Why Business Intelligence and IT Consultancy are More Important Than Ever

When it comes to technology, Business Intelligence (BI) is an important form of currency. Although there is no official exchange rate, any enterprise that knows the most about themselves and their environment, is the richest. But how do you increase your BI? We believe that strategic IT consultancy can help you do just that.

Business Intelligence (BI) applications are becoming increasingly valuable. It’s a $15 billion global market on the forefront of the revolutions in Big Data and business analytics. Both are driven by effective IT consultancy.

It has been predicted that the value of BI will grow even greater. In fact, the global business intelligence market is supposed to grow by over 30 percent by 2018 to reach a value of approximately $20 billion.

There are a few reasons for this. Many of which can be harnessed by essential IT consulting services. Here’s why:

1. The Information Universe Will Never Stop Growing

The data universe currently contains about four and a half trillion gigabytes of data. In six years, ten times that amount of data will exist. Simply put, humans need a lot of help to sort through it all. That’s where IT consultants come in. They equip modern enterprises with the right tools to harness the value contained in those trillions of gigabytes.

Similarly, the proliferation of information means that the gap between companies that adopt cutting-edge, intelligent BI practices and those who don’t, will only grow wider. In a nutshell, those with great IT consultants at their disposal will undoubtedly increase their BI far more than those who go at it alone.

2. Many Companies Are Blowing It

Approximately three out of every four Business Intelligence projects fail to meet their goals. That success rate is staggeringly low, which is scary for any IT professional, from project manager to CIO, considering a new BI implementation or strategy.
It also means that successful BI projects don’t just keep pace with the competition. Because of the difficult nature of BI initiative management, well-managed BI deployments put companies light years ahead of the competition.
It might be cynical to think of the market this way, but each company that throws millions of dollars at unsuccessful BI projects opens the door a little wider for companies that know what they’re doing.

This makes external IT consultancy a vital component for enterprises to get an unbiased approach to implementing BI projects. With a fresh approach and the right technical know-how, they’ll be more likely to succeed with BI strategies. It also ensures that you’ll gain those coveted few steps ahead of your competition.

3. Self-Service BI Means Relevant BI

BI tools are not just becoming more powerful; they’re becoming more customisable, too. The best BI applications provide analysts, project managers and even CIOs with the functionality to create their own reports. Good Business Intelligence allows users to organise data into a virtually unlimited number of arrangements. Don’t like the out-of-the-box metrics? Create your own.

However, the rapid growth and innovation rate in the BI space affects vendors in the same way it affects implementers. To put it crudely: a lot of Business Intelligence vendors sell utter rubbish. In addition to this, not every quality vendor will be a good fit for each and every business. A good IT consultant will help you determine which vendors are worth putting resources into and how best to utilise their solutions. This is something that’s equally hard to do with persuasive marketing at its current peak.

4. Analytics Are Better than Ever

When it comes to making decisions based off Business Intelligence, quality comes first. But second—and not that far behind, either—is speed. In fact, how fast a business or IT leader makes decisions directly impacts the effectiveness of those decisions.
Of the companies that adopt analytics, 75 percent report that the use of analytics led to faster decision making. But that’s not the only benefit: 78 percent of company-wide implementations resulted in lower costs, increased productivity and risk reduction.
That’s the reason the buzz-phrase ‘fast data’ keeps appearing. It’s easy to get caught up in the buzz-heavy culture of corporate IT. In this situation, the phrase merely acts as a plaque for something that has always been important: speedy, reliable decisions. With the right guidance from an IT consulting firm, your BI decisions could be even more effective and made much faster too.

BI and IT go hand-in-hand

In terms of innovation and market value, the horizons of Business Intelligence are expanding in the hands of great IT.  For more on how our specialists and consultants at Conosco can make your BI goals a tangible reality, get in touch with us today.