The five key stages of Business Intelligence:
- Data Sourcing
- Data Analysis
- Situation Awareness
- Risk Assessment
- Decision Support
1. Data Sourcing: Business
Intelligence is about extracting information from multiple sources of data. The
data might be: text documents - e.g. memos or reports or email messages;
photographs and images; sounds; formatted tables; web pages and URL lists. The
key to data sourcing is to obtain the information in electronic form. So typical
sources of data might include: scanners; digital cameras; database queries; web
searches; computer file access; etc.
2. Data Analysis: Business Intelligence is about synthesizing useful knowledge from collections of
data. It is about estimating current trends, integrating and summarizing
disparate information, validating models of understanding, and predicting
missing information or future trends. This process of data analysis is called
data mining or knowledge discovery. Typical analysis tools might use:-
-
Probability Theory - e.g. classification, clustering and Bayesian networks.
-
Statistical Methods - e.g. regression.
3. Situation Awareness : Business
Intelligence is about filtering out irrelevant information, and setting the
remaining information in the context of the business and its environment. The
user needs the key items of information relevant to his or her needs, and
summaries that are syntheses of all the relevant data (market forces, government
policy etc.). Situation awareness is the grasp of the context in
which to understand and make decisions. Algorithms for
situation assessment
provide such syntheses automatically.
4. Risk Assessment: Business
Intelligence is about discovering what plausible actions might be taken, or
decisions made, at different times. It is about helping you weigh up the current
and future risk, cost or benefit of taking one action over another, or making
one decision versus another. It is about inferring and summarizing your best
options or choices.
5. Decision Support: Business Intelligence is about using information
wisely. It aims to provide warning you of important events, such as takeovers,
market changes, and poor staff performance, so that you can take preventative
steps. It seeks to help you analyze and make better business decisions, to
improve sales or customer satisfaction or staff morale. It presents the
information you need, when you need it.