Database Applications in Business Intelligence Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………3 Motivation…………………………………………………………………………………..3 Research methods……………………………………………………………………………3 Why is business intelligence so important? ……………………………………………….4 Two main functions of Business Intelligence………………………………………………5 Popular BI tools……………………………………………………………………………..5 What is QlikView…………………………………………………………………………….6 Important features of QlikView…………………………………………………………….6 How is QlikView used in business organizations?...................................................................7 Visualization of data using QlikView………………………………………………………8 Conclusion……………………………………..…………………………………………….20 References……………………………………….…………………………….……………21 Introduction Business Intelligence is a process for increasing the competitive advantage or performance of a business or organization by the intelligent use of available data in decision making. It is a key component of business performance management. It is a broad category of software applications and technologies for gathering, storing, analyzing, and providing access to data to help managers and staff make better business decisions. BI can include decision support systems, query and reporting, online analytical processing (OLAP), statistical analysis, forecasting, and data mining. Motivation Business Intelligence is one of the most valued systems that business organizations need nowadays. Recent studies on BI have shown that it can help in increasing the business sales by at least 30%. The reason that inspired us to research on applications of databases in business intelligence is to get more knowledge about its functionalities, features, and benefits for both... ... middle of paper ... ...ence Definition and Solutions." CIO. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. . • "Business Intelligence Functions." Business Intelligence Functions. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. . • "Business intelligence." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Aug. 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. . • "Oracle Business Intelligence (BI)." Tools and Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. . • "What is Business Intelligence?." What is Business Intelligence. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. .
In today’s organizational structure many of the organizations realize that business intelligence (BI) can provide solutions and important competitive advantages and thus want to evolve their BI strategies beyond spreadsheets.
The business intelligence (BI) marketplace is teaming with new innovations and struggles for market share. With new technologies and more companies entering the business intelligence landscape pricing for BI processes and tools are decreasing. “The relational database market is around 30 years old. It should be mature by now, but every year there seem to be new innovations in the relational database space. I’m always astounded that there continue to be new entrants” (Beckerle, p. 281, 2008).
Business intelligence (BI) is the process of gathering enough of the right information in the right manner at the right time, and delivering the right results to the right people for decision-making purposes so that it can continue to yield real business benefits, or have a positive impact on business strategy, tactics, and operations in the enterprises. Business intelligence is a well-established and generally well-known software category that spans a wide range of functional capabilities. Business Intelligence systems are one step above knowledge management systems. Although sspecific definitions will vary from customer to customer and vendor to vendor, but most will agree that business intelligence typically refers to the challenge of providing business users with meaningful information from company data sources to help those users make better, more informed business decisions. BI applications include activities of online analytical processing (OLAP), decision support systems (DSS), data warehousing and data mining. Business Intelligence includes the following functions:
Shollo, A., & Kautz, K. (2010). Towards an Understanding of Business Intelligence. Association for Information Systems.
Wixom, B. H., Watson, H. J., & Werner, T. (2011). Developing an enterprise business intelligence capability: The norfolk southern journey. MIS Quarterly Executive, 10(2), 61-71.
Big Data is a concept that has existed for a while, but only gained proper attention a couple of years ago. It can be described as extremely large data sets that have grown so big that becomes almost impossible to manage and analyze them with traditional data processing tools. Big Data can be used by enterprises in by building new applications, improving the effectiveness, lowering the costs of their applications, helping with competitive advantage, and increasing customer loyalty. It can also be used in other industries to enable a better system and better decision-making. Big Data has become a valuable asset to everyone around the world and continues to impact society today.
Companies have transformed technology from a supporting tool into a strategic weapon.”(Davenport, 2006) In business research, technology has become an essential means that many organizations use in their daily operations. According to the article, Analytics is a major technological tool used. It is described as “the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive models, and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions."(Davenport, 2006) Data is compiled to enhance business practices. When samples are taken, they are used to examine research and understand how to solve problems or why situations are as they are. Furthermore, in this article, Thomas Davenport discusses analytics from a business standpoint. He refers to organizations that have been successful in their usage of data and statistical analysis. In addition, he also discusses how data and statistics can be vital in the efforts to improve the operations of businesses.
In the technology driven world we live in, it in inevitable that businesses today have access to vast amounts of data, which in previous times would have been unheard of. Today, many larger organsiations use “Big Data” in order to help them improve and expand their business. Big data is described as diverse, high-volume, high-velocity information assets that require new forms of processing to enable enhanced decision making, insight discovery, and process optimization, (Gartner Research: www.gartner.com). Big data is being exploited by more and more companies as its benefits are discovered. It allows organisations to make much more informed decisions, which involves less risk taking. Decisions which were previously based on guesswork can now
BI is known to have both business and technical benefits. Let’s explore these benefits by taking into account the opinions of experts in this field.
Is a software used in business management, consists of number of applications that a company can use for more than one matter, examples: for(collecting, storing, managing.
However, a DSS tool is Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) –Decision support system is an interactive computerized system which gathers and presents for business purposes from various sources (webopedia.com, 2014). OLAP is a tool that enables the user to analyze different data dimensions. It provides time series as well as trend analysis views. OLAP tools are used by analysts where they employ relatively simple techniques which include induction, deduction as well as pattern recognition to so as to derive new information as well as insights. OLAP is also used in data mining using OLAP server which sits between a database management systems and a client. For example, Infosys – an information technology consultancy, recommended one of the clients to use OLAP solutions as a supply chain analytic solution which contributed 30% of its gross revenue.
First of all, business intelligence analysis requires the capturing of information and storing in a single location for effective data analysis. Currently, data analysis is supported by transactional systems, business specific data marts, and other ad-hoc processes. Information is distributed making it difficult and time-consuming to access. Business teams have adapted to this environment by creating user maintained databases and manual “work-arounds” to support new types of reporting and analysis. This has resulted in inconsistent data, redundant data storage, significant resource use for maintenance, and inefficient response to changing business needs.
It is closely related to the field of management science. Business intelligence can be querying, reporting, OLAP. In other words, querying, reporting, OLAP, and alert tools can help in answering questions such as what happened, how many, how often the problem occurred, where the problem is coming from, and what actions are needed to resolve the problem. Business analytics helps in answering questions like why a certain thing is happening; what if these trends continue in the future and what is the best that can happen in the current scenario etc.
Prior to the start of the Information Age in the late 20th century, businesses had to collect data from non-automated sources. Businesses then lacked the computing resources necessary to properly analyze the data, and as a result, companies often made business d...
Data can be organized a specific way for each business to be able to get the best use. Employees can also access the system at the same time but in different ways. For example, the customer service team can pull up documents and keep track of complaints at the same time that the marketing team is in a