Data, Facts & Decisions - What is Business Intelligence?

BI is everywhere – even if we don't notice it

BI is now as natural as our morning coffee. And most companies don't even realize they're already using Business Intelligence. Sometimes still in dusty business reports with sales figures, or already in the form of flashy dashboards with more colors and graphics than a festival poster. The latter are often the after-work project of an ambitious controller.

Not just data, but real decision-making power

When it comes to BI, we're talking about hard facts that help us make smart decisions. Because real "business data intelligence" is the foundation for a decisive competitive advantage. The facts are generated from raw data. From this, you can derive knowledge about your own business. With this knowledge, you can then make the smart decisions you're paid for as a managing director.

Old but gold – BI is not an internet startup

Surprise: BI is older than the WWW! As early as 1865, Richard Millar Devens described a clever banker who outperformed the competition by gathering information – and that's still the heart of BI today.

The evolution of BI – From file folders to algorithms

Already in the 1950s, BI began to evolve from old-school paperwork to a true data all-rounder. Business Intelligence became an IT-supported system designed to solve all of a company's information problems. Raw data is the be-all and end-all, and today it comes not only from file folders but also from ERP systems, webshops, and CRM tools.

Want a concrete example?

Imagine we have a stack of invoices – if we count them or add up the amounts, we can create all sorts of things: revenues, trends, or customer analyses. The important thing is that all data such as customer number, booking date, or item information is completely and correctly printed. But beware: Without someone who turns the generated facts into real knowledge, you'll just have colorful graphics and lifeless numbers with no added value.

What do I mean by knowledge?

It's about understanding the story behind the numbers, recognizing connections, and spotting new trends before they become mainstream – otherwise, your competitive advantage is gone.

And this is what it could look like in practice:

The data foundation in companies is usually represented by an ERP system like Business Central from Microsoft. This is enriched by various Excel sheets, Google Analytics data, or CRM systems.
 
The source data is then processed and, depending on the amount of data, temporarily stored in a data warehouse or data lake. For medium-sized businesses, the new Microsoft Fabric is suitable here. Smaller companies often manage without a warehouse and can process the data directly in Microsoft Power BI. Ideally, you add smart data models or cubes to the resulting analysis databases.
 
And to present it all in a sexy way, there's hardly anything better than Microsoft Power BI. With interactive dashboards, you can get to know your company data in a whole new way. 💚
But there's hope for Excel fans too: With the Jet Reports add-in, you can easily build automated Excel reports based on Business Central tables – all without IT knowledge and a data warehouse.
The big picture: A modern BI system is more than just pretty charts. In the age of the modern workplace, digital collaboration and automation are game changers. For example, you can use the workflow engine Power Automate to build early warning systems, discuss numbers with Microsoft Teams, or implement action management with Microsoft Planner. All, of course, powered by the information from your BI system.