What is self-service business intelligence?
by Daniel J. Power
Editor, DSSResources.COM
Managers and staff need access to data and decision support tools. Also, they need direct access to data analytics that will help them quickly investigate why something happened and what might happen next. When organization data is centrally controlled to support decision making, then security, access and backup concerns can be handled systematically. A web-based, self-service business intelligence capability provides access in a timely, controlled fashion to those who have a legitimate need for sensitive organization data. Self-service BI means that managers and staff can do their own analysis and use relevant information and decision support without making requests to Information Technology professionals. Self-service BI is faster and more responsive to immediate information needs.
Many managers and staff in organizations need access to data analytics to quickly investigate why something happened and perhaps what will happen next. Self-service business intelligence (BI) can give business users access to the data they want without requiring IT to relinquish centralized control of data access, data security or data governance.
According to SAS, "there are plenty of BI solutions on the market that will let you push a button and get an answer. But if you can’t explain how you got the answer, or what it means, it’s no good. Most self-service BI solutions can only display what has already happened. And most have a predefined path of analysis that gives users very little creative freedom. A different type of self-service solution, SAS® Visual Analytics limits the amount of IT involvement in routine tasks, yet leaves ultimate data control and governance in IT’s hands."
In summary, self-service business intelligence (SSBI) is an easy-to-use, front-end application that helps managers and analysts query a data warehouse or data mart and access and work with corporate data. These applications allow end users to make decisions based on their own queries and analyses.
Six self-service business intelligence tools are Domo, Power BI, Qlik Sense, QuickSight, SAS® Visual Analytics, and Tableau.
References
SAS, "A New Breed of BI: Self-Service Analytics That Your
Business and IT Users Will Love," at URL http://www.idgconnect.com/view_abstract/39286/a-new-breed-bi-self-service-analytics-that-your-business-it-users-will-love
Last update: 2018-06-15 05:57
Author: Daniel Power
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