Business Intelligence Strategy: 5 Easy-Steps to Make it More Effective

We live in a world where big data is everywhere, and you are a constant part of it if you have an online presence in any way (whether you know it or
not!). So, if you want to get an edge over your competitors and turn their loss into your gain, business intelligence is no more an option for you.

Business intelligence is all about collecting and analyzing data, driving meaningful decisions, and using it to make better decisions.

But achieving the benefits of BI goes beyond just implementing business
intelligence technology and collecting data. If a robust business intelligence
strategy does not back the idea, your organization will end up creating just a pool of data with no fish to capture.

What is business intelligence strategy? It:

• Gives a broader picture of the ins and outs of the process.
• Tells about the data gathering and market demands.
• Helps to develop a proper system.
• Shows different ways to use data in a meaningful way.

That’s why it’s essential to develop a business intelligence strategy before jumping into the huge pool of big data. If your company is finding BI solutions without any strategy, it’s time to change your game.

Here are ways to implement and make your BI strategy more than just paperwork:

STEP # 1: Focus on Long-Term Business Objectives

What do you want to achieve from implementing a business intelligence strategy?

This question is the first step towards achieving the goals using Business Intelligence solutions. Sure, you want to make your business successful, but the idea of success should be divided into small pieces of puzzles that will combine to make the big picture of success.

That’s where having well-defined objectives come into play. You get a clear target to achieve things without stumbling upon legacy processes that pull down the progress.

STEP # 2: Get Ready for the Change

Bringing BI into your business structure means you need to get ready for the change on many levels. You need to change the systems, people’s working, and process to get the results.

BI will not become a part of the structure overnight. From using new tools, following new processes to designing new models, ‘change’ is going to be a new normal for your business while implementing BI solutions.

STEP # 3: Build an Achievable Roadmap

Once you have objectives and are ready for the change, it’s time to focus on the ‘how’ factor. How are you going to achieve the objectives? Do you start getting results once you collect data and analyze it? The answer is: ‘no!’ You need a BI roadmap here!

A BI roadmap gives a tangible path to attain objectives without getting lost in the maze of big data.

Once your business intelligence strategy gets a roadmap, it gets easier to fuel the process of objective achievement.

Here is how the process works:

• You divide the whole process into different steps.
• Next, assign each step particular goals with the timeframes.
• The right team and tools are selected for each task.

Result? It becomes easier to:

• Track the process
• Achieve goals within time
• Minimize the possibility of errors
• Drive results systematically

STEP # 4: Set Important KPIs

Key performance indicators are like signals that indicate performance. You can’t measure the results without key indicators because they tell about the direction of progress and indicate if your progress is inconsistent with your objectives.

Here are a few key indicators that mark a business’ success:

• Sales in a set timeframe
• Number of new customers
• Social media traffic
• Bounce rate
• Monthly organic traffic
• Number of loyal customers
• Lead conversion rate
• Number of retained customers

So, identify the right KPIs that define your objectives and measure them throughout the process to measure your performance.

STEP # 5: Have an Evaluation Process

The presence of an evaluation process can make or break the success cycle of a Business Intelligence strategy.

You have a well-defined objective. Great. Your staff is trained to leverage the benefits of BI solutions. Awesome. You also have a roadmap in hand. Woah! And you have also identified KPIs. Cool. So, you will become successful, right? Well, sorry to break your bubble, but if you are not evaluating things along the way, all your efforts might go in vain.

So, the best practice is to make evaluating processes, systems, and performances an ongoing process instead of moving the needle at
the end when you can’t do anything to change the results.

When you have an evaluation process, you can:

• Find out whether you are on the right track.
• Make changes in the process if required.
• Minimize the errors.
• Achieve results in a more definite way.
• Get the best ROI.

Implementing business intelligence solutions is not do-it once and leave the rest kind of work. You have to keep an eye on the performance to ensure your efforts and money aren’t wasted.

BI is without any doubt the emerging warrior of businesses against their fight to conquer the online world. It can give them an edge and advantage over their competitors by developing a less travelled path for them.

So, if your business doesn’t have a business intelligence strategy, it’s time to bring it into the equation right now. It will make a huge difference – the one you require to stand out.

So, don't let BI be the sole responsibility of your IT team.

Prepare your employees to adapt to the change by organizing workshops and training sessions for the organization as a whole.