Business Intelligence / Features

From BI analysts and BI developers to BI architects and BI directors, business intelligence pros are in high demand. Here are 11 certifications that could give your career an edge.

The business intelligence analyst role is highly analytical and requires a balance of IT, communication and problem-solving skills.

R is mighty, but it can be complex for data tasks. Learn how to get summaries, sort and do other tasks with relative ease. (Now updated with dplyr examples.)

From books to videos to online tutorials -- most free! -- here are plenty of ideas to burnish your R knowledge.

A universal semantic data layer is a single business representation of all corporate data aimed at helping users access data using common business terms via the BI and analytics tools of their choice.

Traditionally, enterprises have focused their data strategies around business intelligence (BI), but the rise of predictive and prescriptive analytics platforms, in part thanks to machine learning and artificial intelligence, is changing the equation. Even business intelligence itself is evolving, tipping in capabilities previously exclusive to business analytics platforms.

Why x=3 doesn't always mean what you think it should, about data types and more.

From no-frills graphics to adding color and labeling your data, here's what you need to know.

In part 1 of our hands-on series, we explain why R's a great choice for basic data analysis and visualization work, and how to get started.

Whether it's local or from the Web, there are several ways to get data into R for further work.

Microsoft Power BI provides organizations with self-service business intelligence tools that allow users to analyze, visualize and share data using the familiar Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Here are 12 success stories built on Power BI.

Studies show that around 40% of products fail. But what if product designers could understand what features are most and least popular, which components tend to fail sooner than others, and how customers actually use products versus how designers think they use them? And, what if product developers could then utilize these insights to develop products that perform better, potentially cost less and, most importantly, are aligned with actual customer needs?

The recent Demo Traction event showcased a host of young companies that are gaining market momentum.  Each gave their pitch and then answered to a panel of judges.  If it is important for you to stay on the up and up with emerging technologies, this is must watch stuff.

Most financial service firms, which includes banking and insurance companies, are engaged in a big data project to increase the pace of innovation and uncover game-changing business outcomes. The pressing challenge now is how to drive more continuous value and unearth opportunities more rapidly. 

In these heady days of Big Data, a lot of organisations treat data collection like a Pokémon game: Gotta catch it all. But Dane Atkinson, CEO of cross-platform marketing analytics specialist, SumAll, says most organizations need to think wide, not big, when it comes to data.

Historically, cloud BI has been mostly used by smaller businesses, but larger enterprises are starting to make the trek.

According to Gartner, business Intelligence and analytics will remain a top focus for CIOs through 2017, with companies spending millions on traditional BI software, cloud BI services and now mobile apps and even social BI. However, as the type and number of BI solutions has grown, so too has the possibility of failure, of picking the wrong business intelligence software for your business problem or problems or of having end users not understand or properly use the solution.

With its new Fire Phone, Amazon is primarily interested in connecting to its 250 million Amazon and Prime customers with a phone that makes it quick and easy to shop over the Web.

Companies are having to be pickier about which data sets they collect, process and use. It's all about having the right architecture in place.

Brian A. Haugabrook, interim CIO at Valdosta State University in Georgia, deployed analytics tools that enable faculty and staff to identify students who need extra help. The effort paid off with higher graduation rates.