Differences Between Business Intelligence and Business Analytics
When we talk about Business Intelligence, or BI, it’s not uncommon for people to believe that the tool will present them with a set of analytical data about a project or their business. But here’s where we dispel a myth; Business Intelligence (BI) and Business Analytics (BA) are different.
That’s not to say there aren’t similarities between the two, there are, but understanding the differences between them will help project leaders and business owners make better, more informed decisions.
What is Business Intelligence?
BI is a process of collecting and storing historical data, and analysing that data using a set of comprehensive tools. The better your business intelligence and real- time measurement metrics, the more intelligent and informed the decision-making.
Essentially, BI is a set of data management tools that collects all the data that comes into a business, from a wide variety of sources. By analysing the data, it provides valuable, actionable insights that will improve business operations. The use of real-time dashboards, data visualisation techniques and relevant data reports helps to increase productivity and save costs.
What is Business Analytics?
BA is also the process of collecting data but uses predictive analytical tools that enhance data insights through custom dashboards. That’s the similarities covered; now for the differences.
Tools such as data mining, quantitative analysis and predictive modelling software use historical and current data to predict what may happen in the future for a business. A key advantage of BA is that businesses are able to run ad-hoc reports on real-time data that is targeted to a specific area of the business, enabling quicker, more direct decision-making. Using predictive analysis, managers and project leaders are able to theoretically resolve any potential problems or weaknesses before they actually happen.
The differences between BI and BA
Whereas BI provides answers to the “what” and “how”, BA provides the answers to the “why”. Let’s look at some more differences:
- BI summarises the data in accordance with what happened in the past, and what is happening now. BA takes that data and predicts what may happen in the future.
- BI is more reactive, i.e., a manager or project leader will react to the data BI provides. BA, on the other hand, is more proactive. By providing predictions about what may occur, you can determine the likelihood of something happening and make any necessary changes.
- BI delivers ‘descriptive analytics’, i.e., a summary of historical data, and ‘diagnostic analytics’ that identifies how the issues were identified. BA delivers ‘predictive analytics’, i.e., it has predicted what could happen based on the data that has been collected, and ‘prescriptive analytics’ by providing possible solutions to the issues discovered.
Still not sure of the differences between BI and BA? There are two key areas to consider – reporting and analytics.
BI is reporting on the data collected into summaries that provide detailed information in order to monitor and measure the way in which areas of the business are performing.
BA is analysing the data in much more depth to deliver insights that are actionable and help to better understand the business’s operations, why certain functions are happening and how to improve business performance.
Green Plane provides Business Intelligence software that works with construction companies to make better use of their data. Through comprehensive BI dashboards built around projects and developing reports that actually deliver valuable insights for improved productivity and decision-making, it’s time the construction industry put both feet firmly into the 21st century technology bubble.
Green Plane is a full-service BI solutions provider focused on providing unique dashboards. We help you visualise all types of data that has been created from different systems and at different times. Bespoke dashboards will allow you to get valuable insights that would have been difficult or impossible if attempted manually. Maybe we can help you too?
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