You might have come across terms such as data analytics and business intelligence. At times people confuse the two terms. Though data analytics can be considered a part of business intelligence, there is a clear difference between both! It is important to know the difference between business intelligence Vs data analytics.

For any business, adopting business intelligence and data analytics can help in achieving an in-depth understanding of the day-to-day business operations and improving decision-making.

What is Business Intelligence?

Before we have a look at business intelligence Vs data analytics, let’s first have a look at business intelligence. It is the process of gathering data from different business operations, organizing it, and using it for further analysis. BI generally explains the reason for the past performance of the business and offers a reflection of the overall growth.

Business intelligence uses data to provide insight into the business records. It helps the team to evaluate the journey efficiently and gauge the direction where the company is heading towards. Business intelligence considers different scenarios for helping with accurate business decisions.

Earlier, business intelligence was used to produce reports manually for a business. But, stakeholders would ask for reports on regular intervals such as monthly or quarterly basis. It became tedious for the BI analysts to produce such reports regularly.

However, today business intelligence relies on automated reports that are generated from in-house data analytics processes. Thus, data analytics becomes an integral part of business intelligence. As mentioned above, there is a difference between the two and we will have a detailed look at business intelligence Vs analytics below.

Purpose of Business Intelligence

The main aim of business intelligence is to get an insight into the operations and direction of the company which ultimately helps with better decision-making with the data. BI achieves the same by producing reports for the managers so they can make the right decisions. Reports contain information on what happens inside a company and focus on the external factors affecting the business. The reports might offer an analysis of the market where they wish to operate.

In short, business intelligence aims at improving the organization’s business operations with the use of relevant data. Businesses that employ business intelligence techniques and tools effectively in their company can transform the collected data into meaningful insights. These insights can help improve business processes and craft brilliant pricing strategies.

What is Data Analytics?

Data analytics is the process which revolves around data analysis. It answers well-defined and specific queries related to the business. It consists of creating ongoing reports and predictions by creating an automatic system for monitoring and using the data.

Data analytics includes collecting the data, preparing it, visualizing, and communicating end result of the analysis. It helps in setting up an automated system for regular reporting. Data analytics is categorized into four namely, descriptive, predictive, diagnostic, and prescriptive. Each of them answers a different question.

1. Descriptive Analytics

It is the basic type of analytics which describes specific events that took place. An example of descriptive analytics is the streaming services deciding which programs are trending for listing them on the home screen.

2. Diagnostic Analytics

This type of analytics is used for finding out the reason why something happened. An example can be finding out why consumers are canceling their subscription to a service.

3. Predictive Analytics

As the name suggests, predictive analytics predicts what might happen in the coming future. An example of predictive analytics is the marketing department relying on predictive analysis for forecasting the trends for identifying the best time for running their campaigns.

4. Prescriptive Analytics

Prescriptive analytics is considered as most complex type of analytics which makes use of advanced statistical modeling along with machine learning to find out what a business must do next. Prescriptive and predictive analytics is generally used by data scientists but they are considered a part of the data analytics process.

Read Also: What is Business Intelligence and Analytics?

Difference between Business Intelligence and Data Analytics

The aim of business intelligence and data analytics is to benefit the decision-making process and contribute to the growth of the company. However, both of them do the same in a different manner.

Now that we have learned about data analytics and business intelligence, it’s time to have a look at business intelligence Vs data analytics.

1. Functionality

The main aim of the business intelligence is to offer support for decision-making and help the company grow its business. On the other hand, the prime aim of data analytics is to organize, cleanse, predict, and transform the data based on the business needs.

2. Scope

BI tries to understand the overall operation and direction of the business while data analytics within a business focuses on answering particular questions. In business intelligence Vs data analytics, the scope of data analytics is smaller. The BI analyst has a higher salary as compared to the analyst as the role needs a higher level of business knowledge.

3. Focus

Data analytics consists of predictive and prescriptive analytics. It is quite complex and focuses on the future while BI focuses on descriptive data with a historical focus.

4. Implementation

Business intelligence is implemented with various BI tools. It is implemented on historical data stored in the data marts and data warehouses. Data analytics is implemented with different data storage tools. It is also implemented with BI tools depending on the strategy developed by an organization.

5. Reporting

Reporting and style of data visualization differ in both BI and data analytics based on the scenario and type of data. When a business intends to forecast future trends with the help of past data, data analytics reporting is considered the best. On the other hand, business intelligence is best when a business wants to extract a large volume of current data for generating a report.

Embrace the Power of BI and Data Analytics

Now, it is time to empower your team with data-driven insights, embrace change, and embark on a new transformative journey where data becomes the driving force behind your organization’s success and growth. Unlock the door to unprecedented success with WebDataGuru’s business intelligence, and your journey awaits!