BI has long been one of the fastest growing technologies in today’s business world, and it continues to build on those business intelligence technology developments today. 2018 may see a turning point in the industry as developers move on from technology designed to harness big data, and move on to new applications, types of data, and analytic methods. Some of the most popular functions of BI continue to advance, but surprising new features are on the horizon.
This area of existing BI technology has always been one of the most alluring for new BI customers and developing businesses. The ability to forecast customer behavior and internal improvement continues to remain invaluable. However, this type of BI technology has had lots of room to improve. Pairing predictive analytics with advanced AI systems and other new systems give predictions a firmer basis on a wider range of data. Through AI, those predictions will also come together faster and more efficiently. A human simply cannot dig through the huge volumes of information an AI can, and as these technologies develop, BI technology is free to focus less on primary data sets and spread out to cover the minute, forgotten data hiding in business servers.
BI technology is only limited by the data available to drive it. The advent of big data drew the focus of future developments for several years, but now BI is branching out in smaller scale innovations. One of the latest, indoor navigation, takes a more physical approach to data. After all, data comes from more than smart phone usage and sales numbers. Rather than focusing on the digital world, indoor navigation gathers information about how and where customers move through a physical environment.
The practical uses for indoor navigation are boundless. Businesses can track which displays draw the most customers, and they can send specific ads and coupons to customers who linger in particular departments. Like all BI applications, indoor navigation has an internal use, too. Industrial companies can track dangerous behaviors more easily, improve workflow paths, and more.
You’ve probably heard of data visualization, a critical tool in today’s rapid BI world. Data storytelling is the associated skill. It allows those who receive BI reports to turn a bunch of numbers and seemingly random information into a pitch for a new marketing scheme, or the validation for departmental downsizing. Data visualization has boomed in recent years, and now data storytelling has morphed into an essential skill for not only BI professionals, but also managers, marketing personnel, and decision makers at all levels.
This year marks a new benchmark in BI technology’s development. Everything from BI’s core purpose to the way users interact with it is set to change. Predictive analysis will give businesses an even greater advantage in decision making, and data storytelling will reinvent how businesses use those results. The advantage of BI is that it can analyze its own benefits, especially with the aid of new technologies, such as AI. Next year will continue to build on these new technologies.