Self-Service business intelligence can certainly be a game changer for a company. Are you thinking of implementing new strategies and changes in the way you access, analyze, and treat data? Looking into self-service business intelligence may be a good option for you and your business.
You must be wondering what’s the difference between self-service and traditional business intelligence. In this post, we’ll get into that and demystify it all for you.
What Exactly Is Self-Service Business Intelligence
Let’s take a look at what self-service BI actually is, what it isn’t, and how it can change the way you find, analyze, and use business data.
Definition Of Self-Service BI
There is no actual definition in the dictionary for self-service BI and it can actually encompass several activities.
In a nutshell, self-service BI lets employees and individuals who are not technically data analysts by profession to have access to business data without any assistance from the information technology department.
It’s about user independence where some individuals will use the data to perform simple tasks while others may require more extensive and sensitive information to complete their work.
What That Means For Your Company
What that means is that employees in a variety of departments can easily and rapidly gain access to business information that they need without waiting for it from the IT department. They can manage, organize, and treat what they want in a self-reliant way through reports and dashboards.
That also gives more responsibility and self-sufficiency to individual employees and departments. They can have access, analyze, modify, and personalize data.
- Less wasted time
- Keep up with the competition
- Flexibility
- Gained efficiency
- Independence
Who Is Self Service BI For?
Self-service BI is obviously not for everyone and can’t be implemented in certain business formats. Self-service BI is usually a dependable and suitable solution for smaller to medium-sized companies.
- Companies who require information at any time and anywhere can benefit from self-service BI.
- Companies whose IT departments can substantially benefit in a reduction of the business data processing workload.
Easy, Reliable, And Cost Effective
Many companies could profit tremendously by cutting the middle man and letting some key employees have direct access to certain data. These individuals don’t need to wait on the IT department and can meet deadlines more quickly.
Self-Service Business Intelligence Vs Traditional Business Intelligence
Of course, some situations and certain businesses can’t take advantage of self-service BI for a variety of reasons and still rely solely on traditional BI.
Some businesses are simply deep-rooted in their processes and are afraid to take risks or to shake things up. By having the proper knowledge on hand and analyzing individual business strategies, some would undeniably benefit moving from a traditional BI to a self-service BI.
What Is Traditional BI?
In traditional business information, data is usually analyzed, processed, modified, and distributed through the information technology department. The data is not collectively accessible and is only issued at the demand of employees when needed.
Some companies believe that this is the safest way to guard sensitive information and to keep control over what data gets processed. But with the growing success stories of self-service BI, this thought process is becoming less accurate.
What’s The Difference Between Self-Service And Traditional?
Traditional BI has only one department in charge of all data and dispenses it as needed.
When set up with self-service BI, a company usually assigns roles and tasks to specific users. A business will usually set up casual users of self-service BI and power users who have access to more options like modifying and changing data.
Traditional BI
- Exclusive department
- Data is distributed more slowly
- Rigid
- Safe
Self-Service BI
- Efficient distribution of data.
- Self-reliance
- Flexible
- Safe
Which Is Right For Your Business?
Your type of business, the number of employees, and nature of data requirements will determine which type of business information distribution is best for you.
More and more businesses qualify for self-service BI and build dashboards and reports that are custom-made for their specific business needs.
Learn More About Yurbi
The name Yurbi itself comes from its roots as a self-service business intelligence tool. Yurbi, or "Your Business Intelligence" was designed to allow business users to Bring Their Data to Life.
However, from the beginning, the focus of Yurbi was to ensure that IT and data owners were completely satisfied that data was protected and securely delivered even when making it easier for end users to access data.
Take a look at a live demo of Yurbi or start a free trial and see how Yurbi can enable your business to leverage data more effectively via self-service business intelligence.