Top 5 Business Intelligence Trends You Can't Ignore for 2023
The emergence of the pandemic taught both small and large businesses the value of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. In just 2020, more than 64 zettabytes of data were created, copied, captured, or consumed globally.1
“Information is the oil of the 21st Century, and analytics the combustion engine.” - Peter Sondergaard.
That calls for a revamp in the structure of how businesses analyze and interpret data. If you still think SQL and spreadsheets are the way to study the best course of action for your business, you’re way behind the curve.
The massive volumes of data are too big to interpret in a small timeframe and impossible for a team of few people to analyze thoroughly. As Alan Turing rightly said more than seven decades ago,
“It is something created by a machine, so only another machine can solve it.”
It is the part where business intelligence comes in. It stands for a procedural and technical infrastructure that analyzes, stores, and collects data for an organization. Today, it has evolved to include concepts such as IoT, big data, and artificial intelligence.2
Throughout this article, you’ll learn about all the latest business intelligence (BI) trends, what they mean going forward, and how they can help your business prosper.
What’s New in Business Intelligence?
Business Intelligence Trends - Key Focus Areas
1. Accessibility
Business owners and marketing executives are tired of reading through the reports that they get from the analytics department. They want to see the data for themselves and come to their own conclusions to become more efficient at their jobs.
As such, companies are moving away from compartmentalization, making their data available to all the departments that may require it.
2. Security
The commercialization of cybercrime creates an exceptional threat to the digital assets of businesses worldwide.3 Whether a small store or an expansive supply chain, companies are looking to move past simple authorization protocols and make their database more secure.
3. Personalization
As each person is different, so are their preferences. Whether a report on customer preferences or a study of a specific department, business intelligence future trends will focus more on personalization.4
4. Compatibility
Not every person in an organization may have an expensive, hardware-heavy rig handy all the time. Making the relevant data available on most digital devices, including smartphones, shall become the new norm in business intelligence.
Top 5 Business Intelligence Trends for 2023
Now that you’re aware of the stakes, it is time to dive in and observe the actual methodologies that hold the promise in business intelligence. The scale of these business intelligence trends may differ, but they remain effective in helping businesses explore new horizons for growth.
The latest trends in business intelligence include the following:
1. SaaS and Cloud Analytics
Many businesses, especially those with on-premise data storage, struggle with sharing essential data with their respective employees. The result was a logistical nightmare in which many people were unaware of the big picture. The disastrous development of Square Enix’s game, Outriders, is an excellent example.5
In such a case, it becomes imperative to make the necessary files available through a cloud computing solution, whether public, private or SaaS. A cloud solution not only makes the data more accessible but ascertains a backup should any local files get corrupted.
2. Data Democratization
Traditionally, the complex data was only meant for the nerdy technical team that put together their reports on their interpretation, not realizing the insights required by the marketing executives and other higher-ups.
What’s new in business intelligence is that more business owners realize the importance of educating their teams on data analysis. A few people in the Sales department should at least know how to run popular data analysis software like Highcharts and Data miner.
3. Increased Personalization with Automated Machine Learning (AutoML)
Speaking of software, the sheer volume of data is not enough for only humans to pull off. The latest trends in business intelligence have focused on developing automated machine learning (AutoML). No wonder the reports from Gartner show that 75% of enterprises will shift to operational AI.6
“Data are just summaries of thousands of stories — tell a few of those stories to help make the data meaningful.” - Dan Heath
Such tools can help generate accurate and insightful reports without requiring any input from the operator. Depending on when your hardware is active, the program can run diagnostics and commence the scheduled deep-learning tasks. Amazon Lex and Auto-Keras are two of the most commonly used AutoML programs.
4. Increased NLP/NGL Applications
The rapid progression of AI has allowed for more natural queries from a database. It is known as natural language processing (NLP), a feature that has made data interpretation much more straightforward than before. No longer are you required to write complex lines of code. Just type or say the queries, and the system generates the exact report you need.
Often, the system works in tandem with NLG (Natural Language Generation), the process of using the output methods more familiar to the user. In its entirety, the system can produce easy-to-interpret results to assist in making swift and informed decisions, something that has become a need of the hour for SMBs.
5. Embedded BI Applications
According to a recent report from DataProt, organizations leave 97% of their collected data unused.7 A significant reason is the lack of integration within the regular software used by the employees. The latest business intelligence trends for 2023 may seek to rectify that.
Data collection and processing from multiple devices may remove the need for cumbersome dashboards and excessive logins. Moreover, it will allow for quick access to selective data streams for more detailed performance inspection.
Conclusion
The emerging business intelligence trends hold massive promises for businesses. Sure, the right tools matter, but you can only extract the best from them through the correct methodologies. Can you think of any more ways this will impact your life? Check out if you are looking for Digital Consulting. Comment your suggestions down below.