Every year, industry standards in all areas of business evolve as new methodologies and technologies arise. Business intelligence in particular is subject to rapid change due to the influx of increasingly advanced systems of operation. Companies of all sizes from local coffee shops to giant corporations are constantly trying to keep up with technological innovations in an effort to increase their return on investment.
With many organizations competing to adopt the newest breakthroughs in technology, new trends in business intelligence are always emerging. Howard Dresner, one of the leading industry analysts in business intelligence, identifies many of these trends in his recent release of Dresner Advisory Services’ 2021 Self-Service Business Intelligence Market Study. It’s critical that businesses keep an eye on the constantly evolving industry data in order to better understand the best strategies for maximizing their ROI.
Email and virtual meetings are the most desired methods of collaboration
Effective collaboration and teamwork have always been central to successful business conduct. However, organizations often fail to make the most of their potential due to inefficient or outdated methodologies. Business executives and other higher-ups aren’t always in tune with the needs of their staff, and as a result don’t provide the tools necessary to succeed. Thankfully, the 2021 Self-Service Business Intelligence Market Study gives us some insight into what these needs may be.
According to the study, nearly 80% of users reported using email constantly or often, with close to 20% of users reporting occasional use. Virtual meetings were the second most popular form of collaboration, with more than 70% of users reporting constant or often use, and close to 20% reporting occasional use. As expected, virtual meetings overtook all other forms of collaboration except for email during the pandemic, with both forms of collaboration now rated as “very important.”
The increase in popularity of built-in collaborative features is also worth examining, as it may be indicative of a rising preference for ecosystem-based communication as opposed to relying on multiple avenues. A particularly noteworthy finding was that organizations who reported “complete” or “somewhat successful” business intelligence also reported significantly higher use of built-in collaborative features compared to other organizations.
Collaborative BI is gaining more and more recognition
With the unrelenting progress of technology in every passing year, the value of collaborative BI features is witnessing a continuing increase in industry recognition. According to the 2021 Self-Service Business Intelligence Market Study, collaborative BI features have been rated as “critical” or “very important” by more than 70% of respondents since 2019, with more than 90% of respondents rating collaborative BI as at least “important.”
It’s also worth noting that sentiment towards collaborative BI varies between functions, indicating that the specific needs of different departments and users may require their own unique approach to ensure they’re making the most of their ROI. The 2021 Self-Service Business Intelligence Market Study found that one third or more of respondents in Operations, R&D, and Executive Management rated collaboration as “critical.” Across all departments, between 60% and 90% of respondents found collaborative BI to be at least “very important.”
Interestingly, the study also found that the perceived importance of collaborative BI correlates positively with the size of the organization. This may be a result of the increased technical requirements necessary to successfully run a more complex and spread-out company.
Search and navigation features are the most popular requirements
To ensure your organization is providing the tools necessary for your staff to succeed, you first must understand what requirements those tools need to fulfill. According to the 2021 Self-Service Business Intelligence Market Study, “search and navigation for content” and “share content and commentary” were the top BI collaborative requirements amongst respondents.
Similarly, to perceived importance, the preference for different collaborative features varies between functions as well. BICC (business intelligence competency center) had the most requirements across the board, with particular interest expressed in “search and navigation for content,” “annotate content,” “share content,” and “co-author content.”
Executive management also demonstrated a heavy demand for “annotate content,” and “share content,” along with “user defined groups.”
Operations shared similar requirements to both BICC and Executive Management, with an emphasized demand for “search and navigation,” and “user defined groups.”
Learn more to make the most of your BI
Like with any important and emerging technology, organizations have to keep a watchful eye on trends in BI to better understand how they can adapt to the evolving industry. To learn more about how your organization can make the most of current trends in BI, check out our whitepaper—”5 Analytics Trends and How Dimensional Insight Is Helping Customers Respond to Them.”
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