Business Intelligence solutions are an apt example of how technological evolution over the years has empowered businesses with machine intelligence to attain high operational efficiency and better scalability. Before the advent of business intelligence (BI) solutions, there was no way to harness the massive volumes of data generated by businesses on a daily basis and the relevant data from the industry. The tools back then only allowed a minuscule amount of data to be worked on for deriving business insights and there was no option to store the rest of the information for future use.
The fact that today no organization can operate in isolation without riding on relevant external and internal data underlines the need for business intelligence solutions. With intelligent BI solutions such as Power BI, managing the end-to-end data handling process from information sourcing and sorting to reporting and suggesting, the accuracy and efficiency of outcomes have shot up sharply. The reports and insights delivered by modern BI tools such as Power BI solutions are used extensively by businesses to realize improvements on all fronts of operations including human resources, product development, sales, marketing, customer service, supply chain, and more.
But like all good things, BI tools pose certain stringent conditions that must be met adequately to ensure high ROI for the user. Below are a few crucial challenges that users must combat to realize higher business profitability enabled by their BI solution.
Using BI can be an expensive affair
The savings that a wisely used business intelligence tool enables in the long run far outweigh the initial investment and the recurring expenses on the tool. However, it’s a fact that the upfront cost of any reliable business intelligence solution is high and the initial setup demands domain expertise. This can discourage users, particularly small and mid-sized businesses, from adopting the solution. Users must also keep aside funds to pay for the services of a BI expert who would help them set up the tool and integrate it into the organizational workflow. Furthermore, these impediments are exacerbated by the slightly costly framework speculations expected from BI programming.
Lack of organization-wide adoption
Change management, particularly for technological changes or enhancements in non-IT-core organizations, is a pain point for the management. To secure the estimated ROI within the defined timeline, the management must gain buy-in from all stakeholders and get everyone on the same page. It helps immensely to highlight why a BI service is required, and the advantages of having one. To this end, they must set time-bounded goals, incentives, KPIs, and deadlines for the employees to adopt the change. Also, the management must consult with the key stakeholders and organize adequate training sessions for them to ensure a smooth transition.
No clearly defined strategy
A common mistake that most first-time users make is that they don’t care about devising a strategy while developing BI projects. The ideal way to harness the true possibilities of BI solutions is to have clear answers to questions such as the source of data, the kind of decisions that will be made upon the analysis, and the intended audience. Smart BI users are aware of the fact that a solid BI roadmap starts with examining their existing process, goes on to define the key information stakeholders, and concludes with choosing the best tool for the job. But the fact remains that most users lack the experience and expertise to give their data the direction and fluidity, and add value throughout the organization.
How outsourcing Business Intelligence Services Help Organizations Address Such Challenges
For users new to business intelligence and lacking the desired in-house expertise, outsourcing Power BI services to an external BI partner is the most prudent choice to ensure quality outcomes and well-informed decisions. The specialized services of a seasoned BI firm can enable the client to define its business strategy to ensure that future decisions are aligned with the long-term vision of the BI project. The following is a consolidated list of the primary benefits of outsourcing BI services.
In-demand BI services whenever needed
Most BI service providers offer flexible engagement models that clients can choose from as per their needs and profitability targets. The wide array of services an external partner offers includes data warehousing, custom Power BI dashboards, content analytics, data integration, Power BI visualizations, and master data management, among others. With a competent BI expert firm by their side, businesses can add or cut down on the services they want, thus enjoying the much-needed flexibility in the long-term partnership.
Access to top IT talents
Not every organization can have an in-house business intelligence team owing to the high costs and managerial obligations that such moves imply. When clients outsource Power BI services to an external partner, the client gets access to highly-skilled professionals consisting of data and machine learning experts, analytics and reporting specialists, and more. Another primary benefit of opting for the services of a BI firm is that the HR department is relieved of the responsibility of sourcing, interviewing, and onboarding talents, and the additional payroll duties.
Access to modern infrastructure
With growing operations and workflow complexities, managing the data generated regularly in an organization gets increasingly difficult. The nature of modern businesses is such that the traditional data centers don’t make the cut any longer due to the high maintenance requirements of physical servers. However, a BI partner can migrate the client’s work environment to a cloud platform such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, etc., to reduce the operational costs and complexity while adding new BI features and functionalities for better performance.
Improved Regulatory Compliance
Today, businesses have to operate under the pressure of adhering to complex and frequently changing industry regulations. Most organizations are struggling to manage and analyze high volumes of data while meeting a host of regulations in the process. But business leaders have understood the role that outsourcing can play in helping them meet compliance requirements and stay on top of the constantly changing regulations. All competent Power BI service partners employee compliance experts who use the best methodologies to help the clients adjust their workflow as per the changing regulations without disrupting business in any way or investing much in the process.
Prepare for the future
Business intelligence solutions are no longer confined to simple data management and reporting activities but have evolved to be a key tool of the think tank of organizations. With the infusion of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, BI solutions are being increasingly used to predict future trends and opportunities by businesses to stay ahead of the competition. BI service firms have access to advanced technologies that can help the client to keep up with the constantly evolving dynamics of the market. An example of such a technology is cloud computing, a recent development that has now become a part of the workflow for numerous organizations. While hiring a team of cloud computing experts is way beyond the reach of most organizations, an outsourcing partner can make the migration from on-premises applications to the cloud platform a cakewalk for the client.
Read Also 7 Ways Power BI Has Been Helping Organizations & Communities Deal with the COVID-19 Crisis
Smart BI Services Can Win the Game For Businesses in the Coming Days
Considering the havoc wrecked by the Covid-19 pandemic in the first three quarters of the current year, businesses are desperately looking for a silver bullet to bounce back and make up for the loss in the rest of the year. To do that, smart use and management of market data would be the key. Thus, organizations are banking on BI vendors for quality data services and market insights to cash in on the opportunities that await them in the near future.
Discovering opportunities
With most businesses either forced to shut down or at least trim operations, organizations have seen the worse and the curve can only rise from here. In fact, the market has already seen positive signs of recovery and businesses are gearing up for a good run in the coming days. To do that, discovering market trends and acting on them is critical and this is where BI solutions enter the scene. The wide range of data discovery applications that users get access to with a reliable tool like the Power BI solution, helps them in making the right moves and enhancing their ability to handle anomalies and uncertainties such as the current crisis.
Boost for the sales and marketing efforts
Sales and marketing have been among the worst-hit functions in organizations across the globe in the past few months and now business leaders are banking on smart BI solutions to put the sales and marketing wheel back in motion. With the assistance of a BI expert, clients can improve the accuracy of their sales campaigns and forecasts, and devise strategies for acquiring new customers while retaining the existing ones. Also, since marketing campaigns are an expensive affair, it’s critical for organizations to prepare the right audience engagement plan and measure the impact of the promotions, and no other tool serves this purpose as well as an AI-powered BI solution.
Better inventory control
At present, businesses are stretched for resources and can’t afford to overstock supplies by investing their already depleting capital. Optimized inventory management is the need of the hour and this is what makes business intelligence tool the default choice for them. By analyzing detailed historical data and current demand trends using applications such as the interactive Power BI dashboards, users can refine an assorted inventory and optimize their supply quantities across different locations. While a BI tool drastically minimizes the risk of out-of-stock instances, it also helps predict over-stock situations by drawing on replenishment, sales, and forecasting data. Furthermore, experienced BI service providers can help their clients get rid of slow-selling inventory by identifying suitable discount schemes based on the target customer and seller margin.
Omnichannel customer experience
The quality of customer service a business delivers determines its success or failure to a substantial degree. This is a significant trend in the retail and other similar industries where multichannel customer engagement is being rapidly replaced by omnichannel experience. The reason why omnichannel engagement is being preferred by stakeholders is that it unifies customer interactions across channels (website, phone, physical store, etc.), as compared to the siloed interactions of a multichannel arrangement. A smart BI solution can help businesses deliver an unmatched omnichannel experience to the customers by gathering, sorting, and aggregating customer data, and giving suggestions to optimize the different touchpoints in the customer journey. It also assists the marketing team with targeted promotions and offers across different channels for improved outcomes.
The long list of benefits that a business intelligence tool brings to the user far outbalances the challenges it presents and the upfront investment it demands. For businesses striving to survive and thrive in the insanely competitive marketplace, having complete insights into the organization’s functioning, curating custom content and reports, getting actionable suggestions, and monitoring individual and team performance are undeniable necessities. A modern BI solution integrated into the workflow of the user delivers this and a lot more, allowing the decision-makers to just focus on the implementation of the data-driven suggestions made by the tool. The only thing businesses must strive to get correct is identifying the right business intelligence services provider. Outsourcing to a competent BI solutions vendor would give them a distinct edge in the market through cutting-edge infrastructure while reducing their operational costs and the dependency on the human workforce.
Who We Are and Why Our Expertise Matters?
At FlatworldEDGE, we specialize in IT solution services and help global clients across industries to accelerate their business transformation through smart and cost-efficient solutions. We bring to the table over a decade of experience in business intelligence and analytics, enabling clients to harness the possibilities of cloud-based solutions and machine intelligence to cash in on new opportunities and drive performance. Our Power BI services team eliminates all your BI challenges and allows you to dedicate more time to doing what you do the best – growing your business.
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