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Smart guidelines for selecting Business Analytics software for your company

by Shweta W•
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Every organization has the agenda to be in step with the industry vis-à-vis technology proficiency and nowadays being Business Analytics savvy. However, while purchasing the latest Business Analytics technology, they get blinded by the laundry list of features that are published along with the tool. Technology is only an enabler; underpinning business processes and operations are key. Selecting Business Analytics software is a huge investment for a company and the company needs to understand their basic needs or their main objective before going for the purchase.

 

The Business Analytics software should be such that it enables the users to find patterns and trends using dashboards and drill-downs in real-time. The Business Analytics software should ideally have

1) a backend solution, which can handle huge data sets from disparate systems and can also be scaled-up and

2) a front-end, which is web-based and can be accessed on mobile devices.

Prominent Guidelines:

Following are a few guidelines that can empower a business to be in complete charge while selecting the Business Analytics software:
Compatibility towards disparate data sources: The software should be able to collate and analyze data from disparate sources and handle different file types. Dynamism and flexibility are the prime criteria for Business Analytics software selection considering that an organization has huge databases that work in silos.

Data Blending: Business Analytics usually accesses data from disparate sources and the software should be able to blend the data for generating the dashboard. The feature should also be able to map the data that is drawn from the different sources. Capabilities such as predictive analytics, statistical analytics, and spatial analytics should be accessible on the tool.

Data Visualization: Tabular reports are passé. Data Visualization enables the executive to quickly make sense of as-is data as well as emerging trends and patterns from huge datasets and tabular reports. Data Visualization is the most desired feature looked for in Business Analytics software.

Web-based interface: The executive (or the end-user), as well as the admin and security roles, should be able to access the software application through a web-based interface. The feature is cost-effective and hence has become an industry best practice.

Inter-connected / Independent graphs and reports: The dashboard reports should support both interconnected as well as stand-alone graphs and allow preference selection, as required. In the case of interconnected reports, when one attribute is selected all the corresponding visuals should change and have the same attribute.

Security criteria: The software should allow tuning the user role as well as the user-based features including creating/publishing and administration of the software application. The software application should enable the executive to safely access and share the data out of the company network.
Save queries: The software should enable the executive to save the selections, data filters as well as drill-down paths that are queried once for reusing them later.

 

In-memory analytics: The software should be able to draw the data into a local data store for analysis. This fastens the process of analytics as soon as the data is loaded. This is a popular feature nowadays.

Upgrade: Technology upgrades are not frequent. Hence the software should be able to address the organization’s core objective vis-à-vis the budget and the BI program.

Speed: The software performance varies depending on the data under consideration and the query complexity. You can compare software based on the performance of different software under consideration for pre-designed dashboards complete with multiple queries and visualizations.

Scalability: The software should be able to scale up depending on the number of users, variety, veracity, and volumes of data.

To put it simply, the software should provide a return on investment (ROI). Security, scalability, flexibility, adaptability, mobility, and accessibility are the prime features that will ensure the ROI. Each vendor will keep on upgrading its features based on the new innovations in the Business Analytics segment. However, being a niche market player or a visionary is not enough; the software vendor should be able to deliver the promises on a cutting edge.

 

It is recommended for businesses to have both business analytics (BA) and business intelligence tool (BI tool), the most widely implemented data management solutions to succeed. When choosing technology and tools to invest in, it is always better to focus on what you expect the data system to do. 

Shweta Bedi works as a Marketing Executive in a leading organization, based in India. With over 10 years of experience in
the Technology and Digital Marketing industry, Shweta is passionate
about helping online businesses to create online visibility and take their branding to the next
level.

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