The power of integration: Why your business needs a comprehensive analytics solution

Without data, companies are leading by intuition, which is a tactic that can sometimes lead to great business decisions but in the long run will probably not yield the best and most sustainable results.

Now, since businesses produce data more than ever, it's easy to get lost in the sea of information. Like the ships of yesteryear, companies need a beacon of light to lead them to success. For businesses, this beacon is a comprehensive data analytics software that helps make sense of it all.

The risks of siloed data: Dealing with multiple truths

A data analytics tool is as good as the data that's being fed to it. This means that if the data is somehow irrelevant, incomplete, or just plain wrong, it will not produce its best results. Sure, the tool can still make pretty dashboards and pie charts, but at the end of the day, is that really something that, say, Excel can't do?

Data siloes occur when information is being kept in individual systems, databases or applications that aren't integrated with each other. In many organizations, various departments have different systems that they use to manage their data and do their work - for example, the finance department uses one system, HR another, and sales utilizes a third option.

This often leads to short-sightedness in decision-making, forecasting, and budgeting. The business leaders are given information from different departments that can contradict each other, because the proverbial right hand hadn't known what the left hand was doing.

Data siloes can lead to several issues for businesses. These include for example inconsistent data, data redundancy, missed opportunities and slow decision making.

When businesses data is siloed, it's common to see differences between databases. For example, one department might report a certain number of sales while another reports a completely different figure. This makes it difficult to obtain a clear view of the company’s overall performance.

Without a comprehensive view of the data, businesses can easily miss important insights and opportunities. For example, if the marketing team can't access critical data from the sales team, they may miss out on identifying key trends, markets and audiences that could be driving growth.

Also, when data is siloed, it's often difficult and time-consuming to compile information from multiple sources. This can slow down decision-making and make it harder for businesses to be agile and responsive in changing market situations.

How then businesses can break down these siloes? Part of the answer is changing the culture of the company towards a data-driven one. The other, more easily accessible one is a good data analytics and reporting tool.

The benefits of integrated analytics: Where does BI Book shine?

A heavily integrated analytics solution, like BI Book, can offer a wide range of benefits to businesses that are looking to improve their data capabilities. A few key advantages include:

• A single source of truth
  One of the biggest advantages of an integrated analytics solution is that it provides a single source of truth for all the company's data. This means that data from different departments or systems is consolidated into a single location, allowing for a full view of the company's performance.

• More accurate insights
  When data is properly integrated, it's easier to ensure that the insights derived from it are accurate. Instead of having inconsistencies or errors due to siloed data, businesses can rely on insights that are based on a comprehensive view of all data.

• Improved collaboration
  An integrated analytics solution can help to break down the barriers between different departments or teams. When everyone is working from the same data and insights, it's easier to collaborate and work together towards common goals.

• Better decision-making
  With comprehensive data insights at their fingertips, businesses can make better decisions, faster. This allows them to be more agile and respond more quickly to changes in the market, opportunities, or challenges.

• Better use of resources
  By consolidating data into a single location, businesses can eliminate the need for redundant apps or systems. This can lead to significant cost savings in terms of licensing, maintenance, and support.

Why is BI Book a great analytics and reporting tool?

Companies who are using BI Book have a leg up on the competition because they are in a position to make decisions that are backed up by all the necessary data.

BI Book gives businesses the capabilities to report and analyze up-to-date data from all the important data points and systems, allowing for a holistic and accurate view of the state of their business.

The reports can be shared with ease to all necessary stakeholders. This makes the board of directors’ life easier and leaves them with more time to develop the business.

– Thanks to BI Book, there is no need to share data separately, and reports updated with the latest data are always available to the right people in the portal. We get the data to the management team quickly and can react to the right issues in time, says Ville Mattinen, CFO of Valve. You can check out their story here.

BI Book also lets the user dive deep into the numbers and helps them to find new insights that way.

– From the financial perspective, I really did not have any visibility beyond the basics before BI Book. The basic profit and loss statement and the balance sheet were all we had. We needed to see more specific metrics, such as spend per customer and expenses by the vendor. It was very difficult to get this information out of Business Central. After deploying BI Book, I suddenly had all this reporting, information, and visibility that was critical for me as a business leader, comments Donald Weaver, CEO of Weaver Technologies. Read more about their successes here.

All in all, with exceptional integration options, clear visuals, easy sharing and always up-to-date data, BI Book gives companies a strong platform to lead with data. In addition to the software, dozens of BI Book’s data analytics professionals are ready to help our customers with whatever data needs they have.

BI Book is THE tool to consider for businesses looking to gain a competitive edge using today's oil - data.

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