How to Improve Infrastructure with Business Intelligence Tools

Business Intelligence Tools and reporting has made the world of big data accessible to marketing teams around the world. Decision makers consider potential products based on social media and current customer sentiment, and businesses understandably consider BI as a primarily customer-oriented product. The truth is, however, that BI reports are just as effective when directed inwards as they are when they’re aimed at Twitter.

Employee Habits

Your employees are your money makers, but they can also cause more waste than any other type of asset. Proper management is important, but management cannot guide associates without accurate data. BI reports give insight into everything from logins and program activity to conversions per hour. As business intelligence technology advances, new and better ways to analyze associates have become available. For instance, some technology observes and reports on traffic patterns within your business. Do employees linger in a particular area? Are customers in particular rows not getting the service they need? Even an office can benefit. Figuring out how much time employees have to waste moving around cubicle blocks and hallways to reach water coolers or bathrooms may reveal opportunities for a better office layout.

Management Habits

Even though management personnel are supposed to demonstrate exemplary work habits and always follow company policies, they’re still human. Accidents and failures will happen. Business intelligence reports give superiors the chance to learn from these incidents and improve procedures. Reports will reveal which shifts, locations, or departments see the most associate complaints about management. You can see which managers deal out the most corrective measures, and you’ll be able to spot inconsistencies in the bigger picture. Business intelligence reports can be used positively, too. You’ll never have to stress about who is objectively the best before handing out a reward, for instance. Access to positive data can also help managers keep up morale.

System Efficiency

Although your people are important, the systems and programs you use for daily operation are just as important. These systems are the tools that enable every employee to do their job. If they are weak and prone to breaks, no employee can meet their full potential. Even if you haven’t noticed major issues, these systems are likely restraining productivity and creating stumbling blocks for your best workers.

Business intelligence reports reveal the weaknesses in your web of software, unmasking routine issues. IT technicians write reports about their activity, and reports can summarize them quickly so you can figure out which programs are causing you to lose the most potential revenue. You may find hardware issues, inefficiencies in partner company work, or even security flaws. It’s easy to become frustrated with a particular vendor, but business intelligence reports can tell you objectively how much of that frustration is due to their shortcomings. The same reports can reveal your best merchandising partner.

Since you have better control over the actionable data provided, it’s safe to say business intelligence may be most effective as an infrastructure tool. After all, you can analyze social media through a business intelligence report, but you can’t control how that data will shift and develop. Even predictions are imperfect. You have the most control over your business, so why wouldn’t you use such a powerful tool to make it the best it can be?