2 (a) BI often involve analysing summary data and combining data from multiple operational systems. Early tools that could extract data from a range of sources, then load and processing the data in preparation for analysis were called ETL which stands for Extract, transform and load. However, as data warehouse industry has matured and so have ETL tools and now referred to as Enterprise Information Management (EIM).
4 (a) (i) BI delivers process improvements
The example of this claim would be an oil and gas company (Howson, 2008). A review of the process showed that gas was being delivered to customers on time but an invoice was sent a week later. Reducing the time in the delivery to invoice process helped the company to solve cash-flow problems. BI allowed the company to identify the problem and helped to make improvements in process with creating a new rule of invoicing within one day of delivery. (ii) BI improves customer service
Continental airlines uses business intelligence to monitor how full business class cabins are and o ensure its most valued customers receive complimentary upgrades when space permits which improves customer service. (iii) BI makes the world better
Emergency medical associates uses BI to analyse patients trends in New York and New Jersey to better predict and prepare for disease outbreaks and to improve emergency room care in area hospitals.
4 (b) BI appliances
BI appliances combine hardware, a database and BI tools on a platform that’s tuned for analysis workloads.BI appliances combine the server, database, data storage and BI capabilities into one system in a box. The purpose of this is to cover the underlying software components complexity and to make it simple like operating a TV system.
A BI appliance is an integrated set of servers, storage, database, operating system and software that is specifically preconfigured and tuned for the accuracy of data warehousing. Data warehouse appliances have reduced maintenance requirements and offer an attractive price and performance value proposition.
With so many benefits, this technology also has some drawbacks such as BI appliances help us focus on solving the business problem and not the performance problem.
BI Software as a Service (SAAS)
Software as a Service (SAAS) is a delivery model for business intelligence in which applications are typically installed outside of a company’s firewall at a hosted location and accessed by an end user with a secure Internet
