The best business intelligence software out there analyzes data and provides visual analytics in order to help businesses make good decisions that will move their company forward. Rather than guessing what the right move is or working solely off objective data, the best BI tools give businesses clear insights into how their performance is based on a number of data sources and key performance indicators.
Continue reading through this business intelligence tools list for a business intelligence tools comparison to help you discover which could be the best business intelligence tool for you.
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What is Business Intelligence Platform?
A business intelligence (BI) platform or business analytic software can help entities collect, organize, sort, and analyze data that they accumulate both internally and externally.
Read More: Best Small Business Accounting Software 2023
What Do Business Intelligence Platforms Do?
Business analytics software aims to help organizations use the data that’s available to them to make better and more data-driven decisions. This can include the analysis of both structured and unstructured data, though business intelligence solutions are aimed at providing actionable insights and supporting better decision-making.
7 Best Business Intelligence Platforms 2023
Zoho
- Simple to use
- Good data integration from other platforms
- Flexible reports and customizable dashboards
Microsoft Power BI
- Very powerful data analytics
- Easy to use and highly intuitive
- Great visualization of data
Tableau
- Easy to use drag and drop filters
- Customizable dashboard
- Good pricing for business users
Sisense
- Good for businesses of all sizes
- Available on-premise, cloud, or hybrid
- Great customer service
IBM Cognos
- Great data analysis and visualization
- Good reporting features based on natural language processing
- Easy installation
Oracle EPM
- Great for analyzing data and making predictions and forecasts
- Good reporting tools on data sets
- Very user-friendly business intelligence (BI) platform
Dundas BI
- 25-day free trial
- Great data visualization and dashboard
- This analytics platform is easily customizable
Top 7 Best Business Intelligence Platforms January 2023
Zoho
Zoho analytics helps users analyze large data sets from multiple data sources all at once so they can complete analytical tasks and visualize the data in a way that provides them with crucial insights for their company.
- Simple to use
- Good data integration from other platforms
- Flexible reports and customizable dashboards
- The many features and options available can be overwhelming
- Many users indicate there is a learning curve to getting started
- Limited queries
Many consider Zoho analytics the top BI tool, especially given the cost value of their platform. Users can easily form visualizations for data and display relevant information on dashboards for quick and easy access.
Essentially, users get the information they need on-demand in a way that is simple and easy without any technical knowledge or assistance. They even have support for mobile phones and can be deployed either on-premise or via the cloud.
Microsoft Power BI
Microsoft Power BI is a great platform with nice usability, great visualization of data, and easy integration and compatibility with other Microsoft programs.
- Very powerful data analytics
- Easy to use and highly intuitive
- Great visualization of data
- The refresh cycle is limited to the free version.
- Data prep tools are divided between desktop and browser versions.
This program offers great cost value for users, especially given the power behind the Microsoft brand name, easy integration with other Microsoft programs, and powerful data analytics features.
Plus, many note the easy-to-use and very beginner-friendly interface that doesn’t require a ton of background knowledge in order to get value from the program. There is a free version of the program, though there are plenty of other account types to scale up with larger enterprises.
Tableau
Tableau is a great business intelligence tool that helps enterprises with data visualization and deep analytics. All in all, the platform aims to provide users with the business data they need to make informed decisions.
- Easy to use drag and drop filters
- Customizable dashboard for data analysis
- Good pricing
- Loading speeds can be delayed compared to other BI tools
- Basic functions are easy to grasp but to get full functionality, it takes a slight learning curve
Tableau is a platform that provides great analytics to users for better business decision-making. The program can pull data from a number of different sources to provide users with real-time information in a way that is intuitive and provides great insights.
Some of their great features include a drag-and-drop filter, natural language queries, and more. Plus, it’s easy to customize dashboards, so users get exactly what they need from the platform.
Sisense
Sisense is a widely used business intelligence tool to provide end-to-end data analytics for business users. From data discovery to analysis, Sisense is available to large teams through its embeddable and scalable architecture.
- Good for businesses of all sizes
- Available on-premise, cloud, or hybrid
- Great customer service
- Some of the visualization and modeling can be complex
- New updates and feature releases can lack adequate training
Sisense is a very powerful business intelligence software that can help teams to analyze and collect data at all levels. Its back end is powered by in-chip technology, which powers the use of large datasets that originate from a number of different sources.
The data visualization capabilities of this BI tool are great for users of all skill levels, including reports, dashboards, and more, to help teams improve business performance with this BI software.
IBM Cognos
IBM Cognos Analytics is a self-service and web-based platform to help users at all levels get the insights they need from data mining, interactive reports, KPI tracking, and more.
- Great data analysis and visualization
- Good reporting features based on natural language processing
- Easy installation
- Many users wish there was more training for features
- The cost is on the higher end
IBM Cognos is an effective BI tool for data discovery and visualization. You don’t need to be an IT expert or data analyst in order to find value from this platform, as they provide simple-to-understand reports that are shareable and packed full of insights.
This is one of the top business intelligence tools, and it integrates with Watson Analytics, powered by IBM’s AI and natural language processing for simple use.
Oracle EPM
Oracle’s business intelligence reporting tools provide very valuable insights to users, especially given its data analysis process and visual data analytics features.
- Great for analyzing data and making predictions and forecasts
- Good reporting tools on data sets
- Very user-friendly business intelligence (BI) platform
- Pricing is not as affordable as on other platforms.
- Many users report poor customer service experiences
- Technical problems and bugs are frequent issues compared to other BI tools
Oracle EPM is AI-powered and offers very strong reporting and business analytics to its users. There are a number of different data visualizations, reporting, and embedded analytics that data analysts and other team members can take advantage of rather than creating or analyzing their own data models by hand.
Dundas BI
Dundas provides business operations with real-time and predictive analytics on its interactive dashboards to help teams make the best decisions for their organizations, both currently and in the future.
- 25-day free trial
- Great visualization of data and dashboard
- This analytics platform is easily customizable
- Not a lot of training included to better understand the features
- Loading large amounts of data can be slow
Dundas is the last business intelligence software that we’ll highlight on this list. As a BI software, it is very beneficial to remote teams and smaller enterprises without a large technology stack because it operates in-browser.
With HTML5, users can create custom visualizations and user-friendly dashboards. Users like that they can analyze both text and location-based data to get actionable business insights from its interactive data visualization. Plus, they can forecast trends and business performance using statistical analysis and what-if models.
Benefits of Using a BI Platform?
Here are some of the top reasons why you’d want to use a BI platform to make decisions for your business.
Data Centralized
BI software allows you to compile data access in just one place with data integration of raw data from multiple sources like Microsoft Excel or a data warehouse.
Self-Sufficiency
These tools support online analytical processing in a way that allows the team to quickly and efficiently utilize their own data to make good business decisions for the future. They don’t have to rely on other providers or external advisors to get these insights.
Make Predictions
BI tools use existing data internally and externally to make forecasts and predictions for where business performance will be in the coming periods so businesses can best prepare. Data sources can vary, giving users a more accurate vision of what the future holds.
Automated Reporting
BI tools can also handle automated reporting to give you constant insights and clear direction as to how your business is performing. Team members no longer need to do this by hand.
Lowers Business Expenses
A good self-service BI can help your team become more efficient, be an all-in-one platform for transforming data and other business processes, and act more quickly, which can cut down on costs.
Final Thoughts
BI platforms can help businesses become more efficient and make better decisions for their company based on the data that’s accessible to them. With the best programs, users of all skill sets will be able to gather insights and important information from visualizations, graphics, and reports, all in one place.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
It is another type of BI tool, though it was not featured on this list.
These are single on-demand questions or requests in a database written in a query language. They are outside regular or pre-defined queries.
