Word of the Day: self-service BI

Word of the Day Daily updates on the latest technology terms | July 11, 2018 self-service business intelligence (BI) Self-service business intelligence (SSBI) is an approach to data analytics that enables business users to access and work with corporate data even though they do not have a background in statistical analysis, business intelligence (BI) or data mining. Allowing end users to make decisions based on their own queries and analyses frees up the organization's business intelligence and information technology (IT) teams from creating the majority of reports and allows those teams to focus on other tasks that will help the organization reach its goals. Because self-service BI software is used by people who may not be tech-savvy, it is imperative that the user interface (UI) for BI software be intuitive, with a dashboard and navigation that is user-friendly. Ideally, training should be provided to help users understand what data is available and how that information can be queried to make data-driven decisions to solve business problems, but once the IT department has set up the data warehouse and data marts that support the business intelligence system, business users should be able to query the data and create personalized reports with very little effort. While self-service BI encourages users to base decisions on data instead of intuition, the flexibility it provides can cause unnecessary confusion if there is not a data governance policy in place. Among other things, the policy should define what the key metrics for determining success are, what processes should be followed to create and share reports, what privileges are necessary for accessing confidential data and how data quality, security and privacy will be maintained. Quote of the Day "The trend of self-service BI has opened up new opportunities for companies to gain value from data more quickly, because it takes IT out of the picture, which reduces delays." - Bob Violino Trending Terms data analytics statistical analysis data mining data warehouse embedded BI data governance Learning Center Tableau acquisition of MIT AI startup aims at smarter BI software The Tableau acquisition of Empirical Systems, an AI startup, is intended to provide Tableau users with more automated modeling of their data and enable broader use of the self-service BI and analytics software. Understanding data discovery tools in the enterprise Learn all about data discovery tools and the data discovery process, which pull insights from data and ultimately serve informed business decisions. Self-service BI best practices: 5 dos and don'ts In this SearchCIO video, Wayfair's Nathan Kollett enumerates the dos and don't's that make up self-service BI best practices. Evolving data integration strategies target new analytics needs As companies expand their use of BI and analytics applications, well-planned data integration strategies become a more crucial component. Get advice on how to manage data integration efforts to support the analytics process more effectively. Self-service BI software comparison: Tableau vs. Power BI, Qlik Sense The self-service BI software market is crowded, but it's sorting itself out. This chart can help you understand the differences between the leading players. Quiz Yourself This describes a data source that's not used on a regular basis. 1. What is desultory data? 2. What is alternative data? Answer Stay in Touch For feedback about any of our definitions or to suggest a new definition, please contact me at: mrouse@techtarget.com Visit the Word of the Day Archives and catch up on what you've missed! FOLLOW US About This E-Newsletter This e-newsletter is published by the TechTarget network. To unsubscribe from Whatis.com, click here. Please note, this will not affect any other subscriptions you have signed up for. TechTarget, Whatis, 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466. Contact: webmaster@techtarget.com Copyright 2018 TechTarget. All rights reserved.