Many people confuse BI with big data, informatization, and digital transformation . They only know that they are all data-related technologies, but the specific differences are not clear.
So this answer will help you clarify the essential difference between BI and these words, help you better understand what BI is
The whole original article is, you might as well be patient and spend 5 minutes to understand these concepts that you can't tell each other every time.
1, BI and big data
first give the conclusion:
BI is one of the technologies in the field of big data.
But BI focuses on letting business personnel who do not understand technology do data analysis by themselves, find out the business problems and provide a basis for decision-making. Big data tends to mine data, find the value of data in the enterprise and apply it in actual scenarios, and will contain some algorithm content.
To put it specifically:
From the perspective of inclusion relationship, BI belongs to the category of the big data field, so BI is sometimes called "big data BI", which is the big data BI technology mentioned by the questioner.
However, according to the definition of the Big Data White Paper of the Institute of Information and Communications Technology , it can be seen that in the entire big data technology system, BI tools are located in data analysis application technology together with data visualization and data mining, and data analysis application technology is located under the technical system of large fields (as shown in the figure below).
Therefore: Big data data analysis application technology BI tools, the concept of BI is smaller than big data
Here is a supplementary knowledge point: the difference between BI and data visualization and data mining
BI: A small number of BI tools have data mining functions, and even if there are, they are done lightly, and data visualization is BI's strength.
Data visualization: It is designed to make the data display effect more dazzling and exquisite, and has a high technical threshold. For example, Echarts is a pure JAVA data visualization library.
data mining: specializes in discovering and identifying patterns from large datasets, such as R language , Weka, etc.
2, BI and informatization
first give the conclusion:
BI and informatization are not similar words, BI is a tool and a concept, while informatization is a descriptive noun that describes the stage of enterprise data development.
In connection with it, it means that enterprises generally accumulate certain business data through informatization and then use the BI system, that is, apply BI in the middle and late stages of informatization construction.
To put it specifically:
The essence of informationization in most enterprises is: data collection → process management → data display. From this perspective, you can understand that BI system is actually a type of information system. The data collection of
- BI system is to connect to the enterprise's various business information system data
- BI system process management is data processing and analysis process
- BI system data display is more awesome than the general information system
All some enterprises will also use BI tools to develop some information systems to make up for the lack of customized business systems.
3, BI and digital transformation
first give the conclusion:
The enterprise development process is from basic informationization → digitalization, while BI is the best tool to undertake the enterprise's transformation from informatization → digitalization, helping enterprises to give full play to the data value accumulated in the informatization stage, thereby promoting and accelerating the digital transformation process of enterprises.
To put it more specifically, that is, enables the company's "dead data" to become "live data" through BI, and allows the company's decisions to be no longer made by the head, but have a number to follow.
As for the last question of the questioner: Should enterprises prefer big data or business intelligence ?
I think there is no standard answer to this question, because the data problems faced by enterprises at different stages of development are different.
As for most Chinese companies, the existence of this situation is: the data infrastructure is poor (data cannot be collected, collected and stored), and the most basic informationization has not been done well, so I just want to go to the digital transformation to big data in one step. Some even directly use big data systems, but it is impossible to use them at all.
actually causes this situation: is a lack of self-awareness, not knowing what you need, and not thinking about how you should develop according to the stage.
At present, the industry is more recognized by the enterprise data development stage:
st stage: basic business data informatization
The heavy work of the enterprise's daily manual transactions → the process of system work, select various business systems suitable for enterprise applications, such as OA, ERP, HR, MES, etc., and first systematically store the data.
Stage 2: Solve data island , realize transparent internal information
, that is, establish a bridge for data exchange in different systems, so that middle-level managers can conduct information statistics. To be specific, it is to make good corporate reports. The tools that can be used are enterprise-level data visualization management tools such as FineReport, which sorts out and integrates complex data and processes in the business process to form a set of enterprise reporting systems to collect, process and display data.
stage 3: Digital transformation, let existing data play the application value
After completing the information construction, most companies are no longer satisfied with the presentation of reports, and will start to want to go to BI and start to let business personnel learn to do data analysis, because only business personnel understand the business best and can make existing business data play the value best. This is the stage when BI begins to play its role, that is, it can provide management basis for enterprises from the management level and improve business analysis efficiency, and integrate multi-system data from the IT level, break through data barriers, improve report production efficiency, and liberate IT personnel to develop report time.
Summary:
In the above article, it explains the difference between BI and big data, informatization and digital transformation, and also briefly talks about the problems existing in domestic enterprise data management, as well as the correct development stage and the tools it should use.
We have been deeply engaged in the BI field for 16 years, from the initial reporting tool FineReport to the BI tool FineBI to the current low-code tool Jiandao Cloud and the data integration tool FineDataLink, the entire product matrix is to enable the enterprise's data to better play its value and make data truly productive.
On the road to providing users with truly valuable services, we have always maintained our original intentions and polished the products steadily. We are patient and welcomed to receive everyone’s questions and suggestions. Therefore, if there are any questions related to BI, we are welcome to send private messages or leave messages in the comment area.
