in Blog

February 01, 2022

Cloud Business Intelligence Solutions: Definition & Benefits

Author:




Artur Haponik

CEO & Co-Founder


Reading time:




6 minutes


According to a Dresner Advisory Services study, 54% of businesses today claim that cloud business intelligence is critical to their current and future strategies[1]. This is because the complexity and diversity of most business data necessitate the deployment of a more cost-effective and efficient data analytics platform. The cloud has been seen as a cost reduction strategy for the past few years. But its perception has since changed, especially after the covid-19 pandemic. It has allowed many organizations to have a digital business model for managing their workforce and transacting with customers virtually. No wonder you hear a lot of talks about shifting business intelligence to cloud BI.

So if you’re trying to figure out what makes cloud business intelligence popular, read on as we explore what it is and what it can do for your business.

What are Cloud Business Intelligence Solutions?

Cloud business intelligence is usually made of applications hosted on a virtual network. They provide organizations with access to BI-related data in an effective and convenient manner. Today, most enterprises are turning to cloud computing tools to help them provide more seamless service delivery to their customers and streamline their business operations.

Benefits of Cloud Business Intelligence Solutions

Instant deployment

Application development is becoming increasingly difficult for businesses today[2]. Not so long ago, all developers had to do was just target web applications and desktop windows. But now, with the explosion of cloud computing and different types of devices, application deployment has become harder than ever before.

cloud BI benefit

Cloud services often come pre-configured and, therefore, require a short set-up time. With cloud BI, vendors can provide services immediately upon order. This means that anyone can develop powerful applications and deliver them securely via the web, desktop, or mobile. New projects and users can also be added to the solutions instantly. The entire process runs seamlessly without the need for support and complex IT infrastructures.

It might be interesting for you: 8 Problems Solved by Business Intelligence (BI) Solutions

Instant global presence

With cloud business intelligence solutions, enterprises are no longer tethered to a single physical location to store data. This breeds significant advantages for global organizations since they can store data in data centers located around the world, where it is readily accessible when needed.

By storing their data nearby, companies can reduce latency, thus enabling them to make quick decisions in a limited time. And that’s not all–the ability to support clients from all over the world opens up entirely new revenue streams.

Better security

Cybercrime is up by 600% [3], making cybersecurity a priority for every company with cloud computing needs. Even a single data breach can leave a company potentially vulnerable to data theft and monetary losses. For this reason, cloud BI providers do everything they can to stay up to date with the latest compliance certifications and industry standards.

cybersecurity with cloud BI

Elastic infrastucture

Scalability is a major concern for any company looking for cloud computing solutions. Companies need a business intelligence platform that can scale up as they grow. That way, they can add more storage, users, and features to meet their needs.

But sometimes, companies don’t need to scale up permanently. In such cases, they might choose to scale up for a short period of time when they’re expecting a spike in usage and then can scale back down when their cloud computing needs reduce.

Cloud BI’s flexibility is valuable to companies since they only have to pay for what they need. Rather than investing in expensive hardware and software upfront, they can save money by only getting what they need for a specific period.

Read more about Data Analytics and BI Tools – 8 Best Examples for Your Business 

High performance and reliability

Business intelligence infrastructure can be configured to meet each user’s needs. Most cloud providers offer multi-tenant [4] environments that enable different users to access data through different points. Some cloud BI providers, on the other hand, offer single-tenant environments that deliver improved security and better performance to users.

benefit of cloud BI

Easy data interpretation

Most cloud business intelligence solutions offer in-depth analytics of their data streams. This is further boosted with visual analytics like charts, flowcharts, decision trees, diagrams, and advanced business intelligence analytics.

With such data interpretation and visualization capabilities, cloud-based intelligence solutions streamline data-driven storytelling with better and faster insights on customer behavior, sales performance, and marketing campaigns.

Lower costs

Cloud business intelligence solutions offer robust data reporting and analytics tools that enable businesses to upgrade their sales and marketing activities and increase collaboration between their sales and marketing teams.

lower costs of cloud business intelligence

Cloud BI solutions also eliminate capital expenses for infrastructure, including storage and servers, which present a significant investment for companies. Without faulty equipment and out-of-date hardware associated with physical storage, companies can better focus on other aspects of business and service delivery.

The innate flexibility of cloud BI solutions also allows companies to only pay for the features and services they need, making it far more affordable than using native cloud computing solutions.

Ease of use

In cloud business intelligence, applications run on the cloud. This enables businesses to access their cloud computing solutions from a multitude of devices. In their essence, cloud BI solutions provide companies with browser-based control and pay-per-use privileges.

Unlike native computing solutions, the cloud computing service vendor handles all admin settings and problems, so companies don’t need to be bothered. This also enables them to focus their time effectively on growing their business rather than executing complex settings for each client.

Final thoughts on cloud BI

The need for cloud business intelligence solutions is increasing tremendously across diverse industries, with most industry players incorporating at least one cloud BI solution into their service delivery and operation strategy [5].

It’s crystal clear that the benefits of adopting cloud-based business intelligence services cannot be overlooked. If you’re looking for a trusted partner to support your BI efforts–look no further. The Addepto team is at your service!

References

[1]Dresnadvisory.com. In the News. URL: https://dresneradvisory.com/in-the-news. Accessed January 26, 2022.
[2] Itprotoday.com. Enterprise Application Deployment Challenges. URL: https://www.itprotoday.com/business-resources/enterprise-application-deployment-challenges. Accessed January 26, 2022.
[3] Purplesec.us. Cyber Security Statistics. URL: https://purplesec.us/resources/cyber-security-statistics/.  Accessed January 26, 2022.
[4] Comparethecloud.net. Saas Multi-tenant. URL: https://www.comparethecloud.net/articles/saas-multi-tenant/. Accessed 26 January 2022.
[5]Techjury.com. How Many Companies use Cloud Computing. URL: https://bit.ly/3ANldEk.  Accessed January 26, 2022.



Category:


Business Intelligence