10 Business Intelligence Tools to Consider
Business intelligence (BI) tools are software or tools that collect and process large amounts of unstructured data. Data sources can be both internal or external and can include documents, emails, images, social media posts, files, videos, books, journals, and more. BI tools find this information, gather it, and prepare it for analysis.
Most 2024 BI tools perform functions including data mining, performance management, data visualization, reporting, analytics, predictive analytics, text mining, and more. These actions provide employees with access to critical insights that enable them to make informed decisions based on key performance indicators, predictions, and market trends.
Benefits of business intelligence tools
For companies to stay ahead of rising competition, they need business intelligence tools. The platforms enable organizations to make smarter, more informed business decisions as well as manage and analyze business data. Additionally, BI tools help users visualize data which can help maximize revenue outcomes.
Arguably the greatest benefit of business intelligence tools is that they provide a solution designed specifically for your business. They offer solutions that can be customized for your company and are relevant to your specific business goals.
Additional benefits of business intelligence tools include:
- Data discovery: The amount of data available to businesses is constantly growing, making it difficult for employees to unearth potential opportunities. BI tools quickly and automatically gather data and centralize it in a single place. This makes it easy for users to access data, analyze it, and act on it.
- Self-service analytics: Rather than waiting for IT teams or technical personnel to create data reports, BI allows users of all technical skills to do so themselves. By democratizing data, employees can aid in decision-making and actively contribute to business growth and performance.
- Centralized data: Most businesses have data coming in from a myriad of sources, making it difficult for them to access all information. BI tools centralize data, providing a single source of truth.
- Automatic reports: Rather than manually entering data into an Excel spreadsheet to create a data report, most BI tools automate the process. Based on your specific criteria, the platform can automatically generate the report in minutes, saving valuable time.
- Data forecasting and predictions: Predictive analytics and forecasting tools enable organizations to proactively prepare for the future. If a business condition changes or an error occurs, organizations can more quickly react to the event and minimize the impact.
- Reduced business costs: BI tools can effectively analyze enormous amounts of data for any inefficiencies, errors, or discrepancies that negatively impact profit margins. The insights also help sales teams get better insights for future sales and determine where to spend budget in the future.
Top 10 best business intelligence tools to consider in 2024
1. Domo
Domo is a cloud-based, mobile business intelligence platform that enables organizations to get more from their data. The organization enables organizations to more effectively integrate, interpret, and report on data to drive decision making and action across the enterprise. Domo enhances an organization’s existing data warehouses and BI tools to build stunning data visualizations and custom business applications.
Key features:
The true power behind Domo lies in its user-friendly tools that serve both beginners and expert data analysts. Built-in data visualizations meet the majority of business intelligence needs and drive decision-making across the enterprise. Domo Bricks and a wide library of pre-built connectors enable organizations to connect to and integrate with existing data and turn it into custom visualizations. By seamlessly integrating data, Domo ensures your data ecosystem is interconnected, coherent, and error-free. As a result, you enhance the accuracy and reliability of your data insights.
Pros:
- Intuitive interface
- User-centric design
- Self-service data tools
- Extensive library of data connectors
- Seamless data integration
Cons:
- May be out of budget for start-ups or smaller businesses
2. SAP Business Objects
SAP Business Objects is an enterprise software solution that focuses on analytical business intelligence and reporting. The platform contains a myriad of reporting and analytical tools that enable users to easily find data, conduct analytics, and create reports that can be shared with colleagues. The user-friendly interface enables users to launch business intelligence projects and perform predictive analytics without support from data experts or IT personnel.
Key features:
The BI platform was designed to empower users to understand business trends and causations through ad hoc queries and BI reporting. The enterprise reporting system guides users through the overall business strategy while data analytics and visualization tools assess risks, identify opportunities, and improve efficiency. Finally, the platform’s data integration capabilities easily analyze large datasets to discover in-depth business insights.
Pros:
- Extensive resources
- Strong scalability
- Wide feature set
- Versatile data integration
- Strong data governance and security controls
Cons:
- Expensive for smaller companies or startups
- Requires a number of data servers
- Difficult to upgrade and maintain
3. Microsoft Power BI
Created by Microsoft, Power BI seamlessly integrates with the rest of the Microsoft Office suite. Not only does this centralize business data, but it also provides users with a familiar interface and can be relatively easy to integrate into a business’s existing tech stack.
Key features:
Power BI provides users with powerful analytics in which they can gain valuable insights and transform data. Additionally, recent advances in artificial intelligence and natural language querying streamline the data analytics process, which saves users valuable time.
Pros:
- Easy-to-use data visualization tools
- Shareable insights and reports
- Embeddable insights
Cons:
- Difficulty establishing data governance
- Potential for poor accessibility (limited connector library
- Limited data integration capability
See how Domo compares to PowerBI.
4. datapine
datapine is a business intelligence platform that enables companies to explore and analyze business data in a single platform. The platform’s drag-and-drop interface and self-service tools enable non-technical users to take advantage of powerful data analytics, build interactive dashboards, and gain valuable company insights.
Key features:
The power in the datapine platform lies in its data visualization capabilities. Customizable, interactive dashboards enable users to delve into data and share insights across the organization.
Pros:
- High customization capabilities
- Interactivity allows for easy data monitoring
- Shareable dashboards promote strong collaboration
Cons:
- No natural language processing capabilities
- No support for automatic integration and analysis of unstructured data
5. Sisense
Sisense is a platform designed to simplify complex data for users of all technical skill levels. The platform’s key strengths include accessibility and embedded analytics capabilities. However, itsmore advanced features may require additional training.
Key features:
One of the major advantages to the Sisense platform is its embedded analytics solutions. The capabilities enable users to bring data visualizations directly into their existing applications.
Pros:
- User-friendly interface
- Making data insights accessible
Cons:
- Advanced features require additional training
- Not intuitive for non-technical users
See how Domo compares to Sisense.
6. Tableau
Tableau is recognized as a leader in both data visualizations and business intelligence due to its robust data capabilities. The platform includes a wide spectrum of BI capabilities, including data mining, data preparation, visualization, reporting, querying, and benchmarking.
Key features:
The biggest advantage of Tableau is its wide product offerings. Users can choose from a number of data visualization types—from simple bar graphs to more complex geographical representations. Additionally, advanced analytics tools allow users to easily conduct more in-depth data expiration and predictive modeling.
Pros:
- Active user community provides good support
- Advanced data exploration capabilities
Cons:
- Steep learning curve for users with novice technical skills
See how Domo compares to Tableau.
7. Qlik
In Qlik, users can easily explore data, be assisted by powerful AI tools, and take action. Additionally, users can uncover hidden intelligence, make decisions backed by data, and drive better business outcomes. Coupled with Qlik Sense, the company’s data visualization product, enables users to delve into data effortlessly.
Key features:
From self-service visualization and interactive dashboards to reporting, alerting, and search analytics, Qlik enables users to quickly uncover business insights by centralizing business data and creating dynamic data visualizations.
Pros:
- Platform versatility provides decent customization and tailoring capabilities
- User-friendly capabilities
- Familiar environment
Cons:
- Slightly dated interface
See how Domo compares to Qlik.
8. Looker
One of the ways Looker distinguishes itself is through its focus on nurturing data exploration and collaboration. The BI platform seamlessly integrates with popular tools such as GSuite to provide teams with an easy way to collectively explore data and make decisions.
Key features:
Looker’s collaboration capabilities are one of the major features that make it stand out from other BI platforms. The suite of collaboration tools makes it easy for teams to communicate with each other and work together. In addition to strong collaboration tools, Looker provides centralized data governance and ensures data accuracy and reliability.
Pros:
- Seamlessly integrates with Google products
- Robust collaboration features
Cons:
- Intricate setup requires a certain amount of technical expertise
- Requires technical resources for initial implementation
See how Domo compares to Looker.
9. Zoho Analytics
Designed to cater to the needs of small- and mid-sized businesses, the affordability and easy-to-use interface make it a good option for businesses with smaller budgets.
Key features:
Zoho Analytics’ user-friendly interface and robust BI capabilities enable businesses to gather data from across multiple sources. The platform’s visualization tools allow users to easily visualize data and uncover hidden insights as well as analyze and measure data on their own.
Pros:
- Affordable BI tool for businesses
- Drag-and-drop interface enhances user experience
- Fast visualization creation
- Collaboration tools facilitate effective teamwork
Cons:
- Advanced capabilities may limit larger organizations with intricate data analysis requirements
See how Domo compares to Zoho Analytics.
10. MicroStrategy
MicroStrategy is an enterprise BI platform that provides organizations with tools designed to help organizations to make data-driven decisions and streamline processes. Some of these tools include interactive dashboards, ad hoc queries, highly formatted reports, automated report distribution, scorecards, and data alerts.
Key features:
A major distinguishing feature of MicroStrategy is its reporting capabilities. The platform features a number of customizable graphs and charts, dashboards, and scorecards as well as a robust report interface.
Pros:
- Reporting capabilities
- Self-service tools
Cons:
- Technical requirements and maintenance may not be suitable for small- or mid-sized businesses
BI tools enable business users to gain access to business insights and trends by analyzing market data, customer trends, business performance, and more. They also enable organizations to make smart, informed decisions by analyzing data from across the enterprise.
Domo stands out among other business intelligence platforms with its seamless data integration capabilities and robust data visualizations. Customizable dashboards, real-time alerts, and interactive reports allow users to freely explore data and uncover critical business insights. Through data visualizations, users can more easily spot patterns, interpret trends, and solve important business questions. Compared to other popular business intelligence tools, Domo’s features address the needs of businesses by bringing the power of data to all business users.
Business intelligence FAQs
Have additional questions about business intelligence tools or how to choose the best BI platform? We’re here with answers.
- What is an example of a business intelligence tool?
- Domo is a great example of BI tool. The platform contains everything needed to uncover actionable business insights, including data visualizations, data integrations, and more.
- Where are business intelligence tools used?
- The versatility of BI tools enable them to be used across the enterprise, including sales, marketing, finance, HR, and more.
- What’s the difference between business intelligence tools and data lakes?
- BI tools collect, process, and analyze large amounts of data, whereas a data lake is a centralized repository where both structured and unstructured data can be stored.
- Is business intelligence the same as data virtualization?
- No, business intelligence focuses on collecting and processing data, whereas data virtualization provides users with a modern data layer where users can access, combine, and transform data rapidly.
- What is a business intelligence platform?
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- BI platforms are systems that enable organizations to gather, view, and analyze all business data in a single place. Most platforms feature dashboards, charts, and additional tools that enable organizations to quickly access and analyze large quantities of data.