I know what I am about to discuss here goes beyond what is taught in the classroom. It goes beyond the theory presented and beyond the expectation set. But then the more I dwelled on what was taught, on what the implications would be to our organization, the more I am convinced that for now at least, we have found a cost-effective solution to our BI (business intelligence) needs. After all, nothing beats the human mind.
Let me expound.
Business intelligence systems are said to be systems that gather data and input from other information system types and in effect helps an organization analyze business processes and make necessary adjustments, make strategic decisions, improve ROI, provide leverage in negotiations, etc. Basically, it allows organizations to put to good use any and all data that it harvests.
Yet for this to happen, an organization must first have in place the information systems that gather and produce those data that business intelligence will use. For any organization, having transaction process systems or information systems that deal with their day to day operations is a must. It is something that defines their efficiency and improved ROI. However, to evolve to higher level IS is something constantly up for debate since not all organizations are keen to invest in something they do not quite understand the importance or use.
Same is true for our organization. In a business whose primary focus is not really in automating everything by investing in high-end information systems, we have to do with what we have. Having established in place TPS such as inventory systems, accounting systems and sales systems, the next thing we needed to do was integrate the data received from such systems into something top management can find useful. For this, we use the trusty office tool – the spreadsheet.
With a spreadsheet and formulas in place, interpreting the data generated by TPS becomes a piece of cake. Forecasts can be made based on sales data and inventory levels. Business processes and strategies are evaluated based on ROI, product movements, sales trends, transaction count and average check analyses, etc. Performance of all units in the organization is evaluated effectively. Of course, all these systems has something more powerful than a computer chip behind it – the Human Brain.
Each manger in various levels in the company are trained to analyze their data in such a way that they are able to make predictions or generate a better structured data for higher up analysis. Even unstructured data such as conversations, qualitative customer feedback, social media inputs, etc. are carefully analyzed by managers to see its impact in the overall big picture.
Although it is nice to have business intelligence systems in place, realistically, because of the cost they entail and the availability of better alternatives at hand, the integration of such kind of high end systems to most organizations, especially mid-size to small local ones, is something that we have yet to witness.
At the end of the day, the human brain still beats any powerful computer chip.
Related articles
- Does the Value of Your BI Outweigh Its TCO? (blogs.sap.com)
- BI Leader EMANIO Announces Complimentary Add-on to its Business Intelligence Suite (prweb.com)
