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Sunday, July 01, 2018

SELF-SERVICE BI


SELF-SERVICE BI

In the early 2000’s the IT sector was facing an issue of report backlog. Report backlog problem arises when the data needs to be analysed by business users who are not so apt in technical or statistical concepts. This led to the rise of self-service BI tools in the market which really helped the sector solve the report backlog issues to some degree. These tools made analysts more self-dependent with minor help from IT department and hence it was easier for analysts to develop insights on data with such tools. Today’s era is considered the era of schema free data where the business analyst find it more quicker to work by themselves and not have to rely on the traditional process that has been followed before of schema development and developing an appropriate structure right and so this helps analysts explore data almost immediately. Because self-service BI software is used by people who may not be tech-savvy, it is imperative that the user interface(U I) for BI software be intuitive, with a dashboard and navigation that is user-friendly. Ideally, training should be provided to help users understand what data is available and how that information can be queried to make data-driven decisions to solve business problems, but once the IT department has set up the data warehouse and data mart that support the business intelligence system, business users should be able to query the data and create personalized reports with very little effort.


For example, casual BI users who are apt in IT skills, only need to be able to filter and categorize data. In a similar environment, power BI adapters or business analysts might have to merge local data from diverse sources on their own so they can quickly build or enhance existing reports. Therefore, the need for self-service within a BI environment varies depending on the user’s profile in an organization.
            The requirements of business may range from basic analysis to complex dashboards. 
These requirements can be categorized as below:
1. Modification of reports and dashboards
Self-service business intelligence tools enable business analysts work on reports and dashboards. It is easier to filter and produce visual reports highlighting the key indicators in the most insightful way. Furthermore, reports can easily be adapted. The self-service tools in this way, provide users with a optimum level of flexibility in the visualization and analysis of reports.
2. Creation of Ad Hoc Reports and Dashboards
With new predictive tools, it is easier for business analysts to work on reports with predetermined report templates. They can create ad hoc reports and dashboards which will further help business clients understand the business model with better visualization.
3. Integration of Private, Local Data
     Another complex part of the self-service BI is merging private data and local data with the existing report prototype. This data maybe from any source with software’s like Alteryx they can be mapped to any report or dashboard. Self-service functions help business users to quickly integrate data into reports. Local data can be used to extend the information delivered by the data warehouse limiting the pressure and workload on data management.
      4. Modification or Creation of Data Models
With better visualization capabilities and being able to connect to any kind of databases, self-service BI tools must enable business analysts to prepare their own models with the most flexible interface. The business analysts can thus also act as business data modelers, who don’t have to depend on the 

Why is self-service BI important?
In most of the organizations today, business intelligence is used for a central data warehouse or data marts. Moreover, the process, design and software solutions that have been considered best practice in data warehousing for a long time are now are suddenly not sufficient to meet the developing needs of major organizations recently.
One of the major reasons why companies growingly adopt self-service solutions is to address the challenge of business departments to have access to data and information anytime and anywhere. To stay ahead in the brutal competition, companies need to act rapidly on new insights based on analytics. Traditional BI models, still suitable for minor operations, cannot offer the level of ease and efficiency that rapidly changing environment demands. 

Changes in Self-service BI since last year:
·      While consultants and vendors see self-service BI as slightly more important, the figures for business and IT users remain unchanged.
·      In financial services and utilities, there is an increase in importance, but we are seeing a decrease in the manufacturing and public sectors.
·      While the importance of self-service BI is rising in South America and Europe, it is falling in North America.
·      There is a major increase in importance in Eastern Europe and France.

·        The Adoption Rate Is StagnatingSurprisingly, over the last few years, the adoption rate of self-service BI hasn’t changed – despite about 15 percent of BI Survey respondents saying every year they will implement self-service BI over the next 12 months. The percentage of respondents using self-service BI tools has remained unchanged at about 55 percent since 2014.This is rather unexpected considering the high level of importance companies attach to self-service BI. But the reason for this is probably mostly a labeling issue. Since most solutions now support self-service BI use cases and the marketing buzz around it has faded, many users are using these kinds of functions on a regular basis and perhaps aren’t aware of the term self-service BI.Surprisingly, over the last few years, the adoption rate of self-service BI hasn’t changed – despite about 15 percent of BI Survey respondents saying every year they will implement self-service BI over the next 12 months. The percentage of respondents using self-service BI tools has remained unchanged at about 55 percent since 2014.
This is rather unexpected considering the high level of importance companies attach to self-service BI. But the reason for this is probably mostly a labeling issue. Since most solutions now support self-service BI use cases and the marketing buzz around it has faded, many users are using these kinds of functions on a regular basis and perhaps aren’t aware of the term self-service BI.

References:
https://bi-survey.com/self-service-bi

NOTE:The views expressed here are those of the author's and not necessarily represent or reflect the views of DoT Club as a whole.