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Business Intelligence Solutions
Empower your business to navigate the future with confidence. Unearth hidden patterns, discover new insights, and drive strategic growth with Symplicity.

We Know Business Intelligence
In this connected world, business moves faster than it ever has, making the need for quick and accurate business data vital. Our business intelligence services give you dashboard visibility into all your vital business operations, allowing you to make informed decisions when time is of the essence.
Why Business Intelligence?
In today’s fast-paced, data-driven world, business intelligence (BI) solutions have become a vital tool for enterprises aiming to maintain a competitive edge. BI solutions don’t just equip you to play the game, they provide the foresight and agility to outmaneuver the competition.
- Data-driven decision making: by harnessing the power of data, BI tools provide a comprehensive view of your business operations, leading to informed and strategic decisions.
- Identify trends: through analyzing data patterns, BI solutions can reveal emerging trends, enabling your business to adapt quickly to changes in the market or customer behavior.

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- Efficiency boost: BI solutions streamline data collection, processing, and analysis, which helps your team focus on strategic initiatives by freeing them from tedious manual tasks.
- Improve performance: with BI analytics, you can assess performance at every level of your organization, pinpoint bottlenecks, and implement necessary improvements.
- Enhanced customer satisfaction: by understanding customer behavior and preferences through data analysis, you can tailor your offerings to meet customer needs and boost their satisfaction.
- Risk management: BI tools provide insights that can help identify potential risks, enabling you to make proactive decisions to mitigate them.
- Competitive advantage: with real-time insights and predictive analytics, BI tools give you the foresight to stay ahead of the competition.
Essentially, BI solutions empower enterprises to transform raw data into actionable insights, guiding strategic decisions, optimizing performance, and propelling business growth.
Why Symplicity for Business Intelligence?
We’re your supplier-neutral business intelligence experts. As part of your team, we’ll do what’s best for your business by impartially recommending the solutions that best fit your needs. We’ll then negotiate the best rates with our network of vendors.
We engineer the whole data pie, not just a piece.
Make more informed business decisions
- If your data usage is inefficient, we’ll show you the ROI of improved data management and provide a roadmap for implementation.
- If there are automations that can make your analytics process more efficient, we’ll show them to you and help you implement them.
- If you are using outdated data analytics tools, we’ll provide you with the evidence needed to decide whether upgrading is the right move. We’ll also recommend the best replacement options.
- If a new or more robust BI solution is required, we’ll secure competitive terms on your behalf with the best providers for your needs.
- If your current BI vendors aren’t fulfilling their promised services, we’ll advocate for you to ensure you receive the service you were promised.
- If you’ve been overcharged or have not been given promised discounts, our TEM experts will work to get you the money due you.
- If there’s a more cost-effective data analytics solution, we’ll make sure you’re aware of it.
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- If you’re not getting the full value from your data analytics software licenses, we’ll help you leverage them to their full potential—or assist in their cancellation.
- If any of your current solutions offer overlapping functionality, we’ll help you streamline your BI tools to eliminate redundancy.
- If contracts are up for renewal, we’ll analyze the terms and negotiate on your behalf to secure the most favorable conditions.
- If you have underutilized data assets, we’ll identify them and suggest strategies to maximize their efficiency.
- If your data analysis or data management processes are complex, we’ll help you implement automation to reduce errors and save time.
- If there’s a more efficient way to manage your data, we’ll provide expert guidance on consolidation and optimization.
- If you need to forecast more accurately, we’ll assist you in developing data-driven projections for improved business planning.
- If you face compliance challenges related to data handling and storage, we’ll help you navigate the complexities and ensure your data practices remain compliant.
- If we see any path to simplification and profitability through better data management, we’ll help you implement it.
How BI Can Help You
Our business intelligence services can help you across different business operations. Here are some benefits of BI in sales and marketing, operations, and finance.

Sales and Marketing
Business intelligence solutions empower your sales and marketing teams, making them more efficient and increasing pipeline and conversions. Here’s how:
- Advanced customer insights: BI tools provide a deeper understanding of your customers’ behaviors and preferences, enabling more personalized marketing strategies and targeted sales efforts.
- Sales forecasting: leveraging historical data and trend analysis with BI leads to more accurate sales forecasting, assisting in strategic planning and resource allocation.
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- Enhanced marketing ROI: by measuring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and customer engagement strategies, BI enhances marketing return on investment.
- Streamlined operations: BI empowers sales and marketing teams to identify bottlenecks, optimize processes, and boost overall productivity.
- Data-driven decisions: with real-time data and insightful reports, BI informs strategic decision-making, aligning sales and marketing efforts with business goals.
- Improved customer experience: BI allows you to understand your customers so you can optimize engagement, improve customer satisfaction, and increase customer loyalty.

Operations
Business intelligence is vital for your organization’s operational processes. Here are some ways we can help you implement BI to improve operations:
- Streamlining operations: BI tools can identify inefficiencies, allowing businesses to make data-driven decisions on how to streamline operations and optimize workflows.
- Risk mitigation: BI can help identify trends and anomalies that may indicate potential risks, helping businesses mitigate these before they escalate.
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- Forecasting and planning: using historical data and predictive analysis, BI assists in accurate forecasting and strategic planning, helping businesses allocate resources effectively.
- Supply chain optimization: with BI, businesses can gain insights into supply chain operations, identifying bottlenecks and areas for improvement, leading to enhanced efficiency and cost savings.
- Real-time insights: BI allows businesses to make immediate, informed decisions in response to changes in operations or the market.
- Improved decision-making: BI enables informed, data-driven decision making, aligning operations with overall business strategy.

Finance
BI is a game-changer for finance departments. Whether it’s honing forecasts, identifying profitable ventures, managing risk, reducing costs, or ensuring compliance, BI revolutionizes financial management.
- Enhanced forecasting: BI tools can harness historical data to create predictive models, enabling more accurate budgeting, expense forecasting, and revenue projection.
- Profitability analysis: by consolidating and analyzing financial data, BI allows for a clearer understanding of profitable ventures, guiding future investment.
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- Risk management: BI helps identify financial trends, potential risks and anomalies, enabling preventive measures and risk mitigation.
- Cost reduction: BI pinpoints inefficiencies so you can address them, leading to enhanced overall profitability.
- Compliance and auditing: BI can streamline compliance reporting and auditing processes, reducing the chance of errors and ensuring regulatory compliance.
What is Business Intelligence?
Enterprises use business intelligence to analyze data and present useful insights to assist executives, managers, and other corporate end users in making wise business decisions.
BI encompasses many tools, applications, and methodologies that enable organizations to:
- Collect data from internal systems and external sources
- Prepare the data for analysis
- Develop and run queries against the data
- Create reports, dashboards, and data visualizations to make the analytical results understandable to corporate decision-makers
BI ultimately drives profitable business actions by turning raw data into interactive reports and actionable insights.
Business Intelligence Applications
Business intelligence has a wide range of applications across multiple business operations:
- Marketing: BI improves customer experience by analyzing data across the customer journey, identifying pain points and areas for improvement, personalizing interactions, understanding customer preferences and behaviors, optimizing touchpoints, and delivering targeted and exceptional customer experiences.
- Software development: BI helps software development by providing data-driven insights for informed decision-making, optimizing resource allocation, improving quality assurance and testing, incorporating customer feedback, and enabling predictive analytics.
- Financial analysis: BI can assist in financial analysis by providing insights into revenue trends, profitability, cost analysis, budgeting, and forecasting.
- Human resources: BI can support HR departments by analyzing employee data, tracking workforce metrics, monitoring performance, and identifying trends for effective workforce planning and talent management.
- Risk management: BI can help identify and mitigate risks by analyzing data related to compliance, operational performance, and market trends, enabling proactive risk management strategies.
- Supply chain management: BI gives real-time visibility into inventory levels, demand patterns, and supplier performance. It enables data-driven decision-making, optimizing logistics, minimizing stockouts, reducing costs, and improving overall supply chain efficiency.
- Customer service: BI can improve customer service by analyzing customer feedback, sentiment analysis, and service performance metrics to enhance responsiveness, identify areas for improvement, and deliver a better customer experience.
- Operations management: BI can optimize operations by monitoring key operational metrics, identifying bottlenecks, streamlining processes, and improving resource allocation to drive operational efficiency and productivity.
- Quality control: BI can support quality control efforts by analyzing product and process data, identifying quality issues, implementing corrective actions, and monitoring quality metrics to enhance product quality and customer satisfaction.
- Vendor and supplier management: BI can assist in vendor and supplier management by analyzing supplier performance, tracking contract compliance, managing vendor relationships, and optimizing procurement processes.
- Inventory management. BI enhances inventory management by providing data-driven insights for optimizing inventory levels, identifying trends and patterns in demand, improving forecasting accuracy, streamlining procurement processes, and minimizing stockouts and excess inventory.
- Asset management: BI enhances asset management by providing data-driven insights for effective asset tracking, maintenance planning, lifecycle management, performance monitoring, risk assessment, optimization of asset utilization, cost control, and strategic decision-making to maximize the value and return on investment of assets.
- Fleet management: BI supports fleet management by leveraging data to optimize fleet utilization, monitor vehicle performance and maintenance needs, track fuel consumption and costs, analyze driver behavior and safety, improve route planning and efficiency, and enhance overall fleet operations and decision-making.
- Contact center solutions: BI can enhance contact center solutions by providing real-time analytics on call center performance, agent productivity, customer interactions, and call quality. It enables managers to monitor key metrics, optimize call routing, identify training needs, and enhance customer service, resulting in improved operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
By utilizing these diverse applications, businesses can gain a thorough understanding of their operations, improve decision making, and achieve their strategic goals.
Business Intelligence Examples
Here are some examples of business intelligence in use:
- Amazon: uses its vast reservoir of consumer data to provide highly personalized product recommendations.
- Netflix: employs data analytics to understand viewership patterns, informing their decisions about which original content to produce.
- Starbucks: uses BI tools to analyze customer behavior, store locations, and local demographics to decide where to open new stores.
- American Express: leverages predictive analytics to anticipate customer behaviors, helping to detect potential fraudulent transactions.
- Coca Cola: utilizes data mining to understand the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns and to forecast sales.
- UPS: uses data analytics for route optimization, saving millions in fuel costs and improving delivery times.
- Spotify: employs BI tools to understand listening habits of its users, helping to curate personalized playlists.
If you’re ready to deploy the power of business intelligence in your operations, contact us!
Top Business Intelligence Tools
Business intelligence tools fall into the following categories:
- Data visualization tools. These provide intuitive and interactive visual representations of a data set, making it easier to comprehend complex information and identify patterns and trends.
- Reporting tools and business intelligence dashboards. Most BI tools offer robust reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to generate detailed reports and dynamic dashboards that provide a comprehensive view of key metrics and performance indicators.
- Data mining and predictive analytics. Business intelligence software leverages advanced algorithms and statistical models to analyze large datasets, uncover hidden patterns, and make predictions about future outcomes.
- Self-service BI tools. This category of tools empowers business users to independently access and analyze data without relying on IT or data specialists, enabling faster decision-making and data exploration.
- Cloud-based BI tools. Cloud-based solutions provide flexibility, scalability, and accessibility, allowing organizations to store and analyze data in the cloud, reducing infrastructure costs and enabling remote collaboration.
- Mobile BI tools. Mobile-compatible BI tools enable users to access and interact with data on-the-go, empowering decision-making anytime, anywhere.
Here are some of the most popular modern BI solutions on the market today.
- Microsoft Power BI is a cloud-based BI tool that is easy to use and has a wide range of features for enterprise data visualization.
- Tableau is a popular BI tool that allows users to easily visualize data.
- Qlik Sense is a BI tool that is known for its speed and agility.
- IBM Cognos Analytics is a BI tool that is known for its enterprise-level features.
- SAP BusinessObjects BI Suite integrates with other SAP applications, making it attractive for enterprises using SAP.
- Oracle Analytics offers a broad range of capabilities for data analysis, reporting, and an interactive dashboard.
- Zoho Analytics is a BI analytics platform offered by the Zoho Corporation. Enterprises already using the Zoho ecosystem will enjoy the easy integration of Zoho Analytics with their other Zoho apps. It also has a decent mobile app.
Need help figuring out which business intelligence software is right for you? That’s where we come in. We’ll talk to you and listen to your needs, then we’ll recommend the perfect business intelligence solution for your business and budget.
About Symplicity Communications
Consider us your BI consultants. We design a full technology roadmap that gives you operational insights into your business and processes. We will take all of the raw data that your organization produces, analyze it, and organize it into dashboards that will give you a full view of your business.
We will help implement the top 3 aspects of BI:
- Technology
- Strategy
- Discipline
We will implement the technologies you need to start collecting your data, analyzing it, and creating reports on your business.
After that technology is implemented, we will help design a strategy because just having those reports is not enough.
Finally, we will help establish discipline through training, automation, and best practices to ensure that you are continually tracking and improving upon your results.
We can also help you with your managed IT, cybersecurity, and disaster recovery needs. See our solutions page for the full range of services we offer.
What is the difference between business analytics and business intelligence solutions?
Business analytics and business intelligence solutions are closely related but have distinct differences in their focus and approach:
- BI solutions primarily focus on the collection, organization, analysis, and visualization of historical and current data to provide insights and support decision-making. BI tools offer reporting, dashboards, and data visualization capabilities that help users understand the past and present state of their business operations. The emphasis is on monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs), generating descriptive reports, and gaining a comprehensive understanding of business data.
- Business analytics takes a more advanced and forward-looking approach by leveraging statistical and predictive models to analyze data and extract actionable insights. It involves the use of various analytical techniques, including statistical analysis, data mining, predictive modeling, and machine learning, to uncover patterns, relationships, and trends within the data. Business analytics aims to answer specific business questions, identify opportunities, and enable data-driven decision-making based on future predictions and optimization.
Many business intelligence platforms incorporate business analytics disciplines as part of their methodology.
What is the difference between CRM and business intelligence?
A CRM focuses on managing customer relationships and optimizing sales and marketing efforts, while business intelligence focuses on data analysis and providing insights to support strategic decision-making.
While there may be some overlap in terms of data usage and integration, CRM and BI serve different purposes within an organization’s overall business strategy.
Is business intelligence the same as ERP?
Business intelligence and enterprise resource planning (ERP) are distinct from one another. While BI can be a component of an ERP system, they each serve different purposes. BI is primarily focused on data analysis and decision support, while ERP is concerned with managing and integrating core business processes. An ERP system may include BI functionality as part of its overall capabilities, but they are not interchangeable terms.
Is business intelligence a platform?
Business intelligence is not a platform, but rather a set of practices or disciplines that use various tools, technologies, and platforms to enable data analysis and decision-making.
There are several business intelligence platforms on the market, but business intelligence as a discipline transcends individual platforms.
Is business intelligence an MIS or a DSS?
Business intelligence (BI) is not exactly a management information system (MIS) or a decision support system (DSS), but it encompasses elements of both.
An MIS is a system that collects, processes, and presents information to support managerial decision-making. It focuses on providing structured reports and predefined data to support routine operational and managerial activities within an organization. While BI can provide information for managerial decision-making, it goes beyond the scope of an MIS by incorporating advanced analytics, data visualization, and interactive tools to facilitate deeper insights and analysis.
A DSS is a software-based system that aids decision-making by providing interactive tools, models, and data analysis capabilities. It helps users explore different scenarios, perform “what-if” analyses, and make informed decisions. BI tools can be considered a subset of DSS since they provide data analysis, reporting, and visualization capabilities that support decision-making processes.
BI can be seen as an evolution or extension of MIS and DSS, combining elements of both. It leverages data analysis techniques, advanced reporting capabilities, and interactive visualizations to provide insights and support decision-making processes across different levels of an organization. BI expands on the traditional capabilities of an MIS and incorporates decision support features found in DSS, making it a more comprehensive approach to data-driven decision-making.
Is Excel a business intelligence tool?
Microsoft Excel can be considered a business intelligence tool, although it may not offer the same comprehensive features and capabilities as dedicated BI platforms. To coax advanced BI capabilities out of Excel, you need to be somewhat of an Excel wizard.
Excel provides functionalities for data manipulation, formula calculations, pivot tables, charts, and graphing, which can be utilized to analyze and present data in a meaningful way; however, these functionalities rely on advanced skillsets to unlock them. In contrast, many BI platforms offer an intuitive user interface and make business intelligence processes more feasible for the average user.
Is SQL a business intelligence tool?
SQL (structured query language) is not considered a business intelligence tool on its own, but it is a fundamental language used in data management and analysis, including within business intelligence processes.
Is business intelligence the same as enterprise analytics?
Business intelligence and enterprise analytics are not the same, although they are closely related concepts within the field of data analysis and decision-making in an organizational context.
Enterprise analytics encompasses a broader set of analytical capabilities and approaches that extend beyond traditional BI. It involves leveraging advanced analytical techniques, such as statistical analysis, predictive modeling, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, to derive insights from data and drive strategic decision-making across the entire enterprise.
What is data warehousing?
Data warehousing is the process of collecting, organizing, and storing large volumes of structured and sometimes unstructured data from various sources in a central repository. It provides a consolidated view of data for reporting, analysis, and business intelligence purposes.
How can reports and dashboards benefit my business?
Reports and dashboards offer visual representations of data to provide quick insights and help monitor key performance indicators (KPIs). They enable decision-makers to track progress, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions to drive business growth.
What is self-service data in the context of business intelligence?
Self-service data refers to the ability of business users to access and analyze data independently without relying heavily on IT or data experts. It empowers users to explore data, create reports, and gain insights through user-friendly interfaces and tools.
How does cloud data fit together with business intelligence?
Cloud data enables businesses to store, access, and analyze data through cloud-based platforms. It offers scalability, flexibility, and accessibility to data, allowing organizations to leverage the power of cloud computing for their business intelligence initiatives.
How does natural language play a role in business intelligence?
Natural language capabilities in business intelligence tools enable users to interact with data using everyday language rather than complex queries or programming languages. It simplifies data exploration and analysis, making it more accessible to a broader range of users.
What is embedded BI?
Embedded BI refers to the integration of business intelligence capabilities directly into other applications, platforms, or systems. It allows users to access and analyze data within their familiar environments, increasing user adoption and providing insights at the point of decision-making.
How can effective BI impact organizational performance?
Effective BI improves decision-making by providing timely and accurate insights, optimizing processes, and identifying opportunities for growth and improvement. It empowers organizations to make data-driven decisions, leading to enhanced performance and competitive advantage.
What are data processes in the context of business intelligence?
Data processes refer to the series of steps involved in collecting, transforming, cleansing, and storing data for analysis and reporting. These processes ensure data accuracy, consistency, and reliability in business intelligence initiatives.
What is Information Builders?
Information Builders is a provider of modern BI solutions. They offer data integration, reporting, analytics, and visualization. Their tools empower organizations to transform data into actionable insights, enabling better decision-making across the enterprise.
How can I ensure data security in my business intelligence program?
Data security in business intelligence involves implementing measures to protect data from unauthorized access, breaches, or loss. It includes user authentication, encryption, data access controls, and compliance with privacy regulations to safeguard sensitive information.
What are the key features of dashboard software?
Dashboard software typically includes drag-and-drop interfaces, customizable widgets, interactive visualizations, real-time data updates, drill-down capabilities, and collaboration features. These features enable users to create dynamic and informative dashboards for data analysis and monitoring.
How important is data quality in business intelligence?
Data quality is crucial in business intelligence because BI is only as good as the data it takes in. Quality data ensures the accuracy, consistency, completeness, and reliability of the business intelligence insights generated.
What does ad hoc mean in the context of business intelligence?
Ad hoc refers to on-demand or spontaneous analysis performed in response to specific business questions or needs. Ad hoc reporting or analysis allows users to explore data freely and create custom reports or visualizations tailored to their immediate requirements.
What is augmented analytics?
Augmented analytics combines artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques with traditional analytics to automate data preparation, analysis, and insight generation. It assists users in uncovering meaningful patterns, making data-driven predictions, and providing recommendations, enhancing the overall analytics process.
How does data discovery contribute to business intelligence?
Data discovery involves exploring and analyzing data to discover patterns, relationships, and insights that were previously unknown. It allows businesses to make discoveries from their data, uncover hidden opportunities, and gain a deeper understanding of their operations, customers, and market dynamics.
What are some key features of a robust BI system?
A robust BI system includes data integration capabilities, advanced analytics tools, interactive dashboards, customizable reports, self-service functionality, data security measures, collaboration features, and scalability to handle large datasets and user demands.
How do embedded analytics leverage data sources?
Embedded analytics leverages data sources by integrating analytical capabilities directly into applications, software solutions, or platforms that already have access to relevant data. It allows users to analyze data within their existing workflows, eliminating the need to switch between different tools or systems.
What role do BI dashboards play in reporting and analysis?
BI dashboards provide visual representations of key metrics, performance indicators, and data trends in a consolidated and easy-to-understand format. They enable users to monitor real-time data, track progress, identify outliers, and gain actionable insights for informed decision-making.
How does data preparation contribute to effective business intelligence?
Data preparation involves cleansing, transforming, and organizing raw data to make it suitable for analysis. It ensures data quality, consistency, and relevance, enabling accurate reporting, reliable analysis, and informed decision-making in business intelligence initiatives.
How can modern BI software allow users to interact with data?
Modern BI software offers intuitive interfaces and interactive capabilities that allow users to explore, filter, drill down, and manipulate data to gain deeper insights. It empowers users to interact with data dynamically, fostering a self-service approach to data exploration and analysis.
What is data storytelling in the context of business intelligence?
Data storytelling refers to the practice of presenting data insights and analysis in a narrative format. It involves combining data visualizations, charts, and narratives to communicate findings, trends, and conclusions effectively, making data more accessible and engaging for stakeholders.