What is Business Intelligence?The short, smartmouth answer is that
Business Intelligence is the process of intelligence gathering applied to business.
Here's my more formal definition. Business Intelligence is the process of getting
enough of the right information in a timely manner and usable form and analyzing it so
that it can have a positive impact on business strategy, tactics or operations.
I've heard of Competitive Intelligence. How is Business Intelligence different?
Competitive Intelligence is one aspect of Business Intelligence. Competitive
Intelligence is limited to information about competitors and how that affects strategy,
tactics and operations. Business Intelligence includes that, but also uses information
about overall industry conditions, political situations, and internal operations.
How does Business Intelligence relate to Knowledge Management?
I define Knowledge Management as follows. Knowledge management is the way that
organizations create, capture and re-use knowledge to achieve organizational objectives.
There's some overlap between the two terms, but there seem to be some differences of
application in most cases. Business Intelligence uses many of the tools of Knowledge
Management (things like data mining, for example) but concentrates more on strategic and
tactical recommendations than Knowledge Management.
What are the three key steps in Business Intelligence?
The three key steps in Business Intelligence are gathering, analysis and
recommendation. For most organizations, this is most effective if it's a part of regular
ongoing business practice.
Should Business Intelligence be a staff function, or should I use an outsider?
The answer to that is an absolute "it depends." Larger businesses often have
staff resources that can do most of the data gathering and analysis. They will often
benefit though, but having an outside perspective during the analysis phase.
Smaller businesses almost never have the internal staff resources to do an effective
Business Intelligence job. The exception to this is if there is a person (often the CEO)
who does the BI work because he or she likes it. Smaller businesses and independent
business professionals can usually benefit from outside help with information gathering
and with analysis and recommendation.
OK, Wally, how can you help me?
I can help with information gathering. I publish Briefing Memo, an electronic
newsletter about trends and information that you can use to make better strategic
decisions. I also offer Information Monitoring and Background Research Services.
I can help with analysis and recommendation. This can be on a project basis or as part
of my regular Business Intelligence services.
And, I can help with strategy development.
Click here to send me an email if you have
a question about this or if you’d like to chat about how we might work together.
Created/Revised/Reviewed: 12/31/00
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