Are You Wasting Resources on Business Intelligence Reports?

Business intelligence reports are supposed to help businesses save money. So why do they end up costing so much? Users must continuously reinvest into their BI software in order to profit, but not all systems provide the rapid turnaround buyers expect. While many variables are influencing every business’s BI results, many frustrated users have some things in common. Below are the worst ways BI tools waste your resources along with the best way to combat these losses.

Lost Time and Money

Just because you’ve benefited from a system in the past doesn’t mean that system cannot be improved. Traditional BI models worked for many years. Unfortunately, they feature some glaring inefficiencies. With all the other options available today, relying on a traditional BI system for your primary reporting needs is a waste of both time and money. This is thanks in large part to the system’s fundamental design. It employed multiple skill sets in various positions in order to complete a single task.

In the traditional company, business intelligence reports begin with the end user. The end user passes the request down the chain of command to a separately trained team that actually understands how to use the company’s BI software. Since remarkably few businesses have the resources to pay a dedicated business intelligence team in their IT department, this system takes away from IT’s other roles. It also delays the report’s return to the end user. Time and money both slip through the cracks. If this system sounds familiar, you’re probably using a somewhat outdated BI program. Intuitive design, user-friendly dashboards, and on-demand reporting tools all cut costs. They also help businesses get more out of BI.

Limited Return on Investment

Programs like IntelliFront BI feature the kind of options we mentioned above. They’re simple and easy to use. Fortunately, this also helps businesses squeeze more from their budget. It helps them get better insights, too. Business intelligence tools work best when users wield them regularly. The more users get fresh reports, the better. Businesses change, and they change quickly. Details signaling an impending loss may only appear in specific reports. Missing a day or two of that report could leave a critical gap in users’ knowledge of their own businesses. It destroys the ultimate purpose of business intelligence reports, which is to provide actionable information. Once an opportunity to mitigate losses or improve earnings passes, it rarely comes back.

IntelliFront BI and other updated BI solutions improve return on investment through automation, scheduling, and on-demand features. They prevent distractions from getting between users and the information they need. They circumvent a lot of human error, too. If you aren’t getting the results you expected from your BI tools, you may not have the right solutions.

Business intelligence reporting software should support your business, not waste resources. Even functional systems can be improved, and business intelligence is one of the fastest evolving fields in the software industry. Finding the right support, add-ons, or augmentations for your current system won’t take as long as you think, and it could save you more than you expect. To learn more on how you can improve your business intelligence strategy, download our buyers guide for more information.