Business Intelligence Tools: How to Choose the Right One

Many businesses, no matter their size or niche, rely heavily on business intelligence tools. Leveraging the right BI tools can guarantee the success of their companies.

Experts predict that the global business intelligence market will reach $33.3 billion by 2025. So there really isn’t a question anymore as to whether you should use a business intelligence tool. In the near future, the answer is always going to be “Yes.”

Many business owners feel they need more information when they begin searching for the right BI tools. It can be helpful to look at a few considerations that will help you make the best choice.

1. Find a business intelligence tool with optimal data capabilities.

No matter which tool you choose, you know that it’s going to focus on data. Different tools come with different data capabilities. There is no right answer when it comes to which ones are optimal. As usual, it will depend on your needs.

That being said, there are certain capabilities that you need to keep an eye out for when choosing your tool:

• Data Scaling. Some tools come with hard limits which are data-sized. Others come with computational limits that don’t limit your data but can have performance issues. The best type of tool is the one that can scale up with infrastructure adjustments.
• Speed of Delivery. This category refers to how quickly your tool can pull data from its sources. It also measures how frequently it gets refreshed, the speed of loading, and the processing of relevant data.
• Standard Data Connectors. Your BI tool will have connectors as soon as it’s installed. However, some only come with standard, out-of-the-box connectors. Certain tools also give you the option of choosing custom connectors that don’t come with the product.
• Data Preparation Abilities. A lot of BI tools have data-preparation abilities and can apply preparation steps before the data is processed. However, you’ll want to make sure to check if the tool you chose actually has this ability. If it doesn’t, you’ll spend a lot of time cleansing data.

To get the best software solution, you should compare different tools such as Tableau vs. Power BI or other similar tools to see which one best meets your needs. That way, you’ll have the necessary information to make the right decision.

2. Think about any business intelligence tool’s analytics capabilities.

The primary use of any BI tool is to use the data you collect for analytics. That said, every organization has different needs when it comes to analytics.

For example, if your business is new to analytics, you will probably benefit the most from a tool that’s easy to use and uses visualization to its fullest. If you already have great analytical capabilities, you need to look for a tool that comes with advanced analytics and calculations.

Here are some of the capabilities of a good analytics tool:

• Visualization. First and foremost, one of the most important capabilities of a BI tool is the ability to clearly visualize data. It’s best to find a solution that offers an extensive library of visualizations that are visually pleasing and easy to comprehend.
• Ease of Use. Think about if your report developers and report users will be able to use the tool without any issues. After all, they represent your two main groups of users.
• Advanced Analytics. Consider if you need a tool that will enable you to analyze artificial intelligence and machine learning. If not, you might check to see if it can integrate with other tools that can do this.
• Calculations. Any BI tool’s capacity to apply a layer of calculations over a data model varies differently from one tool to another, as does the complexity of those calculations. Think about if these calculations are similar to any data language your report developers are already using.

3. Consider who is going to use the tool.

Most BI tools are geared either toward businesses or for data teams. These two groups are very different. When you’re implementing a business intelligence tool, you need to think about who is going to be using and maintaining it.

Business-user-focused tools need initial technical setup. This can include mapping up complex data or cleaning up messy data. This type of BI tool is meant to allow business stakeholders to create their analyses without writing SQL.

This software comes with a more robust end-user functionality. These can include computed fields, filtering, drag-and-drop, and a user-friendly interface. Ease of use is the guiding factor in this case.

Analyst-focused tools, on the other hand, are data-exploration layers that are “code-first.” If you want to create and customize a report with this type of tool, you need to write code. These tools allow analytics teams to explore data and not just maintain the database.

Businesses can use analyst-focused tools, of course. However, since they require coding, they require a teammate who is an SQL expert to get the most out of the software.

4. Consider how much money you’re willing to invest.

It’s important to realize that a business intelligence tool is an investment that can result in a high ROI. In fact, the average ROI for enterprises using business intelligence and analytics is as much as 1300%. However, you’re still probably working with a budget and need to think about the cost of the tool.

There are three different types of costs related to BI tools. These are implementation costs, soft costs, and scaling costs.

• The implementation cost is the initial cost of purchasing a BI tool. This cost usually includes the purchase price of the software as well as any licensing costs that come with using a BI tool. Implementation costs are typically very clear.
• Soft costs can be hard to quantify and multiple factors apply when you’re calculating them. One of the soft costs you need to consider is how much time the developers and the report users will need for training on the tool.
• Finally, your organization will undoubtedly grow and scale as time goes by, and you need to think about how much the cost of the software will increase as you scale. Think about how much licensing and infrastructure might increase. Be prepared for these additional costs as your business grows.

Not All Business Intelligence Tools Are Created Equal

Business intelligence tools come with many benefits. You can be sure that your business needs a tool with excellent capabilities able to meet all of your needs. And while there are many good tools out there, it’s important to remember that not every tool is suitable for every business.

Your organization is unique and your needs differ from other organizations. Start research BI tools across these four categories. Before long, you’ll be able to confidently choose the best software for your company.