutionize your company and the way your employees perform their duties.

While a business often shows interest in investing in business intelligence, they soon become hesitant once the conversation of cost comes up. And rightfully so — the decision makers of a company want to be able to maximize their revenue and only invest in long-term solutions if it’s absolutely necessary. We understand this.

Most businesses should be concerned with their bottom line, but they should also be concerned with the future of company operations to ensure the growth of their company lasts longer than the present.

While the costs of implementing a full-fledged business intelligence solution varies greatly by provider, additions specific to your industry or company, licensing and more, we won’t be able to give you the exact dollar amount that you want to read. However, what we can tell you are the major components that will make up the cost that you’ll be billed for after you receive a quote from a vendor. And that’s what we’ll do below.

Software

This portion of your BI solution is the meat and bones of the overall BI concept. While the cost of the software has a wide range, this is the part where it’s all up to you to determine which capabilities you want, what kind of interface works best for your team and which vendor are you willing to partner with for the next couple of years. This portion of your overall BI investment is the first to be determined, but is not the majority of the cost of the entire BI package.

Installation & Implementation

In most cases, the vendor that provided the software will also have to install it into the workplace. And these prices can get costly. Often times, the installation is just the beginning as tasks like report building or configuration have to also be taught to the users of the new BI software. But prior to having the software installed, make sure to analyze it to make sure that it’s as user-friendly as you intend it to be and has an easy integration process.

User Training

What good is a business intelligence solution if it’s difficult to navigate, right? It’s a necessary part of the process as you don’t want to invest in a new technology and have your team be reluctant or too nervous to make use of it. Before you invest in any solution, ask about how long it would reasonably take to train a staff of your size.

Administration

Who’s going to be the boss once the installers leave? With new software comes new responsibility and this is something that can either be assigned to your IT team or can be a totally new hire. The costly part of determining and training an administrator is the fact that training them will take them away from their already-established duties. Depending on your BI solution, you may want to hire a consultant to help you manage the software and its accompanying tools.

Upkeep & Maintenance

Just like your car, you have to keep the machine well oiled and running smoothly. Budgeting for this portion can be difficult to gauge as many unforeseen issues can arrive. Look into change management processing when researching your BI solution. This way, you’ll be able to see which applications or reports are being used the most and see the ones that aren’t adding value to your company operations.

While you will likely have to speak to a vendor to get hardcore numbers or projections, we hope this post will help you understand the major sections that will make up that quote.

Remember, business intelligence is an investment that will likely take a while to perfect. However, it should ultimately serve your organization with high-quality reporting and analysis so you can continue to achieve success and fluidity within your operations.

If the conversation of business intelligence comes up, one of the first questions that will come up from interested companies is “Is it really worth the investment?” And that’s a tough question to answer as it’s hard to give out guarantees because much of the payoff has to do with the work done on your end.

One thing that is certain, however, is that if you’re having trouble with the flow of your business and currently don’t have a BI solution, then there’s great potential for a more effective and streamlined workplace with one.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the mounds of information that has to be collected, analyzed and shared amongst your team. And this is where business intelligence thrives. But back to the original question: is it worth it? To answer this question, we’ll break down the areas of a basic business infrastructure without BI and see how a BI software can drastically improve company operations.

Data Collection in One Place

A workplace without any type of business intelligence is likely working with a few different softwares. Now, while this may work, it is likely more time consuming than it has to be and more scattered than it should be.

Multiple spreadsheets, softwares and networks can become a pain for employees and can certainly slow down the workflow. BI allows a company to gather all of this data in one central location for the convenience of the employees on every level. With all the time that would be saved with a new software, employees will have more opportunities to handle other tasks, which could possibly generate more revenue for the company.

Employee Training

For staff members who are in charge of data collection, having multiple sources for data can become a breeding ground for bottlenecking. With the assistance of a business intelligence software, these individuals have the opportunity to maximize production as the technology will help to lighten the workload.

Due to the high volume of one’s workload, it’s not uncommon to get delayed in reporting. If your team has multiple people assembling data and coordinating its distribution to the company’s decision makers, a BI investment can turn that segment of big data collection on its head by getting those reports to management faster.

When it comes to analyzing these inefficiencies in your company, another question has to be raised: are these setbacks actually costing my company? And more than just general revenue, these less-than-optimized operations can be costing your business opportunities and wasted time.

Statistics Proving Technology Works

And while these are hypothetical scenarios that are listed in this post, there is actually research that’s been conduct to show the return on investment for business analytics and intelligence tools. According to Nucleus Research, analytics and its payoff is huge.

“In analyzing ROI case studies on analytics, we found the average returns from analytics have been increasing, reaching $13.01 for every dollar spent in 2014 from just $10.66 in 2011.”

That’s 1300%! That’s pretty impressive — and worth the investment.

Fortunately, the transition to business intelligence doesn’t have to be a drastic one. Starting with the basic technology is a big step in itself that saves your company the trouble of finding a way to put all the most important big data in one location. Once you see the results yourself and the payoff starts to show in your actual bottom line, you can use what you’ve earned to invest in more technology to further improve your company.