5 Ways How Cloud BI Can Help Businesses

The expanded use of cloud-based tools across various industries and businesses has affected the dramatic shift from the traditional mindset to a more innovative and technology-oriented one. According to Statista, by 2026, the public cloud market will increase to $323 billion in the US and $90 billion in China. In today’s digital era, companies’ C-suites demand maximum efficiency and accuracy of operations. That is when cloud computing may come in handy. To put it simply, Cloud BI drives the technological advancement of a company by giving it a competitive edge. In this article, we will observe the primary advantages of Cloud BI, will define how it can aid various businesses and outline the main domains where cloud-based analytics can be helpful.

What is Cloud BI?

Cloud BI is a mix of cloud computing and business analytics, where business data is transformed into useful insights within a cloud space. Basically, it’s a technology that gives access to BI tools through the Internet or virtual network. Cloud BI provides businesses with an opportunity to store and process huge amounts of information needed for data-driven decisions without physical hardware and any inconvenience associated with the physical storage of Big Data. This data may include KPIs, analytical dashboards, or other types of business insights. Additionally, Cloud BI implies integration of various tools and applications for business analysis, as well as seamless processing of data in any convenient format, that is, thanks to cloud computing, available anytime, anywhere.

Advantages of Cloud BI for businesses

The module-based approach in Cloud BI helps companies optimize their operations by cutting costs, reducing time to market, and improving customer success. There are several tangible advantages Cloud BI offers to businesses.

Mobile access

Cloud BI helps businesses stay in touch with users 24/7 in real-time, which affects communication and collaboration with customers. With cloud-based business intelligence, users can have all-time access to live reports, be notified about critical alerts, learn about project outcomes, work on customer contracts, etc. As a result, the flexibility and availability of data, even from mobile devices, boosts the productivity of teams to an unprecedented level.

Enhanced security

Cloud BI guarantees data is safe and secured at any critical stage. Because of encryption, a variety of security protocols (fingerprint authentication, voice recognition) and other features, the data is protected from any breaches. ISO27K standards secure data integrity and protect them from manipulations or removal.

Advanced data interpretation features

Nowadays, Cloud BI tools are so sophisticated that any data streams can be analyzed and processed with an in-depth approach. Moreover, advanced analytics is accompanied by visual blocks, diagrams, and dashboards, which provide a deeper understanding of marketing, sales operations and customer relationships.

5 ways cloud BI helps businesses

There are multiple ways how Cloud BI can help businesses. Let’s outline the more essential ones.

1. Data processing

One of the helpful characteristics of cloud BI tools is the capability to manage data efficiently . This includes:

extracting data from various sources
filtering data for analytical purposes
transferring any scope of data into a readable format
maintaining data integrity

2. Enhanced analytics

Cloud BI tools nowadays can meet any analytical needs of a business. This need varies from in-depth data mining tools to root-cause analysis.

3. Better reporting and visualization

Any company owner wants to have a clearer picture of their business, comprising all the insights about the company's performance. Here is when Cloud BI may be helpful, since its rich reports come not only with more numbers but with better visuals.

4. Tools for collaboration

Since Cloud BI solutions are widely spread among large corporations, collaborative tools make them an integral part of business analytics teams. With advanced sharing options, sales data, reports, KPIs and other information can be easily distributed and then processed by the members of the analytical team.

5. Elimination of inefficiencies

Because of the greater analytical power provided by Cloud BI, now businesses can easily detect and reduce inefficiencies in operations or workflows. Elimination of inefficiencies has a direct impact on a company’s productivity and performance.

The most common Cloud BI use cases

According to Bark, the majority of organizations use the cloud to deliver reports and dashboards. However, based on the industry specifics, the use of Cloud BI may vary. Below are some of the most common areas where cloud BI tools are used.

Finance

In financial companies, Cloud BI tools are used to analyze risks within the loan approval process. Additionally, such solutions help to dig deeper into clients’ preferences and interests and cover upselling and cross selling objectives.

Retail

For retailers, data processed by Cloud BI tools help to create customized marketing campaigns, launch successful promo campaigns, as well as constantly improve on advertising strategies.

Manufacturing

By using Cloud BI tools, manufacturing companies can analyze plant operation in real-time, handle production planning, procurement processes, and distribution.

Booking and airline services

Cloud BI solutions can seamlessly manage room occupancy rates, flight capacity tracking, and price management for airline and booking companies.

Healthcare

In healthcare organizations, Cloud BI analytics is literally vital due to its impact on accurate disease diagnosis delivery, patient treatment and care enhancement measures, etc.

Education

High schools and colleges leverage Cloud BI tools to track and evaluate students’ performance, as well as setting scoring systems and standards.

Takeaway

There is no denying that in today’s harsh business realities, the adoption of Cloud BI can become a competitive edge of a company. Having that said, those companies who will use the Cloud BI tools in their best interest will shape the future of cloud-based analytics. If you’re still skeptical or fearful about adopting cloud solutions, Kanda is here with an in-depth cloud engineering expertise and over 25+ years of experience at modernizing legacy solutions and developing innovative applications for a wide range of businesses. We excel in private, hybrid and public cloud environments while helping our clients to build secure solutions to maximize ROI on cloud projects, increase business agility, reduce costs and lower risks. Talk to our experts to see how Kanda can help your business!