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5 Questions To Ask Before Buying Business Intelligence Tool

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5 Questions To Ask Before Buying Business Intelligence Tool

As our society continues to push toward data driven solutions and decision making, our jobs are no exception. Most companies understand there is a need to be able to effectively leverage their data to drive decisions and process improvement.

Despite understanding the tremendous value of having a BI solution, many companies struggle with paralysis by analysis due to the number of solutions in the market place. After partnering with dozens of companies through their BI Platform selection process and implementation, here are the Top 5 questions to ensure making the right decision for your company:

What are my business needs?

Examples:

  • Do we have an Enterprise BI tool? If not, should we? According to Search Business Analytics BI can help answer the questions:

What happened?

When?

Who?

How many?

  • Am I filling a gap in my current BI tools? Lack of self service, dashboards, mobile, etc. Search Business Analytics suggests things to look for in a BI tool are:

Reporting (KPIs, metrics)

OLAP (Online Analytical Processing)

Dashboards

Scorecards

Ad Hoc Query

Automated Monitoring and Alerting

  • Do I need to lower the cost of my current tool(s)?

How do my stakeholders view technology?

“Know your audience”

Purchasing business intelligence software is no small matter; there are many options, with a lot to account for. Do we want the latest and greatest? Bleeding edge vs. tried and true? Always ensure that your purchase plans align with the values of the stakeholders. Check out Capterra to compare business intelligence software and choose the one that suits your stakeholders needs.

What is my timeline?

  • When do I need to have a solution selected? When do I need to be implemented?

What is my budget?

  • Do I have budget approval?
  • Will I need to roll out the solution in phases for budget purposes?
  • Who will be making the purchase decision? IT or Business or Both

How will this decision impact 1, 3, 5 years from now?

  • Despite my immediate needs, am I selecting a platform that will grow with my company as new business needs arise?
  • Is the software being enhanced by the vendor?

Once a company can answer these 5 questions, they are ready to purchase a BI Platform. Regardless if you are on question 1 or question 5, SplashBI is here to partner with you through your BI Platform selection and beyond!