BI is the capability to understand the interaction of multiple business activities, in order to more accurately communicate to the present and predict trends and outcome.  It began as a sparkle in a merchant’s eye thousands of years ago. Now it requires big computers with heavy-duty analytic software to crunch through enormous computational problems. 

BI marches across every possible business process, whether it’s marketing, human resources, customer service, pricing optimization, or anti-money laundering.  BI is not a trend or a fad.  It’s more than a tool.   It’s a powerful lens that enables leaders to see deeper into the true nature of the problems they face.

If BI is so powerful, then why isn’t it a household word?  According to Intelligent Enterprise magazine, BI adoption rates are less than stellar. And when Jim Goodnight, CEO and co-founder of SAS says, “the biggest problem with BI today is the definition,” he’s sending us all a wake-up call.

Marketers have been banging their heads for years trying the figure out the best way to communicate the value of BI.   Flanking terms such as “real-time” and “analytics” make sense to insiders.  But the rest of us are still looking for the big, simple explanation, the idea we can grasp intuitively.