When a company wants to compile its sales, production and other types of data, it relies on certain types of computer programs to do that. Business intelligence software can sort these figures so that they can be studied and the results can be put into effect. Here are some types of business intelligence tools available to corporations.
Data Mining
One tool that businesses can use to help with future sales is data mining. Programs will analyze the information of several databases to look for patterns between them all. When the final numbers are gathered, the person who ran the software can use the data offered to forecast out sales, production and warehouse storage with fairly close certainty. Companies can use this tool to plan what they want to manufacture or what type of discount to offer a customer.
Spreadsheets
Companies can collect and store numbers in spreadsheets so that they can use them in reports or to calculate formulas. These can be tabbed so that each category gets its own individual page. Statistics and charts can be added to a spreadsheet as well as mathematical equations. Many software programs that offer spreadsheets will allow you to email them to customers or others within the business.
Dashboards
If you want a one-stop spot for employees or customers to see information like sales, warehouse levels, production and any other important data for your company, you would need to set up a dashboard for them. This tool typically resides on a website that is readily available to the end-user. It is attached to the database where the original computations are stored so that they can be kept up-to-date as quickly as possible. Many times charts are used instead of numbers to make the dashboard easier to read and understand.
Geographic Information System
When you want to know the specific sales and amount of product used in one particular area of the country, you can utilize a geographic information system, or GIS, to do this. This program will allow you to click on a map and then process the databases involved to provide you with the knowledge that you requested. You can then use that data to customize a marketing program for that certain region of the country and then produce what will sell the best there. Using business intelligence tools for your company can help boost your sales by combining the information from several different databases and delivering them to your company in the manner that works best.
