Reports? Dashboards? BI? All the same?

Business intelligence has different meanings to different people. People equate BI with dashboards; other consider BI to be a software application. BI is not a tool and not a niche domain. BI is not a concept that is exclusive to IT professionals. BI is, however, a simple notion that anybody can understand; it is about willing to base decisions on facts. While good information leads to smarter decisions and better results, important decisions of any nature in any business should be based on facts. BI supports the decisions that are made with facts and figures.

BI platforms are technology based solutions that usually include the following components:

• ETL tools,

• Master data management and governance tools,

• Data warehouse,

• Multidimensional database or cubes,

• Tools to design dims, attributes, facts, and/or measures,

• Reporting and dashboard tools or platform,

• Analytics tools or platform, and

• Self-service tools.