Business Intelligence (BI) is a term increasingly used in companies and organizations. It is also a field with high demand in the job market and is becoming more prevalent in higher education institutions.
The work in BI requires knowledge in various areas and aims to provide a better understanding of the business operations system, the market, trends, and consumer behavior.
In this article, we will understand what BI is, its advantages for a company, the process for those who wish to enter the field, and the differences between this role and others in the data area, such as data analyst and data scientist.
But What is Business Intelligence (BI)?
Business Intelligence (BI) is a set of techniques and concepts that, with the help of tools, technologies, and practices, are used to collect, integrate, analyze, and present business information to aid decision-makers.
The goal of BI is to offer a better understanding of the business operations system, the market, trends, and consumer behavior. It helps analyze information, present data, share information, and monitor them, becoming a support for decision-making. This prevents decisions from being made without data and evidence.
BI technologies allow organizations to gather data from different sources, such as databases, spreadsheets, and other applications. These data sources can be integrated to provide a more comprehensive view of the company's performance, including financial, productivity, and consumer metrics.
Some of the most used BI tools are: Microsoft's Power BI, Salesforce's Tableau, and Google's Looker.
What are the Advantages of Investing in BI for a Company?
The advantages of implementing Business Intelligence in a company are numerous. They include:
Improved Decision-Making: BI tools provide data analysis and visualization, allowing for decisions based on more accurate and informed information.
Increased Efficiency: BI tools automate the processes of collecting, analyzing, and presenting data, improving efficiency and productivity.
Increased Competitiveness: BI tools provide valuable information and insights about the market, trends, and competitors, allowing companies to stay competitive.
Improved Customer Experience: BI allows companies to analyze and better understand customer behavior, personalize products and services, and offer more satisfying experiences.
Cost Reduction: BI tools help companies identify inefficiencies and waste, allowing them to reduce unnecessary costs and optimize their resources.
BI is extremely important for a company that wants to become data-driven and use data for its growth.
What Skills Does a BI Analyst Need?
If you are interested in entering the BI field, it is important to consider that it is a multidisciplinary role that requires knowledge in various areas.
Regarding education, it is common to find BI analysts with degrees in Administration, Economics, and various areas of Engineering, especially due to the foundation in exact sciences. However, there are no rules, and many professionals have degrees in other areas, such as Communication.
For those who already have a degree, whether in exact sciences or not, a postgraduate degree in BI is extremely interesting and a very common option in various universities, either in-person or distance learning (EAD).
The skills that should be developed to become a BI analyst include:
Data Analysis Skills: It is essential for the BI analyst to have proficiency in data analysis techniques, such as data modeling, data mining, and data visualization. It is also important to have a good understanding of data manipulation tools, like SQL.
Business Knowledge: The BI Analyst also needs to have business knowledge, including how the company operates and what its goals are.
Data Management: The analyst must have knowledge in controlling large volumes of data, including cleaning, transforming, and integrating data. Additionally, it is important to be familiar with systems and architectures like data warehouses and data lakes.
Communication: It is important for the analyst to know how to communicate technical concepts to decision-makers without technical knowledge.
Technical Skills: The BI Analyst must have a great understanding of the technologies used in the company or organization, including its database system, tools used for visualization, analysis, among others.
Problem Solving: The BI analyst must have skills to solve complex problems and extract valuable insights from them.
BI vs Data Analysis
Now that you know what the BI field is and what a BI analyst does, it is common to wonder what the difference is between this professional and others in the data field.
More technically, BI analysts focus on transforming raw operational data into meaningful dashboards and reports. Data analysts, on the other hand, focus on analyzing data to find new patterns relevant to the company or organizations.
In simpler words, BI analysts have more knowledge of the business as a whole. These analysts seek to understand why something happened, through monitoring sales, customers, among others. A BI analyst will, for example, make correlations between events and data to understand the cause and present it to partners and directors.
The data analyst, on the other hand, will have less contact with the business area and dedicates most of their time, although it may sound redundant, to data analysis. This specialist will use tools like R and Python for statistical analyses.
The Data Scientist
The data scientist is a professional specialized in dealing with large volumes of data and applying statistical techniques, data mining, and machine learning to extract insights and solve complex problems in different business areas.
This professional works in identifying patterns, trends, and correlations in collected data, besides creating predictive models and algorithms capable of performing precise analyses and predictions.
Conclusion
The BI field is of extreme importance for companies today. With an increasingly competitive and constantly changing market, companies and organizations need accurate and updated information for strategic decision-making quickly and safely, avoiding unnecessary risks.
Business Intelligence is a powerful tool for companies to remain competitive and relevant in an increasingly digital and connected world. With BI, companies can make more informed and assertive decisions, improve their processes and operations, understand their customers better, and stand out in relation to the competition.