What are the Business Intelligence Transformation Drivers? What is motivating big companies to take the BI transformation plunge? The following are several compelling reasons and drivers as to why it makes sense for one to transform a company’s business intelligence systems and processes.

Business Intelligence Transformation Drivers

Business, as Usual, is a Death Knell

One of the main drivers for business intelligence transformation is the cost of not taking the plunge. Companies that delay the transformation do so at a significant cost. Companies without appropriate business intelligence transformation risk ceding competitive advantage and at times their very survival in the fast-changing dynamics of the new economy.

Cost Factors

Maintenance of old inflexible systems is costly, and the lack of scalability means that most companies spend money on other applications or third party systems to make the antiquated system do what they want the systems to do. A recent study showed that organizations which moved to standardized BI tools had 36 percent lower BI spend as a percentage of revenue.

There is also a hidden, more intangible cost of operational inefficiency that comes with not having simple and consolidated BI tools for your employees, not to mention the lost opportunities of not having data insight that can lead you to new customers, product lines and markets.

Constant Innovation

Today’s marketplace is one of constant innovation of products and their features. Products, as well as new features of existing products, are released in a lightning-fast time-to-market environment. If you’re trying to broaden your sales scope, you need better BI, because your competitors likely have it. There is cutthroat competition, and more and more companies are turning to BI to survive in the marketplace because it greatly reduces the time they need to react to market changes and pressure from the competition. Smart companies also use it to reduce the many risks they face in today’s global market.

Effectiveness

Companies today have to be lean and effective, and BI dramatically increases your employees’ efficiency which in turn improves your financial performance. Successful companies are those that quickly respond in a company-wide fashion to the vastly changing competitive marketplace. It’s not easy–in fact, it can be an onslaught. Changes in legislation or technology, customer demand, and your competitors’ actions all require you to be fast and nimble.

Underperformance

Is your business troubled? Are you lagging behind due to past inaction? You may be underperforming if you haven’t responded in a timely fashion to a marketplace event, and you’re likely paying the price financially. Many companies that have experienced declines in profits, market share and sales have used BI transformation to turn low performance around.

Non-Traditional Thinking

Perhaps the most exciting driver, and sometimes the hardest one to follow, is that a different way of thinking is an imperative in today’s market. We’re all used to the traditional BI reports with historical information, which are no doubt useful. But BI shifts the playing field by changing the kinds of questions you can ask and get answered about your business. Traditional reports are after-the-fact: how was our performance last quarter, and so on. With BI, there is predictive value. You can ask questions like “What will happen if I change this part of my product line?” Companies that are asking this type of question see the impacts that certain choices will have to their overall strategy. They are the ones recognizing new risks as well as new niches.

The effectiveness and insight that a transformed business intelligence function provides add tremendous value to your organization. There are many Business intelligence transformation drivers: So what’s driving yours? Irrespective of which business intelligence transformation drivers are necessary, the key is to start your BI transformation now to reap the results.

Please review CIOPages.com business intelligence transformation articles and business intelligence transformation deliverables/tools/templates.