Digital marketing, scalability, sales metrics, brand awareness – with so many goals, it can be easy for a business owner to let some tasks fall through the cracks as they rush to keep up with the competition.

But one thing you don’t want to neglect is data analytics. Data mining, process analysis, performance management analytics – all that comes in the form of business intelligence. To make it simple: Business intelligence is about collecting, storing, and examining data, all so a business can crush the competition.

Business intelligence tools (or BI tools) take many forms, including spreadsheets, data-mining apps, and data visualization software like Tableau or the powerhouse Microsoft Power BI. With all of these options available, how do you know when it’s time to reassess your methods? Here are five surefire signs that you need better business intelligence tools for your business.

1. All of your data analytics come from one department

It makes sense for small to medium-sized businesses (or startups) to rely on an information technology (IT) department to handle data analytics. Parsing complex data requires tech skills that many workers aren’t likely to have. 

However, funneling everything through one department is a surefire way to slow business operations and limit the scope of research that can be completed quickly. Thankfully, there are business intelligence software solutions that can kickstart your end-user reporting capabilities, with prime data warehousing examples such as:

• Relational database servers (SQL RDBS): You can easily store and organize large sets of data with these programs by making use of additional features like custom-report generation and smart sorting to streamline your analytics. 
• Examples: Microsoft SQL, ApexSQL, Tableau.
• Non-Relational Database Servers (No-SQL): Instead of traditional RDBS, explore customizable data storage frameworks that support scalability for long-term success. Examples: MongoDB, Amazon DynamoDB, and Couchbase.

2. You’re spending too much time on data mining, analytics, and reports

Microsoft Excel may have been your saving grace for a while now, but the spreadsheet software has its limits. Over time, your datasets can grow too large to be navigated without slowdowns. Or maybe you have simply reached the limits of the software and need additional business intelligence tools.

Software such as Microsoft Power BI can streamline the ways you sort, filter, and navigate your data. Data mining (say, “drilling down” to find the root cause of a particular underperformance) with tools such as the free MonkeyLearn and open-source RapidMiner programs, is your key to quickly understanding data trends. 

For even more clarity in your data analytics, advanced analytics tools take your research to another level with powerful modeling techniques that forecast future events and uncover patterns you may have otherwise missed. Advanced methods like predictive analytics, multimedia analytics, and simulation optimization can help you identify and resolve abstract or otherwise unidentifiable analytics challenges. Some great advanced analytics tools include:

• Alteryx: This suite of software products specializes in combining data science with machine learning, allowing you to automate processes with ease. Additionally, no coding experience is required to use this user-friendly, drag-and-drop approach to visualization.
• Anaconda: Another suite focused on automated data science, Anaconda relies on an open-source Python and R-focused platform to meet your data-mining needs.
• DataRobot: This software automates the entire process of building and deploying your own AI, affording you a high level of customization in how you manage your data.
• Google Cloud AI: Ever the powerful force in handling data, Google offers one of the largest machine-learning stacks (or collection of software applications) available right now through its powerful Google Cloud AI platform.

3. Competitors always seem one step ahead

So, you recently completed your routine competitive analysis… and the data suggests, once again, that your business is a step behind competitors. This could be a matter of market strategy or the wrong consumer base – but there’s no way to know without strong data analytics. 

A more powerful BI tool for competitive analyses might be the perfect solution; many of these software applications automate and streamline the process of assessing competitors’ strategies, making it easier to plan marketing or brand-engagement campaigns. Some of the best competitive intelligence software is free, including Crunchbase, Owler, Talkwater, MOAT, and good, old-fashioned Google Alerts.

4. Your business has no data visualization

No matter how useful your existing business analytics tools are, reports are much easier to understand with the help of data visualization. Tools like Microsoft Power BI and Dundas BI are packed with additional features that can quickly translate your data into informative charts and graphs. These are essential to gaining a better understanding of the underlying trends and takeaways of your data.

5. Your teams don’t work well together

Without a uniform framework for business intelligence and data analytics, your business may be suffering from failures in communication. It’s estimated that more than 30% of information from any given data set is likely to contain errors once it’s been worked on by another user. 

That means your Excel sheet, which is already straining to keep up with your scaling business, could have outdated or incorrect information. Factor in multiple departments or teams, and your issues could easily snowball into problems that require time-consuming resolutions. Implementing a centralized database or data warehouse, such as MongoDB or Microsoft SQL Server, can be a simple solution to streamline your data analytics operations and ensure everyone stays on the same page.