A Business Intelligence Tool

I have worked for a number of small and medium size business intelligence applications.  When a business has to address these kinds of problems without a consultant it is often an issue to properly scope out the problem.  or at least find a starting point to outline the approaches available. .  In a recent search for tools I found this complimentary tool from IBM that addresses typical problems found in this area.  And determines the achievable ROI available As they state it:

Can your organization optimize queries? Do you use data cleansing technology? Is there strong executive support for business intelligence? The answers matter. Now find out what they mean for your midsized business. Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know. It can be difficult to gauge your company’s use of business analytics compared to the competition. Are you using the right tools? Are you doing enough?

It is also useful to understand that what you are doing adheres to typical standards in use.    This approach also lets you scope out analytics that connect to the problems you are addressing.  Without a connection between data and methods, it is hard to get started.

The tool assigns a rating of how your company's approach compares to the best-in-class performance of a company your size in each of the business analytics categories that you identify as a concern, and then clearly outlines steps your company can take for continued improvement in key areas of business analytics. At the end of your personalized report, you will have access to Aberdeen's Research Reports on business analytics.

The Aberdeen report lets you figure out how to take the next steps utilizing business analytics.  I am reviewing that now for a specific application.  A useful approach to getting started for the small or medium size business.

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines  of a smarter planet. More on that here: goo.gl/VQ40Cg