Though there are a multitude of advantages that a cloud BI system has over a traditional on-premises analytics infrastructure, there are seven major ones that apply to businesses of all sizes and industries:
- Automatically consolidate your most critical data. What is Business Intelligence without the intelligence? Cloud BI and analytics solutions are able to pull data from integrated applications throughout your infrastructure, consolidating them automatically into a single resource that can then be data mined and analyzed.
- Improve the efficiency of analytics and reporting. With a cloud-based BI solution, all analytics and reporting can be viewed from a single, easy-to-use dashboard. These reports and analytic services can be configured to show each individual the data that means the most to them.
- Integrate multiple systems together. Most companies today are running a multitude of different solutions. In a cloud infrastructure, all of these tools can be integrated together — for better performance and ease of maintenance.
- Promote sharing and collaboration. Cloud solutions are “always on,” enabling faster collaboration and easier sharing. Employees will be able to transfer documents rapidly and to work on them and view them at the same time, thereby creating an easier working environment.
- Model scenarios and prepare for the future. The advanced resources and technology of a cloud BI solution can be leveraged to model projected scenarios and to prepare for the future. This gives a business invaluable information regarding its options moving forward.
- Ensure the accuracy and fidelity of information. Within a cloud-based environment, data can be checked and re-checked, formulas can be preserved, and links can be maintained, all automatically — so reports stay the way that they were created and important information can be directly imported in.
- Reduce operating costs and IT expenses. Finally, cloud-based solutions are naturally less expensive than on-premises solutions, with no hardware to support and no expensive software licenses.
Cloud-based business intelligence and analytics solutions are able to improve upon operational efficiencies and data analysis while also reducing costs. Many businesses will find themselves both saving money and gaining productivity through a transition.
Organizations that rely completely on Excel for their analysis can find themselves in experiencing a lot of unnecessary pain and frustration. Learn how to avoid these headaches in the eBook: The 9 Circles of Excel Hell
See the power of combined Cloud BI and Cloud ERP in the Integration Options for NetSuite + Adaptive Insights Feature Sheet.