What is Cloud BI?
Cloud business intelligence, or cloud BI, can be defined as the process of using technology tools to transform data into meaningful and usable insights. This process can be handled entirely or partially in the cloud. Cloud BI enables the relevant teams to produce, access, and manage critical data and insights such as KPIs, dashboards, and visual reports anywhere they are without being restricted to conventional hardware like PCs. When a company adopts cloud BI, it receives unique value since it combines the advantages of the cloud with the features of BI tools.
Types of BI platforms
Any cloud BI application will be housed on one of the following cloud computing platforms:
Public Cloud
A public cloud indicates that the cost of computing time, resources, and infrastructure will be split among the tenants according to usage. This is the most economical choice among the different kinds of cloud platforms hosting the Cloud BI system. Therefore, it is a fantastic option for small and mid-sized businesses with tight budgets who nevertheless want to reap the rewards of the cloud.
Private Cloud
This is the most exclusive alternative for businesses that can afford it. In a private cloud environment, the user has exclusive access to infrastructure and storage. Additionally, it provides the benefit of data security and makes it possible for enterprises to comply with risk management requirements and regulatory requirements.
Hybrid Cloud
The Hybrid Cloud platform is great for organizations that must adhere to stringent regulatory requirements (HIPAA, GLBA, GDPR, etc.) but cannot afford to host their complete business intelligence solution in the private cloud. In a hybrid cloud paradigm, the best elements of both public and private cloud platforms are combined. For instance, a business can experiment with big data in the public cloud while storing its private and sensitive data in the private cloud.
Guide to Choosing a Cloud Consulting Company
What to look for in a Cloud BI solution?
When faced with the challenge of selecting a cloud BI software tool to use, it is crucial to search for the following features among the large range of software tools available on the market:
Built-in data management capabilities
It is crucial to search for built-in data management features, such as the capacity to extract data from a wide range of data sources and the ability to clean and organize data into a standard format for analysis. Despite being available in a wide range of cloud BI solutions, these capabilities vary in the specifics of how they accomplish this. Therefore, it’s crucial to carefully examine each tool before selecting one that works for you.
Track data lineage
Data Lineage is the process of following each data point from the time it is entered into BI software until it is transformed into valuable and useful insights from the entire data collection. This function is a requirement for the cloud BI software for your company because it allows you to determine which data is meaningful and which is not. It can also highlight your attempts to extract more commercial value from certain records and help to explain why they are so important to the outcome.
Big data capabilities in the cloud with cloud-native solutions
In this era of digital transformation Cloud-native solutions are unquestionably the wave of the future. When compared to non-native cloud options, cloud-native solutions are preferable if an organization’s concentration is on big data analytics, where they must manage a lot of data and it moves quickly and in many ways.
The benefits of cloud-native solutions are explained below:
Advanced Analytics Capabilities
When selecting the best cloud BI software, advanced analytics features like root-cause analysis and predictive analytics are particularly crucial. A root cause analysis explains why something occurred and what set of data points led to it. Predictive analytics makes predictions based on previous data, making it highly accurate at predicting future staffing needs, sales projections, losses, and profits in each market area.
Interactive Data Visualizations and Dashboards
According to studies, the human brain processes visuals 60000 times more quickly than text. Because humans are visual beings, it is beneficial that our technologies use and enhance this ability. Interactive data visualizations make statistics and conclusions more aesthetically pleasing, which has a bigger impact on the decision-maker and the intended audience. Dashboards incorporate several visualizations to make the analysis appear to be a narrative, boosting the BI user’s ability to tell a story using the data.
Benefits of Cloud BI
Cloud BI offers multiple benefits, let’s have a look!
Affordable
In the past, BI software had to be hosted on expensive on-premises data centers, which restricted the scalability and functionality of the platform. Now that you have adopted a cloud BI tool, it is not only cost-effective but you will also save money because the supplier will handle the installation and management of the data centers and software.
Easy to use
Since these software products feature user-friendly user interfaces and drag-and-drop functionality, you may improve your organization’s BI capabilities without having to recruit outside analysts. Current employees can start using the software as it is easy to use.
Mobility
Easy web-based UI suggests that the software may be used from a smartphone or tablet, especially if the consumers must use it while they are travelling.
Scalability
High fault tolerance and scalability indicate that the software may be scaled up and down in response to demand and is unaffected in terms of its accessibility in case of a natural calamity because the cloud providers’ server locations are dispersed across the globe.
Security
Cloud Computing is renowned for being extremely secure because communications are encrypted and protected and no additional software or hardware requirements are placed on the user.
What to expect from your Cloud BI deployment?
Utilizing cloud BI gives businesses the competitive benefits listed below:
With the advent of cloud-based BI, data has become a powerful tool for decision-making.
Numerous businesses now collect enormous amounts of diverse data every second via their websites, portals, and social media platforms. This data is then saved and fed into data lakes and data lake houses, which are then fed into enterprise tools like CRMs and ERPs. This sector has become dominated by tools like Redshift, Snowflake, and Databricks. Businesses may use cloud BI to streamline operations, spot dangers and opportunities, and make plans.
Every successful business is built on the foundation of knowing its customers and fulfilling their needs.
Given the nature of the cloud, cloud-based BI enables businesses to store their data in a single location as a single source of truth. Sales, marketing, operations, executive, and all other teams within the company can access this data and the insights obtained from it, acting on the insights quickly and without any downtime to deliver better performance.
Cloud-based BI can help in achieving better sales and marketing intelligence.
As all the data is kept in one place, it can be examined instantly to offer highly targeted marketing messages and spot obstacles in the customer’s path to purchasing from your business. Additionally, it examines consumer feedback and can immediately change the sales and marketing teams’ efforts.
It’s time to take advantage of the cloud and BI’s synergy!
Think ahead of the competition
Planning, budgeting, funding, and staffing capabilities can all be enhanced by BI. Due to the fact that all data is processed at one point, BI systems can assist firms in forecasting future behavior from consumers, equipment, and staff. This saves time and money while enhancing staff performance, product quality, and customer satisfaction.
Cloud-based BI solutions are the logical intersection of all emerging technologies. They are designed to simplify data administration by lowering infrastructure and maintenance costs and increasing access flexibility. This is the main driver behind the rapid adoption of cloud-based BI by both established IT companies and start-ups. While larger firms have begun utilizing BI on-premises or in the cloud, smaller organizations must be prepared to adopt cloud-based BI tools in order to create effective initiatives.
How will you take advantage of this trend to benefit your company the most? PeoplActive can help you to take your business to the next level. Well, PeoplActive not only brings the Top-tier talent but also provides consultation services on your projects to help you create a roadmap. Please let us know if you need to hire Cloud Engineers.
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