As digital transformation evolves, and more businesses begin to harness the power of digital technologies, the rate at which we are creating data is rising by the second.
But, while data offers us invaluable insight in more ways than one, with so much to analyze and such little time, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to understand which metrics offer real value. As such, we have to find approaches to data analytics and business intelligence. By utilizing professional online BI tools, half of the work is already done.
Not to forget, to squeeze the most value from your business’s most valuable data across touchpoints, it’s important to analyze it as it unfolds. If you’re able to respond to metrics or insights as they’re created, you will be able to take immediate action, making your organization more responsive in the process.
Industry or sector aside, real time business intelligence and analytics are invaluable to the ongoing success of your business.
With real time BI and analytics, you will move to the beat of a new digital drum, accelerating the evolution of your organization in ways you never thought possible. Here, we explore these invaluable concepts in more detail, starting with definitions, and looking at a mix of practical examples.
What Is Real Time Business Intelligence?
Real time BI is the application of analytics and data processing tools to gain insight into relevant data and visualizations as they’re created. This level of in-the-moment information is focused on making informed decisions within minutes, with the help of BI systems.
That way businesses remain responsive and adaptable in an ever-changing digital environment. To serve up quality real time data, real time business analytics platforms leverage smart data storage solutions that empower users to gain access to up-to-the-minute insights in one centralized location and act accordingly. Usually the process is done through a BI dashboard software that helps users directly interact with the data and generate insights instantaneously.
BI real time analytics is centered on working with the latest data-driven insights as they unfold and being able to make intelligent decisions swiftly — the kind that will benefit the business in a wealth of key areas.
What Is Real Time Analytics?
Closely related to BI in real time, real time analytics is the term used to describe the process of analyzing data as soon as it enters the system, and transforming it into actionable strategies immediately, allowing users to act instantly and without any delay.
As visualized data presents itself, real time analysis empowers the user to draw swift conclusions that are both informed and accurate. It’s the art of using live dashboards to respond to data promptly.
By focusing on real time analysis, it’s possible to spot emerging trends and pounce on them or prevent detrimental issues before they occur (or get out of control). As such, with real time business analytics, you can thrust yourself ahead of the curve while making your organization as cohesive, communicative, and informed as possible on a sustainable basis. A surefire way to thrive in today’s ever-evolving digital landscape.
Real Time Analytics & Business Intelligence Examples And Use Cases In Various Industries
Now it’s time to dig a little deeper. The business-boosting potential of business intelligence and analytics is clear. However, to really understand how agile business intelligence and real time analytics work, it’s important to explore such metrics or insights in a practical context.
Here, we look at real time analytics examples and real time business intelligence tools to demonstrate how real time data analytics can assist in various key operational areas.
- a) IT project management dashboard
Primary KPIs:
- Total Tickets vs. Open Tickets
- Projects Delivered on Budget
- Average Handle Time
There’s no doubt about it: when it comes to IT in the digital age, troubleshooting emerging issues and remaining adaptable to change at all times is essential. There’s no room for sluggishness or complacency when it comes to a company’s IT department – it is the operational nerve center, after all.
One of our most informational applications, the IT dashboard offers up to date visualizations that IT project managers can use to foster greater efficiency while reducing response times. With this kind of dashboard, you can track all your IT project-related tasks in real time, without waiting for various stakeholders to send you their reports or manually insert any relevant data. The dashboard has everything covered.
Drilling down into every key aspect of the IT department’s various projects and recurring duties, this most perfectly designed of business intelligence analytics tools features key performance indicators (KPIs) built to offer a panoramic view of in-the-moment data, empowering users to extract essential insights at a glance. A prime example of the power of BI real time analytics, visualized on a project management dashboard perfect for the IT department.
- b) Retail store dashboard
Primary KPIs:
- Sales By City
- Out Of Stock Items
- Top 5 Articles By Sold Items
Solid retail store management inspires, educates, and cements success. As smooth operations across the board are so critical to retail growth, having the tools to respond to real time data with informed efficiency will help to push you ahead of the competition.
An invaluable piece of self service BI and real time analytics software, our retail dashboard boasts a balanced mix of real time insights designed to help retail managers and professionals make essential tweaks or changes to their store strategies by leveraging data as it arrives on-screen. For example, if anything runs out of stock, you can immediately spot which merchandise needs to re-stock and maintain your top performance. We all know that customers can quickly find someone else to order from, so your stock items should be closely monitored – always.
Sporting a logical layout and data visualizations built for responsive benchmarking, this dashboard has everything you need to meet or exceed your core retail goals while remaining adaptable at all times. It’s real time BI and analytics software that yields incredible results.
- c) Hospital KPI dashboard
Primary KPIs:
- Patients By Division
- Average Waiting Time
- Outpatients vs. Inpatients
- Available Staff
When it comes to managing your hospital and optimizing your performance, focusing on your real time healthcare data is essential. Hospital strategies require a certain level of flexibility and responsive innovation.
Our hospital dashboard is a piece of real time data analysis software that exists to make the hospital manager’s demanding role easier to manage while offering access to in-the-moment data that creates a clear-cut competitive advantage.
This healthcare-centric real time data analysis software is detailed, visually digestible, and includes a mix of KPIs that provide an all-encompassing view of every critical hospital activity related to a particular division, waiting times or costs. For example, you can see how many patients each division welcomed and how long they had to wait before seeing a doctor. To have that data in-the-moment, each hospital can optimize and boost its performance while taking care of the most important part of the industry: patients.
By using these business intelligence solutions to your competitive advantage, it’s possible to drive down unnecessary costs, leverage emerging trends, and formulate ideas based on the latest data-driven insights. As a result, you can use real time data analytics to extract maximum value from your hospital-based activities with relative ease.
Real Time Analytics Applications – What Real Time BI And Analytics Can Do For You?
We’ve explored striking real time analytics examples and real time analytics use cases. Now, we’re going to consider the benefits of working with in-the-moment insights.
- Informational relevance
Studies suggest that 69 percent of organizational data loses its relevance or regulatory value the longer it sits on the shelf. But with real time data analysis, you will gain access to completely fresh, compliant, and relevant information – the kind that you can harness to make decisions that enhance all facets of your business on a sustainable basis. With real time data analysis, there’s far less chance of falling down an informational rabbit hole and working with insights that offer little value – an essential advantage in today’s fast-paced commercial environment.
- Increased Innovation
By being able to connect with data-driven insights as they’re born and having the tools to put them into context, you will be able to improve innovation throughout your business. While many strategies are formed over a longer timeframe, some of the best initiatives come from swift decision-making based on events, trends, or information as it happens. If you’re able to be creative yet informed in the moment, you will foster innovation, which, in turn, will catalyze your business success.
- Zero latency
When it comes to tackling important issues or making powerful decisions, in business, hesitation will only serve to stunt progress. But with data analytics in real time, you will be able to react without delay, confident that you’re acting on relevant insights as well as real time analytics tools that exist to navigate your choices with strategic success. If you’re able to respond to trending data faster than your competitors, you will become more successful – and that’s the power of data analytics in real time. For more insights, read our tips and tricks on developing a successful BI project.