Whether delivered as dashboards, scorecards, or standalone tools, the number of users benefiting from access to business intelligence (BI) and analytics tools is taking off. Once limited to only a few number crunchers with degrees in advanced mathematics, BI and analytics tools are rapidly being deployed to all professionals in many organizations, and to everyone in a substantial number of companies, according to analysts and recent surveys. While traditional BI tools were complex and expensive, access to powerful BI and analytics capabilities is no longer out of reach for the masses. Today, BI capabilities are increasingly embedded in a wide range of software applications.

The wider distribution of BI and analytics tools are due to the increasing ease of use and the ability of the tools to help a wide range of knowledge workers uncover important trends and actionable insights in all types of data. After more than a decade of use of data warehousing systems and other BI precursors, senior executives have seen enough benefits from their limited BI and analytics deployments to take the next step.

A survey by BusinessWeek Research Services of more than 350 C-level executives found that almost half thought that all professionals in their organizations should have access to BI and analytics tools. Another quarter said that everyone in the organization should have access (see report, "Seizing the BI Opportunity").

"For years, companies have used analytics software to learn from experience and preserve that knowledge to enable better decisions," says Dr. Henry Morris, analyst and vice president for analytics at IDC, a market research firm in Framingham, Mass.

With BI capabilities now found in a wide range of software applications as well as lighter weight, standalone packages, new-generation BI is often invisible to its users. This lets them focus on making better decisions and serving customers more effectively as opposed to staying up to speed on the latest technology acronyms.

"Knowledge workers need analytical tools to explore the gaps in a process when things break down," says Morris. "They spend a lot of time dealing with exceptions. They need tools to be able to do this on their own. You see more and more of these capabilities built inside databases, for example."

Another reason for the broader use of these tools is that the market has evolved into a broad ecosystem. A wide swath of vendors in a variety of fields essentially have collaborated to simplify the technology front ends as well as focused the tools on specific vertical markets such as retailing, telecom, and consumer packaged goods manufacturing. The business analytics (BA) market ranges from platform technologies such as data warehouse management to end user-facing analytic applications and BI tools, Morris adds.

Analytical software that analyzes a multitude of databases and transaction histories can provide guidance and predictions about future customer needs and behavior. This guidance empowers employees to anticipate customer needs and reduce costs and improve overall efficiency. In manufacturing operations, BI can give a wide range of workers visibility into processes such as production and fulfillment, identifying patterns and potential supply chain disruptions or fluctuations in customer demand.

"BI is about enabling people in different roles to amplify business outcomes," says Alex Payne, group product manager, Office business applications, for Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Washington. When analytical functionality is "baked" into employees' everyday applications, it can help them understand more about their customer and his needs. "BI is most effective when it happens right where people work and they feel most comfortable," adds Payne.

In order to do that, your IT infrastructure must be robust enough to support a " single version of the truth." That requires clean data flowing from a single database out to a multitude of other applications (whether standalone or embedded analytical tools) where they can be used by nearly everyone in the enterprise.

"Every employee makes decisions that affect the business. Some of these decisions are tactical, some of them are strategic. We want a broader range of employees to be able to use BI to make a better decision," says Payne.

At the same time, BI technology will enable certain individuals to go as deep in their analysis as traditional BI tools, which were expensive and required extensive training to learn to use. BI tools "help both groups—people who have always used BI and those who have not," says Payne. "Rich analytic tools now allow you to uncover trends and take action. But even if you're not a traditional BI user, the information can help you to do your job better, too."

Though the BA/BI market is still young, at this point the focus has shifted from increased efficiency to making better decisions. "Making better business decisions is the whole point," says Morris of IDC. "Employees need BI to be embedded in their primary application so they can use it on the fly. Companies want more automation and consistency around the decisions employees make on a daily basis."

The BusinessWeek Research Services survey and report shows this as well. More than half of the respondents said that better decision making was one of the top three investment drivers, while only 36 percent said cost reductions were a primary reason for the investment. Meanwhile, nearly 29 percent reported that "more timely data delivery" to be an important factor.

In most cases these investments in employee tools to help make better decisions has already yielded substantial dividends for the organizations. Another recent BusinessWeek Research Services survey found that 62 percent of the respondents said that their BI investments achieved at least the expected level of return. In a substantial number of organizations, the return of investment (ROI) of BI was even higher than expected (see report, "Getting Smart About BI: Best Practices Deliver Real Value," PDF file, 826 KB). As more users throughout the enterprise discover the value of BI that's inside the tools they already use, the mystery surrounding this topic can only decrease as the bottom line benefits become obvious.

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