BI Development Approaches
When people talk about Business Intelligence (BI), they often think it’s just about tools or some fancy dashboards. But really, it’s more about how you use it. A BI system can be a complete game changer if you know the right way to approach it. Let’s go through some practical ways you can actually make it work better for you and your team.
1. Plan, Execute, and Analyze
The first thing is simple: get familiar with your BI system. Don’t just jump in and expect magic. Think about it like a cycle—plan, execute, then analyze.
- Plan: Decide what data you want to feed into the system. Without the right dataset, you’re pretty much going in blind.
- Execute: This is just putting the system to use—implementing strategies with the data you have.
- Analyze: Here’s where you sit back and look at the results. What worked? What completely flopped? What can be improved?
It’s like trial and error, except with real numbers backing you up.
2. Improve Your Live Dashboard
Now, dashboards look cool, but are they really helping? That’s the question. Talk to your team—ask them how they’re using it and if it’s even showing what matters at the start and end of their day.
If not, fix it. A live dashboard should give you real-time updates that actually matter, not just pretty charts. And don’t forget the folks who manage the raw data going in. When you tweak the dashboard right, not only does it become more useful, but people also start trusting the system more.
3. Provide Software Training
Here’s the thing—most BI tools have tons of features, but if your team doesn’t know how to use them, they’re basically wasted. Once you know which features fit your employees’ needs, make sure they get the right training.
And I don’t just mean showing them buttons. Some might need help with GL Account planning, CapEx planning, or simulation models. When everyone knows what’s what, the whole system becomes a lot more powerful. A trained team plus a solid BI tool equals smarter decisions across the board.
4. Integrate Your Excel Sheets
Love it or hate it, Excel isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The good news? Most BI systems let you integrate Excel or even connect through APIs.
That way, you can pull data from your existing systems, export reports, and share them easily. Think about investors or customers who don’t use Excel—exported charts or visual BI reports make the info way easier to understand. Basically, you’re making the data accessible to everyone who needs it.
5. Use Advanced Analytics Features
A lot of companies only scratch the surface with BI. But the real value shows up when you use advanced analytics. That means treating your BI system like a proper data warehouse, not just a reporting tool.
With advanced analytics, you can model different scenarios, predict outcomes, and actually get answers to those “what if” questions. Without this, BI is just another automation tool. With it, your data becomes the heartbeat of your business.
6. Get Actionable Insight
Here’s where it all ties together—don’t just collect insights, act on them. If your BI system shows a problem, fix it. If it highlights an opportunity, share it with your strategy team.
For example, something like a Financial Reporting Matrix can bring together all your financial data in one view. But if you don’t use that info to actually make a decision, then what’s the point? Acting on insights is what makes BI worth the investment.
Wrapping It Up
At the end of the day, Business Intelligence isn’t really about the software itself—it’s about how you use it.
If you:
- Plan carefully,
- Keep your dashboard relevant,
- Train your team,
- Integrate tools like Excel,
- Leverage advanced analytics, and
- Act on the insights you discover...
then your BI system stops being just another tool sitting in the background. Instead, it turns into something that actually pushes your business forward and becomes a real driver of growth.
