Data Analytics and BI Tools – 8 Best Examples for Your Business (update: 2021)

Nowadays, we produce more data than ever before. According to business intelligence statistics, any company that effectively applies insights extracted from market data will surely benefit. And today, we want to review 8 best data analytics and BI tools on the market. We will also explain to you what a BI tool is and what are the benefits of business intelligence and data analytics consulting. Keep reading!

What are BI Tools?

Business intelligence tools are types of application software that collect and process large amounts of unstructured data from internal and external systems such as books, documents, medical records, images, files, emails and other business sources.

Key features of these business intelligence platforms are data visualization, visual analytics, dashboards, and KPI scorecards. Additionally, data analytics and BI tools allow users to apply self-service automated reporting and predictive analytics features in one solution, making the analytical process more effective and accessible.

Benefits of business intelligence tools

Professional data analytics and BI tools offer various important benefits. The diagram below illustrates how BI tools really help companies:

Source: bi-survey.com

Above all else, for employees and managers, data analytics BI tools are a means to accelerate and improve the decision-making process, increase operational efficiency, and identify new potential business opportunities. Moreover, the usage of business intelligence tools allows companies to analyze market trends, generate new income and provide actionable information about KPIs.

8 Best data analytics and BI tools

Now it is time to cover the topic of best data analytics BI tools. So, here is a list of the best data analytics BI tools you can take advantage of. Take a closer look — there are eight of them, so you will easily find something which will meet all your needs and requirements.

Microsoft Power BI

When it comes to the best business intelligence tool, Microsoft Power BI is probably the first tool that comes to mind. Microsoft Power BI is an analytical tool that helps in reporting, data mining, and data visualization to generate business intelligence. With a simple interface, companies can connect to a variety of data sources and create their own dashboards and reports.

Source: docs.microsoft.com

This BI tool also provides built-in AI tools, Excel integration, and custom data connectors. In addition, it lets your company create and publish reports that are personalized with your brand and KPIs in mind.
Moreover, it provides access to a library of over 120 free connectors for everyone on board to access. You can also directly connect it to hundreds of on-premises and cloud data sources such as Azure SQL Database, Dynamics 365, Excel, Salesforce, SharePoint, and others.

Microsoft Power BI is also used by diverse well-known companies, such as Nestle, Nokia, Rolls Royce, HP, Adobe and more.

The pricing depends on the package you choose, but the free trial is also here. So if you have any doubts — start with it. Briefly about Power BI you can find out in the video below:

It might be interesting for you: Power BI for Data Analysis: Key Benefits. Why Does It Fit So Well?

Tableau

Tableau is also considered to be one of the best data analytics and BI tools. Tableau is a data visualization and analysis tool that assists businesses in making data-driven business decisions. It integrates data from a range of sources to provide actionable insights in real-time.

Tableau offers an amazing variety of products. It has a desktop, mobile, and embedded versions, is available online, and so on. The products can be used both by individuals and teams.

Source: tableau.com

Apart from this, Tableau is suitable for numerous industries, and its website provides enough examples and explanations regarding this.

The support here is great — there are a lot of manuals, videos, and guides, and you can always ask the community to help you. Even live training is available! The pricing for Tableau varies, but you can always try it for free to make sure it is the tool you were looking for.

Besides, Tableau as a data analytics and BI tool is used by numerous international companies like LinkedIn, Walmart, Amazon, Deloitte. For example, with its help, Lufthansa increased its efficiency by 30%. [1] In turn, PepsiCo manages to cut the analysis time by up to 90%. [2]

Qlik Sense

Another popular BI tool is Qlik Sense. If you choose Qlik as your business intelligence partner, you will get a next-generation platform for self-service analytics. It supports a wide range of analytics use cases, including visualization and exploration, apps and dashboards for managed analytics, custom and built-in analytics etc.

Actually, this tool doesn’t seem to be very different from Tableau or Microsoft Power BI, but its augmented intelligence feature makes it rather special. Considering community trends, user feedback, and other important factors, Qlik delivers more relevant insights.

The basic package can be tried for free, but if you need something more serious, you will have to pay. Diverse training options are provided, so you will be able to learn how to use Qlik. Below you can find out Qlik Sense review: Top Features, Pros & Cons, and Alternatives.

Sisense – best BI tool for developing and deploying analytics apps

Sisense is an end-to-end business intelligence platform covering the needs of diverse industries and departments. Perfectly suitable for business teams, product teams, and enterprises, this tool allows simplifying complex data from different sources.

It offers a self-service analytics platform that uses data from all touchpoints and multiple sources such as Adwords, Google Analytics, and Salesforce. Furthermore, it allows you to create enterprise-grade analytics applications on-premises or in the cloud with the lowest total cost of ownership.

Source: sisense.com

Over 10,000 users and brands are already using Sisense, and you can join them. However, the pricing rates are not specified — they depend on certain factors, so you will have to contact Sisense to learn more. A free trial is available.

Looker – data analytics and BI tool for startups and mid-sized businesses

Looker is a business intelligence and data visualization platform built for companies who already have a data analytics team. Such BI tool provides you a 360-degree view of your business and customers and helps you invest the right way.

Source: predictiveanalyticstoday.com

Looker connects with Snowflake, Redshift, and other SQL dialects. In total, the platform supports over 50 of them, so you can easily connect to numerous databases. Apart from this, Looker supports hosting on public clouds. Also, integrations with tools applications like Slack, Dropbox, Marketo, and Segment help you share data and run workflows.

High-tech operations such as Asana, TaskRabbit, Infectious Media, YPlan rely on data analytics and BI tools such as Looker for dynamic data discovery. Looker offers quote-based plans based on your company’s size and the number of employees.

Oracle

Oracle is largely recognized as an industry leader in business software products. Also, it is considered as the best business intelligence tool for large enterprises looking for advanced AI and ML capabilities. Oracle BI provides a wide variety of reporting and analytics functions with the flexibility of the cloud.

Key features include augmented analytics, mobile exploration and data connectors. This platform is also chosen by large corporations around the world such as FedEx, RedBull, Mastercard and others. As an example, cloud automation helps FedEx respond to changes 2X faster [3]. You can discover more about FedEx&Oracle cooperation in this video:

There is no cost information on the official website. It is possible that you may need to contact the supplier for a specific pricing quotation. But there is a free trial available.

Domo BI

For Domo BI there is no difference where your data is located — it gathers everything together, so the data is available on any device. At the same time, this tool guarantees a great level of security, and your data will never get into the wrong hands.

Like the above-mentioned data analytics BI tools, Domo BI allows business intelligence implementation for companies of different industries: manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, transportation, retail, e-commerce, etc.

It offers personalized business solutions based on various organizational roles like finance, CEO, marketing, IT, sales, etc. Also, it has multiple data connectors for Twitter, Google Sheets, Facebook, Zendesk, Excel, Salesforce, and more.

With Domo BI you can use over 300 interactive chart types and more than 1,000 pre-built and custom data connectors. The pricing varies, but, as usual, you can try the platform for free.

SaS Analytics

SaS Analytics is the last BI tool and solution on our list. SAS Visual Analytics gives fast answers to complicated problems from datasets of any size. Users of SAS Analytics will benefit from making more informed business decisions based on corporate data and market trends. SAS Analytics includes data mining, data visualization, text analytics, forecasting, statistical analysis, and other services.

Source: softwareadvice.co.uk

This data analytics and BI tool is used by companies like Honda, WWF, Volvo and others.

To sum up

We aimed to help you to review the best BI tools on the market, and we hope we could help you find the perfect one for your company or department. If you still have any doubts about which data analytics and BI tool to choose, Addepto Team is always ready to help! Just go to the contact section and tell us something more about your data needs!

References

[1] Tableau.com. Lufthansa increases efficiency by 30%, gains flexibility and departmental autonomy. URL: https://www.tableau.com/solutions/customer/lufthansa-saves-30-time-gains-decision-flexibility-and-departmental-autonomy?utm_medium=homepage. Accessed Dec 7, 2021.
[2] Tableau.com. PepsiCo cuts analysis time by up to 90% with Tableau + Trifacta. URL: https://www.tableau.com/solutions/customer/pepsico-cuts-analysis-time-90-tableau-trifacta?utm_medium=homepage. Accessed Dec 7, 2021.
[3] Oracle.com. Cloud automation helps FedEx respond to changes 2X faster. URL: https://www.oracle.com/customers/fedex/. Accessed Dec 7, 2021.