Many experts break business intelligence into two primary categories – the high-level analysis required for strategic decision-making at the executive level, and tactical type of reporting that provides mid-level and line-of-business workers with the information they need to make everyday decisions.
It is this second type of business intelligence – commonly referred to as operational BI – that has been garnering a tremendous amount of attention over the past several years. Because for decades, only those at the very top levels of an organization had access to the vital information needed to understand – and act on – key trends and patterns in the business. Yet, those on the front-lines, from mid-level managers on down, make hundreds of on-the-fly decisions each day that can change the course of a business. These workers also need the ability to leverage timely and accurate data from a variety of enterprise applications.
In fact, a Ventana Research study shows that just a few short years ago, most operational BI environments were quite small, about 25 users or less. However, in recent times, the number of large-scale operational business intelligence deployments, with more than 1,000 users, has grown quite rapidly.
Additionally, according to Forrester Research, what makes operational BI so important is that it supports decisions that are far more urgent and time-sensitive. For example, strategic financial planning can take weeks or months, giving executives plenty of time to review and analyze the information at their disposal. On the other hand, a department manager may have just minutes, or even seconds, to make a crucial choice, and act on it, during the course of their daily activities.
Not only does operational BI facilitate the kind of day-to-day – or even minute-to-minute – decision-making that businesses run on, it opens up reporting and analysis to a much wider audience. While strategic BI is typically for those who sit at the upper echelons of a company, operational or tactical BI is truly for the masses. Thus, it allows an organization to maximize the benefits it can derive from its enterprise information assets.
But, in order for operational business intelligence to deliver the greatest returns, experts agree that companies need to change their mindset. While strategic BI has been more about technologies, particularly those that enable executives to get to and interpret the information that resides in enterprise systems, operational business intelligence is more about procedures and workflows – and how corporate data can be used to enhance them. Therefore, companies who wish to implement successful operational BI strategies must become more process-centric, as opposed to data-centric.