Top Business Intelligence Platforms of 2024 [with Features]

The strategic, tactical, and operational business decisions of a company are directly impacted by Business intelligence. BI encourages using historical data to promote fact-based decision-making instead of assumptions and intuition. 

Data analysis is carried out by business intelligence platform tools, which also produce reports, summaries, dashboards, maps, graphs, and charts to give users a thorough understanding of the nature of the business. Learn all about Business Intelligence and Visualization training and earn business intelligence certifications.  

What is Business Intelligence (BI)?

Business intelligence (BI) is the collective name for a set of processes, systems, and technologies that turn raw data into knowledge that can be used to operate enterprises profitably. 

Business intelligence solutions comBIne technology and strategy for gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data from internal and external sources. The goal is to provide information and analytics about the subject under consideration's past, present, and future state. 

It is a group of resources and services for turning data into usable knowledge and information. Descriptive analytics, performance benchmarking, process analysis, and data mining fall under the business intelligence (BI) umbrella. A company's data is organized into manageable reports, performance measures, and trends using business intelligence (BI). The need for BI was motivated by the notion that managers will frequently make worse decisions than they would if they had better information. 

What is a Business Intelligence Platform/Software?

Now that we have looked at What business intelligence is? We can further ponder upon, What is a Business intelligence platform? Business intelligence platform (BI) software helps organizations gather, understand, and display data. A company's business intelligence plan, which explains how the firm will use data to enhance decision-making, is built on this foundation. 

The Power BI platform is a group of software services, applications, and connections that comBIne to transform your disparate data sources into coherent, engaging visuals, and interactive insights. 

To say there might have been better options would be putting it mildly. Thanks to this business intelligence software, businesses can compete in today's data-rich world by using their data as a competitive advantage. Microsoft Power BI, SAP Business Projects, Looker, Tableau, and Qlik Sense are some of BI platform examples.  

Top 13 Recommended BI Platforms with Features

The best BI platforms will be covered in the paragraphs that follow. Although Google deserves a spot on our list, we're talking about the best business intelligence platforms list created specifically for enterprise enterprises. 

1. Google Marketing Platform (Enterprise)

The entire set of analytics and optimization tools known as Google Marketing Platform was created by Google to assist you in raising the effectiveness of your website and Google Ads campaign. 

This includes Data Studio, Google Analytics, and various other tools, many of which have highly functional free versions similar to Google Analytics. 

However, the fully comprehensive suite of marketing tools created to provide you with a 360-degree perspective of your online presence is only available in the commercial version of the Google Marketing Platform. Some features of Google BI platforms are advanced analysis, 24/7 emergency support, and implementation support.  

2. Microsoft Power BI

Our first business intelligence platform in this post is Microsoft Power BI, and there are no points awarded for figuring out what the "BI" stands for. 

Microsoft Power BI takes a more comprehensive approach to company performance, whatever that means for your organization, in contrast to Google Marketing Platform, which concentrates on website and marketing performance. The Microsoft BI platform features are real-time reporting, predictive analytics, and AI diagnostics.  

3. Oracle Analytics Cloud

Oracle Analytics Cloud is one of the most powerful AI-driven systems available, which brings us back to genuine analytics. 

With the help of the company's "augmented analytics," you can ask natural-language inquiries and receive informative responses while also applying thoughtful data preparation. Some of the best features of oracle analytics cloud are augmented analytics, data discovery, and natural language processing.  

4. Qlik

A variety of data analysis tools are available from Qlik, a developer of data intelligence software. The company's two main products are QlikSense, an integrated analytics and business intelligence platform, and QlikView, a standalone analytics tool. QLik sense, QLik insight Bot, and QlikView offer some offered features.    

5. Tableau

One of the first businesses to offer a self-service business intelligence and analytics platform was Tableau. There is a significant learning curve to overcome if you want to make the most of this platform because it continues to be one of the most well-known and comprehensive brands in the industry. This platform covers essential features such as analytics, VIzQL, and collaboration. Tableau Public is an open source BI platform of Tableau that enables users to share and explore data visualizations publicly online. 

6. IBM Cognos Analytics

The upgrade to Cognos Business Intelligence is IBM Cognos Analytics, which adds new cloud functionality, a web-based user interface, cognitive guidance, and data visualization tools. 

This platform is AI-powered, and Cognos Analytics is a true example of a platform from a true leader in data intelligence. As well as external data from third-party sources like market reports and government statistics, you can feed in data from third-party analytics tools like Google Analytics and CRM platforms like ActiveCampaign. Essential features include custom dashboards, animated stories, and conversational speech.  

7. Sisense

Sisense, formerly known as Periscope Data, is an API-first cloud platform that enables you to create your analytics apps. This is a toolbox for developing analytics software for your company or clients or offering it as a product rather than an analytics platform ready to use. Essential features include Embed, Mashup, and analyze.   

8. SAP Analytics Cloud

You can quickly transform data into insights using the enterprise business intelligence platform and advanced analytics technology SAP Analytics Cloud. Given its status as one of the complete all-in-one analytics and BI systems available currently, the platform requires some getting accustomed to. Some key features include business intelligence, enterprise planning, and analytics application.     

9. TIBCO Spotfire

You may see data and reports using the search-oriented analytics platform TIBCO Spotfire. The platform's integrated artificial intelligence engine can forecast performance, do predictive analytics, and provide recommendations. 

TIBCO Spitfire is included in this post due to its extensive functionality. Still, it is far simpler to use than most enterprise-level analytics and BI systems because of its superb drag-and-drop builder and intuitive UI design. Essential features of this software include real-time analytics, intelligent visual analytics, and predictive analysis.     

10. Looker

Looker is a data discovery platform entirely browser-based and interacts with any SQL database or data warehouse. Due to its infrastructure, Looker can be installed much more quickly than local BI platforms that rely on desktop applications and possibly local servers. 

Looker also features a proprietary data modeling language called LookML that will simplify life for customers with little to no expertise working with SQL databases. Its features include integrated insights, data-driven workflows, and custom applications.  

11. QlikView

Our traditional guided analytics and business intelligence platform is QlikView. You can quickly create and distribute interactive-driven analytics applications and dashboards with QlikView. You can discover your insights by posing and addressing your questions. You can make decisions with the help of your coworkers. The proprietary Associative Engine, which creates new views of data on the fly, is the heart of QlikView. Data is compressed by QlikView and stored in memory, where numerous users can immediately explore it. QlikView links directly to the data source in cases where data sets are too BIg to fit in memory. 

12. Hubble

A complete tool for managing financial performance is Hubble. The solution is cloud-based, but it can also be installed on-site. Applications for planning, budgeting, analytics, and financial reporting are included in this system. 

In Hubble's planning and forecasting application, users can plan, monitor, and create budget reports. Once the budget reports are authorized, users can transfer the budget data to ERP. 

In addition to tracking company KPIs and performance indicators that ERP supports, Hubble's financial analytics program offers access to pre-built templates, customizable dashboards, and more. 

13. Sisense for Cloud Data Teams

Sisense for Cloud Data Teams, formerly Periscope Data, is a data analytics software product. It interacts efficiently with the Sisense platform and provides advanced analytics to teams working with cloud-based data with actionable insights. It offers a single, coherent interface for users to store, arrange, organize, analyze, and visualize all of their data for better decision-making. With or without coding experience, it enables users of all types to develop, consume, and share insights intuitively.  

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Trends in Business Intelligence Platforms 

Even though many firms are still recovering from the previous two years' events, others can meet and exceed expectations. Regardless of where a company is on this continuum, business intelligence is one of the essential technological enablers assisting organizations in methodically navigating this unforeseen transformation and ensuring business continuity. Given below are some of the critical Business intelligence platform trends: 

• Clouds Analytics 
• Unified Data management and analytics 
• Augmented Analytics 
• Data storytelling 
• Business Activity Monitoring 
• Embedded Business Intelligence 

How to Choose the Best BI Platform 

With so many options to choose from, it becomes challenging to pick a platform that best fits your organization and one that grows your corporate business needs. Given below are some tips to help you make the best choice for your business intelligence platform tools: 

1. Choose a well-known and authorized Business intelligence platform

Be careful to select a corporation whose primary goal is to enable people to be data-driven as you compare business intelligence platforms. Be careful to choose a corporation whose primary goal is to allow people to be data-driven as you compare business intelligence platforms software application.  

2. Choose a distinct platform that helps you meet your organizational demand

Business intelligence solutions should evolve to keep up with new technological developments and user creativity. It would help if you did so to scale your platform as your business expands.    

Why Do Organizations Need BI Platforms?

With BI platform capability for almost real-time sales tracking, users may learn more about client behavior and estimate revenues, among other things. Many diverse businesses, including retail, insurance, and the oil industry, have embraced BI. BI platforms change to accommodate new technology and user innovation. 

1. Data storage for business intelligence

You'll typically need three levels of accessible data storage for your business intelligence solutions: primary data storage, data warehouse/historical storage, and analytical databases. You will also need an ETL tool to transport data between each tier. 

2. Analyzing Big data with BI

It is critical to consider the studies the provided data can facilitate. Users of a BI system should be able to look deeper into the data when metrics change unexpectedly. Modern BI tools allow users to update and add to previous queries to improve their data comprehension. Another feature that makes analysis and exploration easier is dashboard-level filters that can simultaneously affect many charts. 

3. Data mining

Business intelligence can be viewed as having its roots in data mining. Data is frequently unstructured and raw when it is first collected, making it difficult to make inferences. These complicated datasets are decoded by data mining, which then provides a cleaner version from which the business intelligence team can extract insights. 

4. Predictive analytics with business intelligence software

By extracting data from data sets to identify patterns and trends, predictive analytics software mines and analyzes historical data patterns to forecast future events. Business managers can use decision models created by analysts using predictive analytics solutions to plan for the optimal outcome using a variety of statistical analyses and algorithms. Analysts, business users, data scientists, and developers use predictive analytics software to understand consumers, partners, and products better and spot possible dangers and commercial possibilities. 

5. Natural language processing

The area of artificial intelligence known as natural language processing (NLP) enables computers to comprehend written and spoken words in a manner that is comparable to that of humans. Users can now access business information in new ways thanks to the technologies that BI companies have begun integrating into their solutions. Instead of manually digging through the data to find the answer, consider typing a question into your self-service BI or directly asking it, "Which product has generated the highest income this month?" 

6. Business intelligence software for corporate reporting

One of the top enterprise analytics and business intelligence platforms that produces visually appealing reports and dashboards. Cognos is a proprietary integrated BI solution that is web-based and was created by IBM. It provides a toolset for reporting and data analysis and aids enterprises in effectively gaining insights. 

7. Online analytical processing (OLAP)

This technology collects massive data from relational tables and reorganizes it into a multidimensional format to facilitate quick processing and illuminating data analysis. OLAP, the abbreviation for "online analytical processing," is a term. 

8. Data Visualization

Data visualization is the technique of graphically presenting information and data. Data visualization tools offer a quick technique for identifying and analyzing trends, outliers, and patterns in data by using visual elements like charts, graphs, and maps. It also gives staff members or business owners a fantastic tool for explaining data to non-technical audiences. 

In the world of BIg data, data visualization tools and technologies are essential for analyzing enormous amounts of data and making data-driven decisions. 

9. Dashboards

The ability to create and configure dashboards is one of a BI platform's most often utilized features. Individuals can develop and quickly alter modules, graphs, and charts. Dashboards might also be made available on different internal websites. You should pick a platform with self-service features to allow for easy access to data, the creation of analyses, and participation in developing an analytics culture within your organization. 

10. Alerts and notifications

Rule-based notifications and alerts tell you in real-time when something is happening, good or bad, instead of constantly checking your dashboard. 

11. Embedded analytics

Incorporating commercially accessible data analytics and visualization software into a piece of business software is known as embedded business intelligence (BI). Platforms for business intelligence software enable end users to access reporting and analytics within current applications. 

Even the most basic internal applications or commercial websites can become effective platforms for data analysis with embedded BI. Incorporating BI features into the firm's current software products can reduce end-user pushback and the learning curve rather than deploying a new BI platform to every end-user in the organization.

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Conclusion

Technology, customer expectations, and market conditions have made business intelligence crucial to competitive success. Even though business intelligence may have its roots in corporate management and decision-making, it has evolved into a notion that impacts all elements of your company. Business intelligence platforms can also help businesses make wise decisions by giving relevant data. 

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