Business Intelligence – game changer in times of crisis

A lot has been written about how much our world has changed in the past 2-3 years. Let’s look at these changes from a new perspective – the businesses and the data that is being analyzed every day. We should pay attention. It all happened before.

A Vicious Circle – From Crisis To Crisis

In the beginnings of the 2007-2008 crisis, my line of work gave me the opportunity to meet many different companies. At the time, I was responsible for selling the QlikView system – a new generation tool for business data analytics, which was just entering the Polish market. It was a real game changer.

Contrary to the existing IBM, SAP or SAS solutions available on the market, QlikView could turn rough data into information and conclusions in a matter of hours. It took the other systems months, or even years, and an equally overblown budget to achieve the same goal.

Many Faces Of One Crisis

The behaviors of businesses in the face of that crisis can be divided into three categories, based on the attitude towards the occurring changes and the mode of action taken:

• Steamrollers: There is no time for data analytics. Let’s keep going in the same direction we were already headed – it is a safe, tested route.           
• Giants on Clay Feet: We need to set up a team to create reports we will base our future actions on. We hereby launch the Data Warehouse v. 1.0. project.
             
• Smarts: Old methods won’t work. We need to be quick and agile, because what we are seeing now is just the first wave of the crisis. More are coming, and we have to be able to react quickly when they arrive. We need agile systems that we can develop on our own, based on a new, different way of thinking.

How did that story end? Predictably. Many Steamroller companies did not make it to 2010. The Giants are currently finalizing Data Warehouse v. 2.0., but unfortunately they are basing it on the 2019 estimates that don’t take into account the changes that happened in the past few years. And the Smarts? They are doing fine. They are riding the new waves of crisis, positioning themselves to get the best surfing conditions.

Today, we look around and see a very familiar picture. Once again, we see the same modes of action and decision-making in the face of the current crisis. We don’t need in-depth analyses to predict the outcome – analogies follow their own rules. Probably all we need to do is change the numbers in the paragraph above. Done.

Is Being a Smart Enough?

Yes and no. Today, being a Smart is what we call “good enough.” Using agile methods of company management allows you to steer your business more effectively in the face of the current wave of the crisis.

If you are using data analytics to do that – that’s great. But it is not enough to anticipate the upcoming risks and chances, and to get ahead of the competition. This requires new tools, new skills, and a new mindset.

Towards Business Intelligence

What is the next step? Choosing analytical solutions that will not only allow you to look at your data in the past, but also set the trends, point to potential future events, and set off the right processes autonomically, without human intervention. Regardless of your data size and location, and of whether there is a Data Science specialist at your organization.

This is what we do on a daily basis – we support businesses that focus on modern solutions and conscious growth. We provide them with tools that turn them into the Smarts of their industries, not only in the face of a crisis. Check out the scheme below to see which areas of your business we can help you improve:

Who We Are and What We Do?

Hello. We’re Data Wizards. We might be new to the Executive Club, but we are no strangers to the world of data, whose apt analytics fuels the growth of businesses. We help companies turn data into conclusions on a daily basis.

Our specialists have been working in the data analysis field for over a decade. We carried out hundreds of Business Intelligence projects in Poland and worldwide. Our solutions are built based on the Qlik products and we enjoy the company’s highest partnership status – Qlik Elite Solution Provider.

If you want to talk to us about how data analytics, AI, ML or process automation can help your business grow despite the new waves of crises, scan the QR code attached.

Tomasz Samagalski, Data Wizards CEO

Last Updated on March 29, 2023 by Valeriia Honcharuk