Features

Features

• 20 top business intelligence tools to know about in 2025

  To help you find the right BI software for your analytics needs, here's a look at 20 top tools and the key features that differentiate them from other technologies.  Continue Reading

• Top 7 data preparation challenges and how to overcome them

  Data preparation is a crucial but complex part of analytics applications. Don't let seven common challenges send your data prep processes off track.  Continue Reading

• 9 examples of business intelligence use cases for companies

  BI tools and applications can help improve decision-making, strategic planning and other business functions. Here's a look at nine top BI use cases for organizations.  Continue Reading

• 6 data preparation best practices for analytics applications

  Analytics applications need clean data to produce actionable insights. Six data preparation best practices can turn your messy data into high-quality fuel for analytics operations.  Continue Reading

• What is a business intelligence analyst and what do they do?

  Business intelligence analysts are key members of BI teams. Here's a look at the job, the skills it requires, salary levels and how the role of a BI analyst is evolving.  Continue Reading

• Business intelligence reporting: What it is, how it works

  BI reporting presents data in various formats so employees can interpret and act on that information in a timely manner without relying on a data analyst. But challenges exist.  Continue Reading

• 7 examples of augmented analytics in the enterprise

  Augmented analytics uses machine learning, AI and natural language processing to help business users interpret complex data sets. Explore use cases across industries.  Continue Reading

• Big data analytics and business intelligence: A comparison

  BI and big data analytics support different types of analytics applications and using them in complementary ways enables a comprehensive data analysis strategy.  Continue Reading

• The future of business intelligence: 10 top trends in 2024

  Various trends are affecting the current state of BI initiatives and their future direction. Here are 10 key ones that corporate leaders and BI teams should be aware of.  Continue Reading

• AI in business intelligence: Uses, benefits and challenges

  AI tools are becoming a key part of BI systems, both to add new analytics capabilities and simplify tasks. Here's what you need to know about using AI in the BI process.  Continue Reading

• How to measure data literacy in the AI era

  Improving data literacy as an individual or organization starts with measuring where you are. An AI and data framework provides six criteria to track progress.  Continue Reading

• Data-driven decision-making case study: Indeed

  Putting data-driven decision-making into practice can be difficult. Indeed shares three examples of how it uses data to improve the user experience and employee workflows.  Continue Reading

• Databricks lakehouse a secret weapon for WNBA's Fever

  The vendor's platform has helped Pacers Sports & Entertainment -- parent company of the NBA's Pacers and WNBA's Fever -- free data from isolation to fuel an analytics-driven future.  Continue Reading

• GenAI demands greater emphasis on data quality

  As GenAI explodes and enables enterprise decision-making at previously unseen speed and scale, accurate information to train models and applications becomes increasingly important.  Continue Reading

• The top augmented analytics tools vendors are offering

  Augmented analytics tools play a crucial role in providing users of all technical skills levels access to AI and analytics daily. Consider 10 of the top options available.  Continue Reading

• 9 types of bias in data analysis and how to avoid them

  Analytics can exhibit biases that affect the bottom line or incite social outrage through discrimination. It's important to address those biases before problems arise.  Continue Reading

• Qlik analytics suite helps cities combat climate change

  The longtime BI and data integration vendor's tools enable C40 Cities, a climate leadership consortium of nearly 100 cities, to operationalize critical environmental data.  Continue Reading

• Qlik meets user needs with realistic approach to generative AI

  With trusted data as a foundation, the longtime analytics and data integration vendor has been pragmatic in its creation of an environment that enables generative AI development.  Continue Reading

• 8 benefits of using big data for businesses

  Big data is a great resource for driving smart business decisions and changes. Here are eight ways that the use of big data is improving how business gets done.  Continue Reading

• Customer segmentation analytics evolve with GenAI, ML

  GenAI, machine learning and advanced analytics techniques automate time-consuming aspects of customer segmentation, freeing up analysts to find insights and create value.  Continue Reading

• Treating data as a product a method to grow analytics use

  Treating BI assets such as models and dashboards as commodities is an emerging trend as organizations continue to seek new ways of making analytics use more widespread.  Continue Reading

• 18 data science tools to consider using in 2024

  Numerous tools are available for data science applications. Read about 18, including their features, capabilities and uses, to see if they fit your analytics needs.  Continue Reading

• Infusion of generative AI into analytics a work in progress

  Many vendors have introduced tools that integrate LLM technology with their platforms, but most are still refining the tools to ensure their accuracy and security.  Continue Reading

• Advanced analytics challenges limit analytics, AI benefits

  Traditional advanced analytics are not going to disappear with the rise of generative AI. Cultural and quality challenges hinder organizations as attention shifts to new trends.  Continue Reading

• 5 benefits cloud BI has over on-premises options

  BI moving from on premises to the cloud taps into operational improvements and benefits. Optimizing these tools creates a more customized, user-friendly experience.  Continue Reading

• Clear the confusion of advanced vs. predictive analytics

  Advanced and predictive analytics are sometimes used as interchangeable terms. Users need to understand the differences of advanced analytics techniques to maximize insights.  Continue Reading

• Business efficiency a place to start with generative AI

  Increased efficiency is one of the main benefits of large language models, so one of the easiest ways for enterprises to start using LLM technology is by targeting inefficiencies.  Continue Reading

• Generative AI hype evolving into reality in data, analytics

  Organizations are already beginning to apply the technology to their data operations, helping expand analytics use to more employees and boosting the efficiency of data experts.  Continue Reading

• Construct an event-driven architecture for real-time operations

  Event-driven architecture is one tool to tap into the potential of real-time analytics. Organizations should understand the structure and challenges of EDA to get started.  Continue Reading

• 10 tools to level up streaming analytics platforms

  Streaming analytics platforms take real-time data and generate insight and value for organizations. Choosing the right tool from these options will help unlock benefits.  Continue Reading

• Data pipelines deliver the fuel for data science, analytics

  While analytics and data science lead to informed decision-making, the systems that ingest data from its source and prepare it for consumption are what make analysis possible.  Continue Reading

• Real-time analytics presents challenges to unlock benefits

  Real-time analytics enables organizations with faster decision-making. However, bad data, or a culture that isn't ready for real-time analytics, can undermine the benefits.  Continue Reading

• Wellthy finds analytics success with ThoughtSpot

  The self-service analytics specialist's platform has greatly increased the healthcare organization's efficiency after its old BI platform was too geared toward trained experts.  Continue Reading

• Qlik unveils roadmap for analytics, data integration tools

  The vendor plans to increase its connectivity to SaaS applications so users can integrate data from more sources and to add new APIs for embedded BI and automation.  Continue Reading

• Overrated and underrated trends in analytics

  Strong data governance frameworks are seemingly always underrated, while new data architectures such as data mesh and the promise of automated machine learning might be overrated.  Continue Reading

• Experts predict NLP to be biggest BI trend this year

  Given the advancements in chatbot technologies like the recent launch of ChatGPT, industry watchers expect analytics vendors to prioritize natural language query and analysis.  Continue Reading

• Expert advice on how to start with self-service analytics

  In addition to an easy-to-use BI platform, keys to developing a successful data culture driven by business analysts include a data catalog, executive support and good training.  Continue Reading

• Data governance, AI among the past year's analytics trends

  Organizations recognized data governance as an enabler of self-service BI and a way to keep data safe as well as that AI is best used to augment humans rather than replace them.  Continue Reading

• AWS analytics tools help French utility go green

  The cloud computing giant's suite enabled Engie SA to transition away from fossil fuels and now helps the French utility manage a network of renewable energy sources.  Continue Reading

• Mortgage data vendor uses Qlik to build analytics platform

  Polygon Research used tools from the analytics vendor to develop a SaaS platform consisting of nine dashboards that mortgage specialists can use to inform decisions.  Continue Reading

• What makes up an analytics pipeline?

  Analytics pipelines were traditionally hidden away, but they're changing as more organizations focus on agility for their data. Learn what makes up a successful analytics pipeline.  Continue Reading

• Election campaigns recognize need for analytics in politics

  Candidates are now using data to build profiles of potential voters and target their outreach in much the same way enterprises use BI tools to personalize marketing efforts.  Continue Reading

• Modernizing talent one of the keys to analytics success

  Adding a chief data officer, hiring data engineers and implementing a data literacy program are crucial aspects of reaching a desired level of data maturity.  Continue Reading

• Marketing agency uses Looker to build data platform, grow

  When overhauling its analytics operations, a digital marketing agency turned to analytics vendor Looker's tools to build data marts and enable self-service exploration and analysis.  Continue Reading

• Accounting giant boosts efficiency with Alteryx automation

  Two years after starting a pilot program with the data and analytics vendor, the accounting firm has saved more than 100,000 work hours by automating repetitive tasks.  Continue Reading

• Ricoh modernizes its analytics with Qlik

  The information management and digital services company is beginning to develop a data culture, and the BI vendor's platform has enabled new efficiencies.  Continue Reading

• Intersport boosts analytics, marketing efficiency with Knime

  Using the BI vendor's platform, the sporting goods retailer has reduced staff needed to attend to data, decreased time to build data workflows and improved marketing campaigns.  Continue Reading

• Automation, more security and governance next big BI trends

  As many data preparation and management tasks get automated, insight generation and action are the next likely targets for automation. Another key trend is more data governance.  Continue Reading

• 5 business analytics trends that shaped the start of 2022

  While AI and machine learning capabilities continue to evolve, another major movement in BI so far in 2022 has been to enable users to take action directly from insights.  Continue Reading

• Databricks platform fuels analytics at State Department

  The vendor's AI and machine learning capabilities have enabled the government agency to improve the effectiveness of its data analysis technology and its overall efficiency.  Continue Reading

• LA County modernizes hiring with Azure and Databricks

  The HR department of the largest U.S. county revamped its analytics stack in order to help reduce hiring times that often took more than a year.  Continue Reading

• Scottish EPA rebuilds with Tibco Spotfire after cyber attack

  After almost all of the agency's data and analytics tools were wiped out, it survived and then thrived using the analytics platform to fuel data-driven decision-making.  Continue Reading

• Qlik fuels solar equipment maker IronRidge's insights

  The manufacturer is using the analytics vendor's platform to harness both internal and external data and inform decision-making throughout the solar firm's partner network.  Continue Reading

• Baseball's Rangers seek analytics edge with Tableau

  Although the game's governing body provides comprehensive stats, the franchise is using the analytics vendor's tools to deliver digestible daily reports to gain a competitive edge.  Continue Reading

• HP deriving value from data with ThoughtSpot

  After experimenting with a variety of BI platforms, the computer giant found success with the analytics vendor's platform given its ability to handle scale.  Continue Reading

• How IT departments enable analytics operations

  IT departments enable analytics in organizations by ensuring that the data architecture is in place, including tools, processes and procedures.  Continue Reading

• Sound business process architecture requires key traits

  Business processes require a coherent enterprise-level architecture. In this excerpt from his new book, Roger Burlton identifies key traits business processes should share.  Continue Reading

• Databricks fuels analytics for Spain's top soccer league

  After prioritizing data-driven decision-making over the last decade, LaLiga is now using Databricks to inform its clubs and fans about play on the field.  Continue Reading

• ESPN improves app performance with Domo analytics tools

  The sports broadcasting giant is using a customer care application developed with the analytics vendor's tools to improve its app performance and streaming capabilities.  Continue Reading

• Seeking truth in crisis times shows importance of metadata

  Metadata gives context to data, and during crises like the war in Ukraine when it's difficult to know what news to trust, context can help distinguish truth from fiction.  Continue Reading

• Sisense analytics tools spur growth at Hastings Mutual

  The insurance company is using the BI vendor's tools to improve data-driven decision-making efficiency and identify sales opportunities leading to revenue growth.  Continue Reading

• Good data-driven decision-making avoids common pitfalls

  Avoiding cognitive biases that can lead to the use of incomplete or inaccurate data is crucial to the successful use of analytics.  Continue Reading

• Crate & Barrel modernizes with MicroStrategy BI platform

  The home decor chain added governance capabilities and sped time-to-insight by adopting the longtime analytics vendor's platform after 14 years using a legacy system.  Continue Reading

• Trusted data key to MicroStrategy platform plans

  The vendor plans to add new capabilities this year that will provide AI-generated guidance to better enable self-service users to take action using governed data.  Continue Reading

• HomeToGo turns data into action with Sisu analytics platform

  Slowed by a rising volume of data, the vacation rental vendor adopted the startup analytics vendor's platform to speed time-to-insight and fuel its product and marketing decisions.  Continue Reading

• Tableau dashboard tips and tricks from an expert author

  In this excerpt from his new book on using Tableau CRM, data expert Mark Tossell takes readers step by step through best practices for dashboard creation.  Continue Reading

• Data preparation in machine learning: 6 key steps

  Trustworthy analytics outcomes depend on the right data, requiring data scientists to focus on these steps when they prepare data for use in machine learning applications.  Continue Reading

• 8 analytics startups to watch over the next year

  Differentiation is key to the success of any new enterprise, and a crop of analytics vendors are delivering new capabilities to try to distinguish themselves.  Continue Reading

• Experts lay out data illiteracy's dangers, propose remedies

  In this excerpt from their new book 'Data Literacy,' top data management experts Peter Aiken and Todd Harbour outline a new way to gauge data learnedness.  Continue Reading

• 7 top predictive analytics use cases: Enterprise examples

  Across industries, companies are using predictive analytics to forecast future trends and actions. Learn about the most popular use cases for predictive analytics in 2022.  Continue Reading

• Harness the power of data literacy through democratizing data

  Author Jordan Morrow weighs in on enterprise strategies to improve democratizing data through expanded use of BI and augmented analytics.  Continue Reading

• Data literacy aids democratization of data

  In this excerpt from 'Be Data Literate,' author Jordan Morrow discusses how 'hyped' area of analytics such as BI and embedded analytics contribute to the democratization of data.  Continue Reading

• Data the difference at Olympics for Allyson Felix

  Frustrated after winning silver in the 200 meters at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, the sprinter used analytics to identify weaknesses and alter her training before winning gold in 2012.  Continue Reading

• Feeding America, Tableau use data to fight hunger together

  The nonprofit has partnered with the Tableau Foundation since 2015, and it is enabling its network of food banks to make data-driven decisions with the analytics vendor's tools.  Continue Reading

• QuickSight Q a potential winner for Amazon BI platform

  Since its introduction in 2016, Amazon QuickSight has offered solid but not top-of-market BI capabilities. The addition of a new natural language query tool could change that.  Continue Reading

• Knowing the right data enrichment techniques is crucial

  In 'The Enrichment Game,' the latest book by 'Data Guy' Doug Needham, you'll learn why and how to cull data to gain valuable insights and a business advantage.  Continue Reading

• Alation: How to develop a data governance framework

  Data governance should keep organizations from violating regulations while fostering data exploration and decision-making, but developing a strong set of guidelines is nuanced.  Continue Reading

• New Balance managing the pandemic with Tibco Spotfire

  New Balance, a manufacturer and seller of athletic shoes and apparel whose in-store sales plummeted due to the pandemic, used Tibco's BI tools to develop its e-commerce strategy.  Continue Reading

• Uplevel analytics tools lift software engineering efficiency

  Uplevel, a startup vendor whose focus is on improving the efficiency of software engineers, unveiled a set of new capabilities that use data to monitor software design projects.  Continue Reading

• Future of analytics will close gap between data, decisions

  As data increases in complexity and volume, a gap is growing between data intake and data-driven decision-making that analytics tools will need to address and aim to close.  Continue Reading

• Oracle Analytics helps Northwell Health meet staffing needs

  In need of an efficient way to determine staffing needs when the pandemic struck, Northwell Health got help with an Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management dashboard.  Continue Reading

• Dresner: Top analytics trend remains rate of adoption

  Increased investment in analytics and proliferation of data science capabilities are among the most significant ongoing trends in BI as the pandemic stretches into late 2021.  Continue Reading

• How to structure and manage a data science team

  Data science teams typically include various analytics and data professionals and can be set up in different ways, as explained here along with tips on managing them.  Continue Reading

• Data science vs. machine learning vs. AI: How they work together

  Data science, machine learning and AI are central to analytics and other enterprise uses. Here's what each involves and how combining them benefits organizations.  Continue Reading

• 8 top data science applications and use cases for businesses

  Data scientists engage in various applications to analyze data and create technologies. These are eight common ones, with examples from different organizations and industries.  Continue Reading

• 14 most in-demand data science skills you need to succeed

  The demand for data scientists continues to grow, but the job requires a combination of technical and soft skills. Here are 14 key skills for effective data scientists.  Continue Reading

• How to increase the success rate of data science projects

  Most data science initiatives don't produce value due to obstacles like poor data quality, but CNN senior lead of product analytics Bryce Macher has a plan for success.  Continue Reading

• Metals manufacturer uses Sisu analytics tools to spur growth

  In need of identifying repeat business opportunities, startup metals manufacturer Fractory used Sisu's platform to automate complex data queries and develop key metrics.  Continue Reading

• MicroStrategy analytics platform helps Medibank add value

  An Australian insurance company recently migrated its data operations to the cloud and, using MicroStrategy and AWS, has reaped benefits including improved efficiency.  Continue Reading

• Embedded analytics leads to improved productivity

  With many enterprises still in the early stages of using AI technologies, embedded BI remains a key means of making data accessible to a broad array of potential users.  Continue Reading

• Enabling collaboration a rising analytics trend

  A proliferation of tools that enable collaboration is an emerging trend among BI vendors as 2021 passes its midpoint. Adding AI capabilities, meanwhile, remains a major trend.  Continue Reading

• Top trends include value of analytics getting recognized

  The high valuations investors are placing on data and analytics vendors, as well as the importance of AI and self-service BI amid the pandemic, marked the first half of 2021.  Continue Reading

• Data and analytics key to ensuring water quality

  In an interview, Meena Sankaran, founder and CEO of water intelligence vendor Ketos, discusses water safety and how data can help monitor water quality and prevent problems.  Continue Reading

• Top 5 benefits of augmented analytics

  Learn how augmented analytics helps make companies more agile by expanding employee access to data and speeding the decision-making process -- all while saving costs.  Continue Reading

• Consider unique business needs when hiring a data scientist

  The experience and educational requirements common to data scientist roles have changed rapidly in recent years. Here's how to hire the right data scientist for your business.  Continue Reading

• Does hiring a freelance data scientist make sense for you?

  Enterprises need to make the right hiring choices when it comes to supporting their data projects. Here are some reasons your company may or may not consider hiring a freelancer.  Continue Reading

• Citizen data scientist training for augmented analytics

  Augmented analytics have made data analysis more accessible and led to the rise of citizen data scientists. But using these tools still require extensive training.  Continue Reading

• Tips to prep for a data science interview

  Interviewing is an important first step toward a data science job. Here's advice for what questions to expect and how a little research can help with the technical screening.  Continue Reading

• Tableau analytics capabilities aid World Food Programme

  The United Nations' World Food Programme is now using Tableau to inform its decision-making process and speed the time it takes to respond to crises worldwide.  Continue Reading

• Election data revolutionizes the running of campaigns

  Political campaigns used to rely primarily on polls to inform decisions, but with advances in technology over the past 15 years they are now using advanced analytics techniques.  Continue Reading