What’s the Difference Between Business Intelligence and Business Analytics?
Last Updated October 7, 2019
Today’s data-driven business culture has given organizations new resources and competitive advantages through the integration of data into everyday operations and strategic business decisions. With this increasing reliance on Big Data and growth in the data, organizations are able to gather, both business intelligence (BI) and business analytics (BA) are crucial for interpreting the information and creating effective, data-based action plans that companies can use for a competitive advantage.
Though they tend to be used interchangeably, business intelligence and business analytics have different applications and different goals. When used together effectively, they can complement each other and maximize efforts to achieve business goals.
Business Intelligence
True to its name, business intelligence (BI) is about using data to make intelligent business decisions by monitoring, collecting and reporting data for interpretation. Since there is so much data out there, BI helps organizations filter through existing relevant data to decipher trends and patterns in the past and present to make better decisions for current operations.
In many organizations, this process is the responsibility of business intelligence analysts who work with data scientists to analyze the gathered data, interpret data patterns and then communicate effectively to their organizations how to best implement these findings. Depending on the industry and area within an organization, business intelligence may also be applied by financial analysts, research analysts, and computer systems analysts.
Business intelligence and the analysts who steer the field provide organizations with the ability to collect and interpret raw data, make informed and quick decisions in the present, and monitor data in real time.
Business Analytics
Business analytics (BA) is vital to utilizing business intelligence to its full potential by working to interpret data to predict future patterns based on current data. Business analytics is great for companies looking to improve or change their current operations and make better decisions for the future. It can be used to strategize, recognize sales and market opportunities, improve relationships with customers, better indicate potential risks and decrease threats based on the analysis of why things happened in the past and if something will occur again.
Due to its rising importance in the age of Big Data, there are a variety of career paths across fields utilizing business analytics and the data it needs to work, including:
- Database Developer: Improves databases to handle raw and unorganized data
- Database Administrator: Sets up, maintains and secures databases to effectively hold and save information vital to the organization
- Data Engineer: Creates large data sets to help analysts decipher the incoming data
- Data Analysis Manager: Effectively interprets and communicates data to their team to help make important decisions and strategize for the future
The benefits of business analytics include the ability to mine data, statistically analyze events and why they occurred, test past decisions and conduct predictive forecasting. The predictive models provided by business analytics make it easier for organizations to strategize without having to react to industry changes; instead, they can work proactively based on cumulative data that determine future outcomes.
BI + BA = Business Success
Since business intelligence focuses on current situations and business analytics determines future situations, combining the two can improve the way an organization reaches current and future business solutions.
Advanced Intelligence and Analytics Needed
In 2017, global revenue in the business intelligence and analytics market was forecast to reach $22.8 billion by 2020, according to Gartner, Inc. The need for data-centric professionals will only grow, and those with the advanced knowledge and experience in data management, programming and analytics can have an advantage, filling the skill gap in this high-demand field. An advanced degree or certificate in business analytics can expand your knowledge and opportunities to gain that competitive advantage.
