More and more businesses today are looking at deploying embedded business intelligence solutions.
The reasons are many: the huge time gap between delivery, interpretation, and implementation of traditional data analytics solutions, the added value companies can provide to their own customers with this new solution, and so on.
Since the adoption of data analytics about 15 years ago, business intelligence meant dashboard and reporting capabilities. But embedded business intelligence is changing that, helping organizations take full advantage of data.
What is Embedded BI?
When you add/embed BI software features like dashboards, data visualization, and analytics tools directly into your applications, you have embedded BI.
EBI (or embedded BI) integrates BI tools into operational systems to enable decision-makers to make better decisions and for operations to run more efficiently through the use of actionable business intelligence content.
Most business intelligence (BI) tools are designed to solve specific technical problems, such as data warehousing or ETL.
BI tools can supplement or improve the way you do business, but their solution is not necessarily limited to your technical operations.
EBI is the integration of these tools into business processes. Embedded BI should be a point-and-click solution that helps IT departments and business units improve operations and decision-making without significant changes to their systems or processes.
EBI can generally be achieved in two ways:
- In-house development of the solution
- Outsource to 3rd party
Advantages of Using Embedded BI
- No need to move between many platforms or user interfaces, as it allows you to work with data within the same app
- Saves money since there’s no need to purchase additional tools
- Cuts down on the time taken between the generation of the data and its analysis
- Provides a much unpolluted and user-friendly experience for customers, and therein lies their significant advantage over solutions that require two or more different platforms
Important Factors to be Looked at When Evaluating Implementation of Embedded BI
If you are planning to buy an embedded BI solution from a 3rd party, you must keep in mind the following:
Scalability: Like any other IT or tech solution, you need to understand whether the solution is upgradable.
Eg: How many users does it allow to access the database simultaneously?
Single/many: Is it a single solution that does all the work, or does it ask you to purchase other tools from vendors, which means more expenditure?
Customization: Is the embedded BI solution you want to buy customizable? Meaning, does it allow deploying API sets, plugins, and so on?
Time factor: How long does it take for the solution to be up and running? The faster the better, obviously.
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Top 5 Embedded Business Intelligence Best Practices
Embedded business intelligence (BI) is the process of integrating BI capabilities into an organization’s operational systems.
Embedded BI enables users to access and analyze data as it is entered into the system, improving decision-making and operations.
Here are five best practices for implementing embedded BI:
1. Establish a clear business need
2. Select the right technology
3. Train users
4. Manage change
5. Measure progress
Components of An Ideal Embedded BI Solution
An ideal embedded analytics solution must be able to:
- Allow sorting, cleaning, and formatting of data
- Provide interactive reports on one screen
- Be able to build a central data depository by extracting data from various sources
- Be able to amalgamate different data sources into a single view to allow analysis and reporting from totally unrelated sources
Different Key Performance Indicators of an Embedded Business Intelligence Tool
Almost all businesses have high-level snapshots or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) according to their pre-defined measures. Such KPIs are listed below:
Customer Satisfaction Score: It indicates how well a business met customer expectations and how satisfied customers are.
Net Prompter Score: Defines long-term growth of a company
Monthly Expansion Rate: Monitor a business's stability as it grows, gains & retains new customers, and compare it with history.
EV (Earned Value) Metrics: Indicates the value produced by the company’s present projects
Choosing Correct Embedded Business Intelligence Software
Embedded business intelligence software is an excellent choice for companies seeking to use their data better. However, not all embedded BI software is the same.
Here are some tips for choosing the right software:
1. Make sure the software is compatible with your existing systems
2. Look for software that is easy to use and that has a user-friendly interface
3. Choose software that is scalable and that can grow with your company’s needs
4. Choose software that is easy to install and implement
5. Look for software that has a great deal of experience with the problems you are having
6. Check to see if many companies use the software you are considering in your industry
Schedule a consultation to build your modern BI roadmap >>>> Get in touch
Why Application Teams Choose Embedded Business Intelligence Solutions?
Some of the primary reasons for choosing embedded BI by application teams include:
- Increased user adoption rates
- Improved user experience and customer satisfaction
- Increased revenue growth
Conclusion
The latest Gartner, ‘Magic Quadrant for Analytics and Business Intelligence Platforms’ says,”… BI software should support the complete analytic workflow from data preparation to ingestion and visual exploration.”
That is precisely what is expected of embedded BI solutions. These can work wonders for both large and medium-sized enterprises. For the former, it delivers faster results, while for the smaller counterparts, it provides a single source of truth by merging data from disparate sources into one single dashboard.
