REGISTRO DOI: 10.69849/revistaft/ch10202009180750
Marcello Bortolin Coro
Abstract
Business Intelligence (BI) has become essential in the era of digital transformation, enabling companies to adapt to the rapid and continuous changes in the market. BI facilitates the conversion of data into actionable insights, allowing for more agile and informed decision-making. However, integrating BI into digital strategies presents significant challenges, including managing the exponential increase in data volume and variety from sources like social media, IoT sensors, and digital transactions. The rapid evolution of digital technologies also necessitates constant updates and integration of BI tools, complicating matters for organizations with legacy systems or those in regulated industries. Additionally, the skills gap and the difficulty in fostering a data-driven culture further complicate the effective use of BI. Despite these challenges, BI offers substantial opportunities. It enhances the ability to make real-time decisions, anticipate market trends, and respond quickly to customer demands, providing a competitive edge. BI also enables a deeper understanding of customer behavior and preferences, leading to personalized offerings and improved customer experiences. Moreover, BI drives innovation by revealing hidden patterns in data that can lead to new products and services. Studies reviewed, including those by He et al. (2020), Riera and Iijima (2019), Wolf, Semm, and Erfurth (2018), and Angelopoulos, Kontakou, and Pollalis (2020), highlight both the obstacles and opportunities associated with digital transformation. These studies emphasize the need for updated theoretical insights, effective integration of IT and organizational capabilities, overcoming Industry 4.0 challenges, and embracing new engagement methods. As the digital landscape evolves, success will hinge on leveraging BI to navigate these changes and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
Keywords: Business Intelligence (BI); Digital Transformation; Data Management; Industry 4.0; Innovation.
In the era of digital transformation, Business Intelligence (BI) has emerged as a crucial tool for companies striving to adapt to rapid and constant market changes. As organizations navigate an increasingly complex landscape, BI enables the conversion of data into actionable insights, facilitating more agile and informed strategic decisions. However, integrating BI into digital strategies comes with significant challenges. One major issue is the exponential growth in data volume and variety driven by new technologies, such as social media, IoT sensors, and digital transactions. Managing and analyzing this vast amount of data requires robust solutions, and the rapid evolution of digital technologies demands constant updates and integration of BI tools, a task made more difficult for organizations with legacy systems or those in regulated sectors. Additionally, there is a noticeable skills gap, as many organizations lack trained professionals to interpret BI insights effectively. Building a data-driven organizational culture is also essential but challenging to implement.
Despite these hurdles, BI presents substantial opportunities within digital transformation. The capability to make real-time, informed decisions allows companies to anticipate market trends and respond swiftly to customer demands, thereby gaining a significant competitive edge. BI enhances understanding of customer behavior and preferences, enabling personalized offerings and improved customer experiences. Moreover, BI can drive innovation by uncovering hidden patterns in data that lead to the development of new products and services. This continuous innovation is vital in a dynamic business environment. Together with digital transformation, BI also helps optimize operations by identifying inefficiencies and areas for improvement, resulting in reduced costs, increased productivity, and higher-quality products and services.
Business Intelligence (BI) offers a range of significant advantages that can substantially enhance organizational performance. By transforming raw data into meaningful insights, BI enables companies to make more informed and strategic decisions, leading to improved operational efficiency and a competitive edge. One of the primary benefits of BI is its ability to provide real-time analytics, allowing organizations to quickly adapt to market changes and customer needs. This agility fosters better decision-making and enables businesses to anticipate trends and respond proactively. BI also enhances data visibility and accessibility, empowering employees at all levels with the information needed to drive performance and innovation. Additionally, BI tools facilitate comprehensive data integration from various sources, which supports a more accurate and holistic view of business operations. This integrated perspective helps identify inefficiencies, optimize processes, and uncover new opportunities for growth. Furthermore, by enabling advanced data visualization and reporting, BI helps in communicating insights clearly and effectively across the organization, fostering a data-driven culture. Overall, the strategic use of BI not only boosts operational effectiveness but also supports long-term planning and drives business success.
Figure 1: Business intelligence.
Source: RLDataBI.
The broader scope of digital transformation is further highlighted by the study conducted by He et al. (2020), which addresses how this transformation is reshaping the business landscape. The rapid changes in business activities, expectations, and collaboration modes call for a reevaluation of strategic alliance research. The study encourages multidisciplinary debate to better understand the emerging paradoxes and challenges in forming, evolving, and dissolving strategic alliances in the digital era.
Riera and Iijima (2019) focus on how digital technologies like SMACIT (Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud, and IoT) present both opportunities and threats to organizations. Their research emphasizes the importance of IT and organizational capabilities in achieving Digital Business Value. They analyzed Japanese SMEs recognized for their effective IT use and found that combining IT and organizational capabilities is key to leveraging digital technologies. This study offers practical insights for SMEs looking to adopt digital technologies and contributes to the literature on how dynamic capabilities drive Digital Business Value.
Wolf, Semm, and Erfurth (2018) investigate the opportunities and challenges associated with Industry 4.0 technologies. Their research highlights fundamental obstacles such as isolated thinking, inadequate knowledge management, and limited resources. They identify success factors, including the creation of innovation areas and the use of agile methods, that help companies navigate digital transformation effectively.
Finally, Angelopoulos, Kontakou, and Pollalis (2020) explore how technological transformation is driving the integration of platforms for unique engagement methods. They discuss the impact of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and decentralized intelligence on manufacturing and logistics, and examine how digital transformation intersects with lean principles, ERP systems, and the energy sector. Their research provides a comprehensive overview of how these advancements are reshaping industries and highlights the need for businesses to embrace internal innovation to thrive in the evolving marketplace.
In conclusion, the transformative impact of digital technologies is reshaping the business landscape, and Business Intelligence (BI) plays a pivotal role in navigating this evolution. As organizations confront the challenges of managing vast and diverse data, and as they strive to cultivate a data-driven culture, the strategic integration of BI offers a pathway to more informed and agile decision-making. The studies reviewed highlight that while obstacles such as skills gaps, rapid technological changes, and data management issues persist, they are accompanied by significant opportunities for innovation and competitive advantage.
The research by He et al. (2020) emphasizes the need for updated theoretical insights into strategic alliances to address the paradoxes and challenges of digital transformation. Similarly, Riera and Iijima (2019) reveal that combining IT and organizational capabilities is crucial for SMEs to achieve Digital Business Value. Wolf, Semm, and Erfurth (2018) underscore the importance of overcoming fundamental obstacles to harness the potential of Industry 4.0 technologies effectively, while Angelopoulos, Kontakou, and Pollalis (2020) illustrate how technological advancements are driving new methods of engagement and efficiency across various industries.
Collectively, these studies underscore the importance of adapting to digital transformation by leveraging BI and integrating technological innovations into strategic practices. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, success will increasingly depend on an organization’s ability to harness data-driven insights, embrace innovation, and effectively manage the dynamic challenges and opportunities presented by the digital age.
References
He, Q., Meadows, M., Angwin, D., Gomes, E., & Child, J. (2020). Strategic Alliance Research in the Era of Digital Transformation: Perspectives on Future Research. British Journal of Management. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12406.
Huang, J. (2018). Building Intelligence in Digital Transformation. J. Integr. Des. Process. Sci., 21, 1-4. https://doi.org/10.3233/jid-2018-0006.
Riera, C., & Iijima, J. (2019). The Role of IT and Organizational Capabilities on Digital Business Value. Pac. Asia J. Assoc. Inf. Syst., 11, 4. https://doi.org/10.17705/1PAIS.11204.
Wolf, M., Semm, A., & Erfurth, C. (2018). Digital Transformation in Companies – Challenges and Success Factors. , 178-193. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93408-2_13.