Business Intelligence
Effective Business Intelligence for SME
As smaller firms face competition and grow, it’s imperative they make good decisions based on even better information
When asked what business intelligence (BI) tools are used to measure their organizational performance, the common response by entrepreneurs might include Excel spreadsheets, report writers and canned reports. BI can be defined as the ability to extract actionable insight from data available to the organization, both internal and external, for the purposes of supporting decision-making and improving corporate performance.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are mostly owner-managed, entrepreneurial companies. And for many entrepreneurs, decision support tools tend to be a combination of static historical reports, analysis spreadsheets and gut feel, which is fine while an organization is small and easily managed on this basis.
However, as smaller companies grow or face stiffer competition, the need to make good decisions based on meaningful information quickly becomes an imperative. Succession planning adds to the importance of being a well-managed company, and being able to prove it. This is where detailed reports, summaries that are not drillable and spreadsheets can fall short. Spreadsheets in particular are potentially dangerous tools.
Reports often contain information relating to a particular transaction type, such as sales revenue and related costs. These reports typically ignore other factors that might affect the interpretation of the reported data, such as number of customers acquired and lost during the period under analysis.
Typically the barriers to adoption of BI are cost and complexity. Costs include software tools and services, as well as people and time costs. The SME faces additional hurdles, such as tighter budgets, less sophistication and organizational knowledge, technology hurdles and fewer people, meaning less time to spend on planning and analysis.
The potential
As smaller firms face competition and grow, it’s imperative they make good decisions based on even better information
When asked what business intelligence (BI) tools are used to measure their organizational performance, the common response by entrepreneurs might include Excel spreadsheets, report writers and canned reports. BI can be defined as the ability to extract actionable insight from data available to the organization, both internal and external, for the purposes of supporting decision-making and improving corporate performance.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are mostly owner-managed, entrepreneurial companies. And for many entrepreneurs, decision support tools tend to be a combination of static historical reports, analysis spreadsheets and gut feel, which is fine while an organization is small and easily managed on this basis.
However, as smaller companies grow or face stiffer competition, the need to make good decisions based on meaningful information quickly becomes an imperative. Succession planning adds to the importance of being a well-managed company, and being able to prove it. This is where detailed reports, summaries that are not drillable and spreadsheets can fall short. Spreadsheets in particular are potentially dangerous tools.
Reports often contain information relating to a particular transaction type, such as sales revenue and related costs. These reports typically ignore other factors that might affect the interpretation of the reported data, such as number of customers acquired and lost during the period under analysis.
Typically the barriers to adoption of BI are cost and complexity. Costs include software tools and services, as well as people and time costs. The SME faces additional hurdles, such as tighter budgets, less sophistication and organizational knowledge, technology hurdles and fewer people, meaning less time to spend on planning and analysis.
The potential