This document discusses the benefits of using a business intelligence (BI) solution compared to Excel-based reporting. BI solutions can analyze data faster, more efficiently, and accurately from multiple sources. They generate more detailed, wider-ranging, and accurate reports. BI also saves costs through greater efficiency and ability to predict future trends. While Excel is flexible, BI mitigates issues like lengthy manual work, need for qualified staff, and unreliable reports. BI converts and aggregates data to present key information clearly and allows historical comparisons and flexible analysis not possible with separate Excel files.

1. Business Intelligence
The benefits of using
An online analytical solution

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Beata Green
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3. Have you ever
considered using business
intelligence solutions in your
company?

4. You can find below several important benefits
of Business Intelligence
Data analysis is:
• Faster
• More efficient
• More accurate
Reports can be:
• More detailed
• Wider ranging
• More accurate
• More useful
Cost savings from:
• Greater efficiency
• Elimination of
inaccurate data
• The ability to more
accurately predict
future trends

5. Excel assisted analysis
There’s no doubt that MS Excel is a
powerful tool and there are many
positive aspects when using it in
Business Analysis:
• Flexibility – possibility to adapt to almost any
type of calculation
• Availability – very popular across the world

6. Excel assisted analysis
However at some key point we start
to face issues:
• Length of time required to properly compute reports from
multiple data sources, often involving many manual
operations
• The requirement for qualified staff
• As there are manual operations involved the quality of the
final report may sometimes be questionable and you
cannot always rely on it to make the correct business
decisions

7. Excel assisted analysis
And also:
• There is probably a lack of historical data for comparison
• Once a report is calculated then to view it from another
perspective (another dimension) you often need to rework
the entire model.
• Every update of source data requires re-computing
But how you can mitigate those issues?

8. The Business Intelligence solution
Business Intelligence software – a type of application designed to
retrieve, analyse, transform and report data for business
intelligence. Converts and aggregates multiple data sources to
present the most important information in a clear and concise
manner.

9. Benefits of Business Intelligence
Eliminate
guesswork
Get faster answers to
your business questions
Get insight into
customer behaviour
Learn how to
streamline operations
Improve
efficiency
See where your business
has been, where it is now
and where it is going

10. Example of an actual
Business Intelligence Solution
To prepare a suitable solution for one of our clients we’ve mapped the current
processes for the main reports, listed below, to use as examples of how the BI tools
can be applied to their reporting in general.
Generated
Costs reports
Item Valuation
reports
Yield Analysis
reports

11. Item Valuation Report
The current process:
One Excel file
with raw data
Raw data
from external
software
List of excel files
with reports
Output
To
Excel
8-10 hours of
manual data
processing

12. Item Valuation Report
Main issues:
• Lengthy, labour-intensive data manipulation
in Excel required to summarise data by various categories
• The final analysis reports are stored in stand-alone files not
suitable for ongoing historic comparison or further analysis
• Limited data analysis

13. Item Valuation Report
Main opportunities with the BI tool:
• Eliminates the labour-intensive data manipulation
required in Excel for summarising data by required
categories – immediate time saving of 8 to 10 hours per report
• Historical data comparison, over two or more years, is made
easy
• Allows a flexible approach to data analysis for decision making
and reporting

14. Generated Cost and Yield Analysis
The current process:
Output to
Excel, 4-5
hours of
rewriting
One Excel
file with
raw data
Raw data
from external
software
Manual
data
validation
and
verification
Manual
data
analysis
Generated
Cost
Report
Item
Valuation
Report
Manual
Data
Manipulation
Other Data
Resources
Yield analysis
report

15. Generated Cost and Yield Analysis
• Calculation and logical operations on raw data and then
exporting results to Excel can take a very long time
• Extremely labour-intensive manipulation of data in Excel is
required for verification of the large amounts of raw data output
• Labour-intensive manipulation is required to analyse data from
various smaller reports and sources and combine into one major
report
Main issues:

16. Generated Cost and Yield Analysis
Main opportunities with the BI tool:
• Raw data is automatically synchronised with the BI system allowing for
calculation and logical operations to be performed more efficiently in the BI
system rather than in the raw data source. No lengthy writing to Excel is
required;
• Automated data validation and verification is possible by using logical pre-
defined rules within the BI system – eliminates data inaccuracies and saves
potential lost revenue;
• BI is a platform for consolidating various data sources in one system and,
therefore, enhanced reporting opportunities by using dashboards
• Immediate time saving of up to 40 or 50 hours per report

17. Data warehousing
The output of all reports which are run from the raw data source are currently
stored in different Excel spreadsheets and there is no connection between these
spreadsheets.
A data warehousing solution will allow data to be congregated from multiple
sources into one combined database which can be used to analyse and present
data.
Benefits:
• Speed up the process of computing complex reports, more
efficient data manipulation
• Instant access to historical data
• Data can be reorganized independently of raw data source
to deliver the required information
• Implementation of validation algorithms will ensure that
data held in raw data source is kept accurate

18. Flexibility
The BI tool is not based on
fixed reports only. It is a
toolbox which can be used to
define an infinite variety of
custom reports and analyses.
The system can be designed to
give you as much flexibility as
possible to generate your own
reports.

19. For example, it can allow you to:
Get any set of data from predefined sources that have
already been mapped in previous reports or define new data
sources based on import from Excel files.

20. Define aggregation and…
Filtering, sorting, recalculation and other operations
(mathematical, such as sum, division, multiplication; and logical
like OR, AND, NOT) on data sets from data sources. All types of
operations which were used in previous reports will be available.

21. Define workflows…
…for other users to include manual data adjustments.
Set report output
as grids, charts
and cubes

22. Analytics and prediction
BI tools are not only used to analyse data from various perspectives.
They can be used to predict future business metrics based on
historical data analysis and assumptions that can be set by the
user. You can for example:
• Analyse historical costs for a defined set of
items
• Set trends and predict how it will look in 5
months
• Based on information that some costs will
increase in 3 months set this in the system
• Check how it affects cost predictions in 5
months
• Check how the cost prediction affects
predicted revenue results

23. Visualization
The BI tool is web based and can be accessed from any computer
with internet access. As soon as you log in you can be redirected to a
dashboard with the reports most important for you. All these
reports can be visualised by adding charts and controls so the most
important information is visible straightaway.

24. That’s not all you can do…
... using our bespoke Business Intelligence solution.
If you have any questions or comments on using
Business Intelligence online tools, call us today on
020 7099 6399
We will be happy to listen, advise or suggest
specific solutions for your needs