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With the best business intelligence tools, you can access, prepare, analyze, and share findings from various business data sources. If used correctly, your business can benefit greatly. 

What are business intelligence tools?

Business Intelligence tools, also known as BI tools, are types of application software that collect, analyze and process large amounts of historical and current data from internal and external systems, including books, journals, documents, files, emails, and more.
Business intelligence platforms are not as flexible compared to business analytics tools. BI tools are most commonly used when uncovering data processed through ad hoc queries. 

These specific tools help to equip the data for analysis so that you can successfully present the uncovered findings in intuitive visual formats, including reports, dashboards, and other data visualization tools. 

The results from the data sets uncovered by using business intelligence software help business owners and employees make better data-driven business decisions, accelerate operational efficiency, point out new revenue potentials, identify trends in the market, and hone in on new business opportunities. 

We have found the top six best business intelligence tools of 2022 and shared them with you below. 

Top business intelligence tools of 2023:

1

Zoho Analytics

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Zoho Analytics is a great BI tool that provides data analytics and in-depth reporting. It also provides a self-service BI tool and other various business tools related to business intelligence. 

This BI tool can quickly build a connector using integration APIs. It can also connect to multiple sources that most businesses use, such as spreadsheets, SQL databases, cloud applications, and even social media platforms. 

This allows you to gain a complete picture of your business by analyzing all this data in one place. 

After the data is merged, prepared, and analyzed, you can uncover hidden insights with the help of predictive analytics. Then you can create meaningful and personalized reports and real-time dashboards. 

Zoho offers a 15-day free trial, with subsequent plans ranging from $24 to $455 per month, and is best for large-scale data analysis due to its comprehensive platform.

2

Looker

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Looker is a business intelligence tool and analytics platform that is an extension of Google Cloud. Its mission is to help you deliver value through solid and fresh insights. 

In other words, this tool enables you to analyze and share real-time analytics and combines all of the data for a broader overview of what is happening in your business, as the data reveals. 

This business intelligence tool integrates well with any SQL database, BigQuery, Redshift, Snowflake, and many more. You can also choose the cloud you want to work with, for example, Google Cloud Platform and AWS (Amazon Web Services). 

With engaging visualizations, Looker provides the tools your employees need to work as a unified team and collaborate on smarter next steps.

It is great for startups, mid-size businesses, and enterprise-grade businesses. 

3

Tableau

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Tableau is one of the most popular business intelligence tools today and can easily be considered one of the world’s leading platforms. 

This online analytical processing platform offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface to help data scientists, data warehouse specialists, and analysts access and analyze complex data, make reports, and share insights across your organization. 

It also leverages specialized algorithms to automate redundant tasks like type correction by programming these steps into one click. 

Tableau prep is one of the most exciting features on Tableau, where you can clean, combine, and prep data at faster speeds. 

Additionally, Tableau Prep Builder and Tableau Prep Conductor also offer unique functions. The builder helps with data flow, while the conductor aids in scheduling, scaling, monitoring, and managing workflows across the board. 

Tableau offers different pricing plans based on your business needs starting at $70 per month and upwards after add-ons. 

4

Sisense

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Sisense is a well-known business intelligence tool primarily for managing complex data. 

It offers a self-service analytics platform that accesses big data from multiple touch points and integrates with other sources such as Adwords, Google Analytics, and Salesforce. It uses in-chip technology, which allows data to be processed faster than its competitors. 

A unique feature of Sisense is Sisense Pulse. It leverages machine learning to identify any data anomalies. Some other key features include mashup, cleanse, and an interactive dashboard. 

When business users are ready to draw up their reports, they have hundreds of predesigned data visualization widgets to choose from. For pricing, you’ll need to reach out and request a price quote. 

5

SAP Business Intelligence

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SAP Business Intelligence offers a business intelligence suite specializing in data reporting tools, data visualization, and sharing. It is an on-premise BI layer for SAP’s Business Technology platform.

This cloud-based analytics solution uses in-memory computing and machine learning technologies to help you answer complex problems. They integrate with Microsoft Office Suite, though they mainly focus on Excel and PowerPoint. 

Some key BI features include SAP Analytics Cloud, Predictive Analytics, and BusinessObjects BI Suite. 

For pricing, SAP Business Intelligence suggests that you get in touch to receive a personalized quote. 

6

Microsoft Power BI

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Microsoft Power BI is another highly-rated business intelligence tool best used in collaboration with other Microsoft Office Suite products like Office 365, Dynamics 365, and Azure.

This BI tool is popular among startups because of the familiarity with Office Suite tools that most employees have. Data analysts can easily apply their knowledge from Excel and move on to analyzing data with similar templates and user interface features that offer more advanced analytics and data preparation tools. 

With Microsoft Power BI, you can deliver fresh insights, create and modify data reports and dashboards, and securely share them with your team. 

Some other beneficial tools are learning resources and tutorials that you can review and share with your business for maximized efficiency and the ability to connect with live data and utilize ad hoc queries.

There are two pricing plans available. Power BI Pro is $9.99 per month, and Power BI Premium is $4,995 per month for large enterprises with extensive data. 

What are the benefits of using data intelligence tools?

The most efficient BI software and tools can benefit your business in multiple ways. Let’s take a look.

Combining all relevant data.

Small and large companies collect data from various portals, including ERPs (enterprise resource planning), CRMs (customer relationship management), flat files, databases, APIs (application programming interface), and much more. 

You will need a high-level BI tool to bring it all together to manage all of these metrics. Once the data is connected, businesses will have a broader picture of their operations and be able to identify issues and trends, perform analysis, and take action. 

Unlock data access with self-service BI.

Self-service BI approaches give organizations a competitive advantage over others in their industry. Each employee with access to this service will be equipped with the data analytics skills needed to make the company run more smoothly, saving time and resources in the long run. 

Making predictions based on data.

Nowadays, BI tools have evolved so much that they can make predictions based on intelligent data alerts triggered by changing business conditions. 

This level of technology allows you to cut out excessive manual work and automate processes so that you can focus on other business tasks. 

Automate processes.

BI tools are designed to update your KPI dashboards in real-time. You can also automate the reporting process by specifying time intervals and reporting. You can create powerful interactive dashboards and interact with them all on one screen. 

This makes a more intuitive approach to data analysis.

Reduce business costs.

You can enable faster planning, data analysis, and reporting with powerful BI tools. They also encourage more streamlined sales planning, customer behavior analysis, and real-time process monitoring and optimization. 

With these tools, you can potentially reduce business costs while increasing business revenue. 

The bottom line.

In summary, gaining access to an efficient business intelligence tool for your business is essential for data integration, business insights, and, ultimately, your decision-making process. 

The best tools on the market will allow you to access, prepare, analyze, share and make predictions to improve your business performance. Today, businesses rely heavily on data management to drive their next business moves, so choosing the right BI platform or mobile app is essential. 

Some other good options include IBM Cognos Analytics, SAS Business Intelligence, and Oracle BI, all of which are SaaS BI platforms with interesting strengths.If you are in the market to build and grow your business, we can help. Check us out at Entrepreneur.com today. 

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