Business Intelligence (BI) is a phenomenon that tends to provide the businesses with the operational efficiencies in the business processes, architectural models and the technological advancements. The main aim behind it is to provide the businesses with the increased profitability and the increased customer count. The ultimate goal is the increased market share. The set of processes in the business intelligence tend to provide the conversion of the raw data into useful information. It helps to serve as the driving force for the business operations. It is basically a combination of both the software and the services that better serve the purpose for the transmission of raw data into useful information and the actionable knowledge (Abelló, 2013)

The business intelligence tends to have the impact on all the business operations and the efficiencies. It can either relate to the firm’s strategic and operational parameters or the tactical decision making for the business products/ services. It is so because business intelligence does not rely on the subjective approach or the gut feelings. Rather it makes use of the facts and the figures. For performing the operations BI tends to make use of the historical data and the information. It is now clear that business intelligence is not about the gut feeling and the subjective approach (Middelfart, 2011).

Importance of tools for business intelligence

The importance of BI tools can be evaluated based on the fact that they provide the businesses with the reports, dashboards, graphs and charts, summaries as well as the maps. It helps to know about the operational efficiency and the performance of the business for a specified tenure of the time. It is all done in accordance with the nature of the business. The significant work which is done by making use of BI tools includes as given:

·         The historic data is used in order to provide an indication of the KPIs which are basically Key Performance Indicators.

·         There exist varying processes for a business entity, BI helps to set out the benchmarks for the different business processes.

·         The added benefit which is provided by BI is about visualization of the data. It helps to provide with both the quality of the services as well as the quality in data.

·         The BI systems can better be used by both large enterprises as well as the SMEs (small and medium enterprises) (Zhongxian Wang, 2010).

Implementation of business intelligence systems

There are three basic steps that need to be followed for the implementation of business intelligence (BI) systems.

·         The database of the firm is used in order to extract the raw data of the firm’s activities. The data gathered so is distributed to the multiple heterogeneous systems.

·         The data gathered form the firm’s database is then cleaned. It is then transformed to the data warehouse. It leads to the formation of the data tables which are having the links and the data cubes.

·         This is the BI system which helps the users to run the queries on the system in order to get the specified reports and perform any kind of analysis on the said system (Zack Jourdan, 2008)

The role of data warehousing in the context of architecture of business intelligence

The main purpose behind using business intelligence and the data warehouse is to provide the firm with the facility to make use of either internal or the external database. It is done for providing the organization with the facility to have increased consideration for the analysis of the business models and the operations. They both work together. It can be said that the functionality of one will be affected in the absence of the other. The data warehouse tends to enhance the efficiency of the business intelligence systems.

Architecture of business intelligence model along with the data warehouse is as given:

The framework of business intelligence comprises of the parameters as given below:

·         The data collection is an integral part which is done by making use of either internal or the external database.

·         The integration of the data through a well-defined process

·         The data then needs to be stored after it has been cleaned

·         The analysis of the data is required for extraction of the outcomes.

·         The data distribution is another significant part

Last but not the least is linked with the provision of the reactions which are basically based on the insights (Datapine, 2019).

BI Application in Government/Public sector

The BI applications are an important consideration for both the Government and the public sector. It tends to provide the facilities of both the sectors at maximum possible extent (Bozzon, 2010). It can be seen from the applications of business intelligence as given below:

One of the most important applications of business intelligence systems is related to OLTP (online transaction processing system). It is basically fed into the database for the product. It thus helps to add the product line along with making the significant changes to the prices of the product.

For the query related to the product, the important parameters may relate to the addition of the product, or changing the existing products along with recording of the increased revenues.

In case the database relates to advertising then query can be executed regarding the changes that are desired to be made in the context of advertisement. It can also relate to the budgeting of the product regarding certain parameters. The addition of new client is also a part of the said system. For the part of the database which is regarding the employees, the important information may include the details of the employee’s leaves and the salaries etc.

Another example may relate to the banking sector where the branch manager is provided with the BI application. By making use of the BI applications the manager can better determine about the key customers of the bank. Also, the dormant accounts can be identified easily.

The main benefit which the bank’s staff can avail is about the freeing themselves form the hectic work of preparation and the maintenance of the analytical reports. The skills and the expertise of the staff can be used at some other place i.e., in performing their routine tasks and the activities.

Applications of BI systems for the public sector

In the current era of technology and the innovations, the application of business intelligence systems have provided with the ease and the facility to perform the analysis for the large amount of data. This data basically relates to the citizens which helped to better interpret their behaviors by making use of BI systems. This analysis can better help to predict about the needs of the citizens of a specified region. The significant areas where the applications of BI systems are remarkable may include the health, transportation, taxation systems etc. It can be said that all the areas of public sector make use of BI systems.

For example, the BI systems tend to provide the regional representatives with the facility to make use of the financial reports independently. It thus better helps to perform the analysis regarding the effectiveness and the efficiency in certain areas of performance.

For the taxation records, the information from different areas can better be integrated. These areas may include the name of the places from the land registry and the records, taxation returns. It helps to analyze the unauthorized buildings along with the tax evasion.

 Applications of BI systems for the Government sector

As far as the government sector is concerned, it helps to evaluate the transparency on a large scale. The use of BI systems has brought the transparency to both the citizens and the administration itself. The automatic publishing of certain reports and the graphs is possible by making use of BI systems. The more the BI systems are used efficiently the better it helps to present the true picture of the financial statement of the government sector. These reports are accessible to the citizens by making use of the web or the internet.

For example, the budgeting and the allocation of the funds is possible by making use of the BI systems. The funds and the budgets can better be streamlined through these systems. This is how the efficient planning can be done by the government in order to provide the public with the financial resources in time. Also, all the records of the government can better be saved and evaluated by making the use of BI systems. The financial analysis is possible with ease by making use of BI systems. For the said purpose, different BI systems have been introduced. It may include Sql-Server (for management of the database), ETL tool and visualization tool etc.

Types of users for BI systems of Business intelligence

There exist four types of users for BI systems. These include as given:

·         The professional for the data analysis purposes: These users are basically the ones who know each and everything about the business intelligence. They can better make the use of the BI in order to perform the analysis. They are highly experienced. This is the reason that these professionals can help to perform the efficient business analysis.

·         The IT users: The role pf IT users in the context of business intelligence is all about maintaining the BI systems which are being used by the firm as per the nature of the operations.

·         The higher authorities of the firm: The higher authorities of the firm are more concerned about making use of BI in the business operations. They have to increase the firm’s profitability.

·         The business users: These users can be either the casual users or the power users etc. They have the capabilities to work either with the complicated datasets or just by making use of the well-defined dashboard.

Benefits of implementing BI in Government/Public sector

The benefits for making use of BI systems in either Government or the private sector are as given:

·         The BI systems help to increase the operational efficiency.

·         BI is if well managed can help to enhance the firm’s profitability and the customer count.

·         By making use of the BI systems the visibility regarding the business efficiencies can better be increased.

·         The more the firm has the capability to imply BI the better it can perform the analysis of the business operations and the efficiencies.

·         It tends to provide the firm with the bird’s eye view.

·         Easy analytics are possible through the BI systems.

·         The business processes can better be streamlined by making use of BI systems.

·         The firm can get the analytics after regular intervals.

·         The graphs, reports, maps and the charts are basically the outcomes for the BI systems.

·         The customer count can better be increased by making use of the BI systems (Gaardboe, Svarre, & Kanstrup, 2015).

Summary Table

Conclusion of Business intelligence

It can be concluded that the more the business operations are equipped with the business operations the better it provides the firm to bring the operational efficiency. It will ultimately help the fir to get the increased profits, customer count and the market share. It is all about the strategic planning, firm’s ability to utilize the strengths in an effective way and cater the threats which the firm has to face as well as the maximum utilization of the resources.

The importance of BI tools can be evaluated based on the fact that they provide the businesses with the reports, dashboards, graphs and charts, summaries as well as the maps. This is the BI system which helps the users to run the queries on the system in order to get the specified reports and perform analysis.

By making use of business intelligence systems the market trends can better be identified. Also, the research can better be made by taking into consideration the strategies of the competitors. It better helps to formulate the strategies which are helpful to achieve the firm’s long term goals and the objectives. The types of users for BI systems include the professional for the data analysis purposes.

Research Contribution of Business intelligence

The research on the topic of business intelligence tends to provide with both the theoretical and the practical contributions. It tends to provide the managers of the firms in order to make effective use of the models of the business intelligence. It will better help to achieve the firm’s strategic goals and the objectives. As far as the theoretical contributions are concerned it will provide the basis to the researchers who are intending to work on the topic of business intelligence systems and their implications as well as the benefits. This is how the contribution of the current work can be marked for both the managers and the researchers. In case the managers of the firm seek for help from the current work they can get the help for the formulation of the effective and the efficient strategies. This is how BI will help to provide the businesses with the operational efficiencies in the business processes, architectural models and the technological advancements.

References of Business intelligence

Abelló, A. L. (2013). Special Issue on Data Warehousing: From Occasional OLAP to Real-Time Business. International Journal of Data Warehousing and Mining, 66-88.

Bozzon, A. B. (2010). Liquid query: multi-domain exploratory search on the web. Science Direct, 161-170.

Datapine. (2019). The Role Of Data Warehousing In Your Business Intelligence Architecture. Retrieved from https://www.datapine.com/blog/data-warehousing-and-business-intelligence-architecture/

Gaardboe, R., Svarre, T., & Kanstrup, A. M. (2015). Characteristics of business intelligence and big data in e-government: Preliminary findings. Innovation and the public sector.

Inetsoft. com. (2019). InetSoft Technology: BI Solutions - Easy, Agile, Robust. Retrieved from www.inetsoft.com: https://www.inetsoft.com/company/bi_solution/

Middelfart, M. &. (2011). The meta-morphing model used in TARGIT BI suite. Science Direct, 364-370.

Tunowski, R. (2015). Business Intelligence in Organization. Benefits, Risks and Developments. Science Direct, 133-144.

Zack Jourdan, R. K. (2008). Business Intelligence: An Analysis of the Literature. Infromation systems Management, 121–131.

Zhongxian Wang, R. Y. (2010). ARIBA: A Successful Story in E-Commerce. ResearchGate, 541-551.