Last Updated on December 3, 2022 by Arif Chowdhury
First of all, what are business intelligence tools for data analysis? Thus, this software enables you to analyze all sorts of business-related data and helps you to make complex decisions easily. In other words, it makes your life a lot easier than before.
When it comes to a small business, you may not need it right away. However, when a company grows too large to handle, you must look for something similar.
For example, when your business makes millions of dollars in sales in a single month with millions of inventories to count as well as hundreds of different types of customer segments, then creating a simple decision is very hard unless you know what’s going on around your organization by utilizing data visualization. It is impossible without data analytics software, data management, and analytical processing from a single platform.
Why do we need business intelligence tools? You know what I mean if you already have a large organization. And this is where BI (Business Intelligence) tools rescue you from a dire situation. If you are unfamiliar with this software, don’t worry; keep reading the entire guide from top to bottom, and you will know.
What are the best business intelligence tools?
If you search on Google, you will find lots of it. To make it easy for you, I have hand-picked several of my favorite BI tools that I used in my business and also for my client’s business. This software is equipped with the latest artificial intelligence; thus, they are outstanding in machine learning and capable of predictive analysis based on your business data.
In this guide, I will walk you through detailed information about each software; however, which one is best, you have to decide for yourself.
So, why are we waiting? But first, let me show you the types of business intelligence tools and why we need them.
1. Charito.
Create a visualization of your business data – free run for 14 days.
One of the leading business intelligence tools used by many well-known brands around the globe, i.e., Squarespace, Optimizely, Wepay, Udacity, etc.
The good news is that if you want to try out their software before purchase, you can do it for 14 days without disclosing any financial information like debit/credit card.
One of the main advantages of this software is that you do not need years of experience or a degree to build a professional-level business performance report. Just feed appropriate data to the software, and you are done.
No need to hire experts to generate lengthy reports. With their artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, BI software can do it within minutes to build, track and update performance reports daily to keep your team focused on their target. In addition, user-friendly software and accurate data mining will help your team in decision-making.
The smart dashboard will help you to identify strengths and weaknesses.
Almost all businesses used MS Excel to prepare various reports even a decade ago. Even today, most 3rd world organizations are still using MS Excel. However, the 1st world is slowly turning its head towards various types of BI software to get ahead of its competitors.
As you can see in the above example of the Charito dashboard, here it shows the yearly performance report of a business. You can see vital information at a glance. Most importantly, it’s a live update, which means every action will change the report, and you will see it instantly, unlike a regular excel report prepared by the account manager, where every new update will reflect on the following report, perhaps in the next month. But, if you use BI software, you will get it in the next hour. Thus, whenever you want to make an informed decision, you can do it.
Another powerful feature is – you can visualize according to your imagination. For instance, if your data is geographical, you can visualize it with a global map—an excellent way to pinpoint your next strategic movement.
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Easily compare against previous performance to measure growth.
You can also compare your business performance based on the previous year, month, or even days. Everything is visual. Therefore, it is straightforward to identify a business’s strengths and weaknesses.
Now let’s talk about their pricing model. If you have a small business, a Starter plan should be enough for your needs, as you will get up to 50 charts per user. This plan costs you $40 per month per user (if you choose the annual subscription option).
Check their Professional or Organization plan for more features when you have a mid to large-level organization. For example, you will get 100 charts per user, and in an Organization plan, there is no limitation at all. Again, best suited for a large business.
Besides, if you are unsure about it, try their no-risk 14-days trial (no debit/credit card required).
2. Sisense.
A web-based, end-to-end BI tool for business data scientists.
Sisense is one of the leading BI tools used by the world’s largest organizations, i.e., Fujitsu, Motorola, Philips, Expedia, etc. The best practice is – to follow the leaders, and you won’t be wrong.
Before you start, you have several options to test them out. First, try their demo to watch everything in detail. Second, test their trial plan—nothing to lose from your end. Finally, after you are satisfied, choose to purchase their product.
They are offering you two ways to install this system. One, you can start using this software online. No hassle from your end; no IT expert is needed for it. A regular business user can operate it.
The second is – you can install it on your business premises. You will have complete control over your software. However, you may need an IT expert to operate it, as this software will run from your server.
Upon installation, you can access it through the standard web browser from your desktop or laptop, or you may use it from your handheld device, like a smartphone or tablet.
Quick and smart analysis based on AI-powered technology.
One of the best parts is – it has almost zero learning curve. A self-explanatory software will teach you on the go. No training is needed.
Suppose you have an inventory-based business, i.e., a factory, production house, warehouse, etc. It can handle it perfectly. If you have a service-related business, still no problem at all. No matter which type of business you have, as long as you have a data warehouse, you can use this BI tool to analyze it within minutes.
With an intelligent call center management dashboard, you can control this department’s efficiency and effectiveness from a single platform. No more maintaining several supporting officers to handle it. Instead, this BI tool can handle it with an intelligent AI-powered analytic system.
Search engine marketing and PPC dashboard will let you analyze how your every dollar is spent and what outcome you get in return. By utilizing this tool, you can increase your efficiency in online marketing.
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World-leading brands are using them – so why not?
When it comes to the pricing model, I already stated above. You will check out their software by watching a demo or using their free trial plan.
If you are satisfied, head to their pricing tab. Here, you will see some information they are asking to provide you with a better custom pricing quote than a flat one.
3. Microsoft Power BI.
World-leading brand business intelligence software – free forever.
One of the best and one of my favorite BI tools presented by the Microsoft brand. You can use other Microsoft software like Office 365 and Azure.
Get a 30-day free trial for a cloud-based solution. Otherwise, you may use its desktop version utterly free from your computer. Yes, you heard right. It’s completely free to download and use without spending a single dime.
It’s a web-based application. Thus, it allows you to use it with any device you like, mobile, tablet, etc. However, the desktop version (free) can only be accessible from a desktop or laptop.
One of the main reasons I like it most is that – It has powerful data-driven technology to quickly analyze any amount of data. Besides, anyone at any level of knowledge can use it. If you do not have professional-level skills, don’t even bother. You can use it perfectly.
If you know how to use MS Office, it’s enough for you.
You must have up-to-date knowledge about your business-related information in a business. Usually, traditional business reporting takes days to weeks to complete. So your decision-making speed won’t be any faster than that. However, using this BI tool, you can take any emergency decision up to the minute with a thoroughly analyzed business report.
On top of that, intelligent AI-powered analytic features enable you to make optimized decisions. Just think about it, if you do not have the proper skill, it doesn’t matter. All you have to do is – feed the software with the right amount of related data, and that’s it.
How about some free stuff? It offers you a library of 120+ connectors. So you can easily connect with almost everyone on board. In addition, you can easily connect with hundreds of other 3rd party software like MS Office, Azure SQL database, Excel, Salesforce, etc.
One of the fantastic features is that integrating with Azure lets you quickly analyze even petabytes of data. Excellent for big data events.
The world is at your fingertips; see everything in the birds-eye view.
You can import different data sets from various sources by utilizing power pivot to create a single platform database.
Innovation QandA tools allow you to use a pre-designed template that will professionally showcase your data in case you do not have prior experience. Very useful for beginners; no need to hire experts; you alone can do it with the help of this BI tool.
Now, let me tell you something about its pricing model. First of all, you can use their standalone desktop version for free. However, you can use “Power BI Pro” a cloud-based and Microsoft-managed version. You can use it for only $9.99 per month. This plan is best for small businesses.
For a large organization, you may choose “Power BI Premium” for additional cloud-computing resources and many more for $4,995 per month (annual subscription).
4. MicroStrategy.
Best for large-level organizations – start with a 30-day free trial.
How about a system embedded within your daily application and making your life easier? Yes, MicroStrategy will simplify your organizational task this way.
Want to test it out before a purchase? They are offering a 30-day trial plan to test out.
With this BI tool, you can visualize your organizational data to simplify it, even for an unprofessional or inexperienced person. Well, this is the beauty of digitalization, don’t you think?
You can utilize the self-service dashboard to set up different visualizations. For example, a geographically based visualization can help you to understand what’s going on all around your market area. Where a paper-based report makes it a lot harder, isn’t it?
Using this software can quickly eliminate the need for expensive IT infrastructure. Besides, there is no need to hire an IT expert, as you don’t need any coding to set up.
Make it simple and easy to use by everyone within an organization.
There are two options for you when it comes to setting up this BI tool. You can use their “cloud-based installation” solution or set it up on your server on a business premise.
For a cloud-based solution, you won’t have to face the maintenance hassle and no need to know anything about the installation process, while the premise setup requires IT knowledge as it will be on your server.
Its easy drag-and-drop feature enables even the most inexperienced person to handle it easily. Like an MS Office template, you can save your work in a file and later load it back. A premade template will help you to create a professional report. Just fill in all the data for analysis; that’s it.
Apart from all the excellent features, they have an exclusive education platform to let you learn how to analyze complex data, data design architecture, administration skills, and more through one-on-one teaching courses.
All-in-one powerful dashboard and feature-rich software.
Their pricing model is expensive compared to other BI tools. For web-based and mobile-based versions, you have to pay $600 per month per user. However, you can also pay for a cloud-computing CPU-based plan. It will cost you $300,000 per CPU core.
Finally, if you are unsure about purchasing, feel free to test their 30-day risk-free trial plan. Again, there is nothing to lose from your end.
5. Izenda.
Robust and lightweight BI tool for your business – start with a free trial.
One of the most expensive and lightweight business intelligence tools out there. Best suited for a large organization.
You can test their software with the no-risk free trial. My suggestion is the first test them out; if it suits your business needs, only then make a purchase.
Suppose your organization uses only MS Excel for data analysis and reporting. In that case, it is time to transform it into something that will make your organization several times faster and more efficient. With the self-serving analytic and reporting feature, you have to “feed the software with data”; that’s it. It will provide you with a powerful and intelligent analytical report within minutes, not hours.
Hiring expensive managers and preparing a lengthy report is not cost-efficient. So instead, Izenda will embed within your organization‘s regular software to analyze automatically and provide you with a live report.
No longer waste your time and efforts on reporting. Instead, focus on customers and your organization’s goals.
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Convert complex data to a meaningful real-time report.
Smart integration with essential 3rd party software like MS Office 365, Salesforce, Google Analytics, etc., to make your life easier.
No need to have a professional degree to operate this software, as it requires no coding skill from your end. Powerful web-based software enables you to leverage meaningful data to build a professional report.
No more pre-packed software where there is very little modification you can do. Yes, with Izenda, you can add, remove, and mold any components you like to make. Thus it will be easy for you and your team members to handle complex business tasks in your way.
Military-grade security is an essential element for a business intelligence task. Protecting your classified data is their utmost priority. So, no worries, they have foolproof data security for your business.
Challenging and complex to understand? Use visualization to make it simple.
Unlike other BI tools where you can start with only one user, Izenda’s first pricing plan, “Growth,” began with up to 50 users. Thus, you will have no choice but to accept their expensive paid plan that starts at $999 per month.
The 2nd paid plan, “Professional,” started at $1,999 per month. And if you need more options, you can choose their Enterprise plan. Contact them for custom quotes.
All plans from “Growth to Enterprise” have general features, i.e., real-time analytics and interactive reporting, easy data importing, integration with 3rd party software, quick and easy deployment, etc.
Finally, you should test their free trial plan if you are still deciding whether to purchase. Again, there is no loss from your end.
6. ClicData.
Award winner business intelligence tool – start with a 15-day free run.
Make your business procedures complete automation by implementing a powerful BI tool that can automatically connect with your other software and apps to gather intelligence data to analyze and prepare live reports.
Start with their 15-day free trial without giving debit/credit card information—no risk from your end to test out.
Traditionally, hundreds of manual procedures exist in a business, even if you use an advanced system like booking, scheduling, CRM, etc. Still, those are incomplete systems for your business. You still need to gather data from each source and compile it as one report to make a decision.
By using ClicData BI tools, you can erase those hassles and make the whole process in automation. Thus, it will effectively reduce your expense, time, and effort. As a result, you can focus more on immediate human-related matters, i.e., customer relationships, stakeholders, etc.
Automate the whole business procedures.
How about making your business procedures several times faster and easier by embedding this BI tool within almost all other 3rd party software to gather data fully automatically? This way, your team or employees will save time storing and importing data from MS Office, CRM software, financial reports, purchase invoice, etc.
Embedding within other software will make your process a lot easier and faster than before. Chances of error also reduce many times as there is no human interaction.
Robust security will provide industry-level encryption to protect your business’s classified information.
Your business will only have to invest in expensive employees. Using this software, you can analyze data and build a professional report without having a professional degree or skill. You must connect the ClicData BI tool to your regular 3rd party software to feed business data. That’s it.
The good thing is – no matter which type of business you have, the ClicData BI tool has a solution for you, marketing agencies, eCommerce businesses, hospitals, law, food, beverage, etc. As long as you can provide factual data, it can provide you with a solution.
Connect with hundreds of other 3rd party software to make it faster and more efficient.
ClicData is expensive compared to other BI tools. Their starter paid plan, “Premium,” will cost you $71 per month (if billed annually). This plan has ten user limitations and 5GB of online storage. Thus, it is best suited for small businesses.
“Team or Enterprise” plans for the medium enterprise should be a perfect fit. Started from $238 to $450 per month for up to 50 users.
Enterprise plan allows you to gather data from 250+ sources, which is enough for a large organization’s needs. However, there is not much difference between Enterprise and Dedicated plans except for large online storage and an additional 50+ users.
If you need to decide before purchasing, try their 15-day free trial plan. No credit/debit card is necessary. Therefore, it is entirely safe.
7. Demo.
Excellent BI software that can embed within your existing platform.
Not just another BI tool but one of the best and most effective BI software that can embed within your existing technology and help you to collaborate almost without any effort.
Why not try them out with their free trial version? You can sign up with a business email and set up within a few minutes if you choose their cloud-based installation system.
It is always better to have a single source of data. However, it’s not possible because, in business, we have hundreds of different sources to collect data. Thus, it makes it very complex to maintain this vast source effectively. Demo BI tools will make it just one. Utilizing this BI tool allows you to extract data from almost any source into a single highly secure database. Remove complexity by maintaining one source.
Collection and maintaining your data from a different source is getting easier.
Your business uses MS Office for regular data storage from a different source. For example, customer communication using Gmail, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Phone, etc.
No need to manually input those data into your MS Office database anymore. Just integrate with the Demo BI tool, which will automatically do it for you. You have to take a 360-degree look from its dashboard.
It has more than 1,000+ pre-built connectors to integrate with thousands of different 3rd party software and apps. It’s just plug-and-play.
No more waiting for days to get a full analytic report. Using Demo AI-powered technology, it can instantly show you a live report and be viewable from all devices, from desktops to smartphones. As a result, you can make a fully informed decision no matter where you are; the only thing you need is an internet connection, that’s it.
One software to rule them all, build one to maintain everything.
As I said, they offer a free trial option to test their service. There is nothing to lose from your end. If you are unsatisfied, you can terminate the trial plan anytime.
If you purchase their software, I suggest you contact them using “Talk to Demo.” They have a custom pricing model based on your industry type and needs. Therefore, I cannot give you an exact figure; it’s entirely based on their decision.
8. Cognos.
One of the most well-known brands IBM represented – started with 30 days free run.
Why do I recommend this BI tool? It provides you with AI-powered technology to analyze all the business data from a single platform to get you the final answer. And this BI tool is represented by the world-famous IBM brand. Savvy?
I tell you what, head to their site and start using their software for 30 days without paying a single penny from your pocket. Then, if you are not satisfied afterward, just leave. Nothing to lose from your end, am I right?
First, it supports all devices you have seen before, from desktops to smartphones. Very flexible to use and access from anywhere worldwide if you have a proper internet connection.
Second, it can import data from almost any source, including MS Office, Google, Gmail, Skype, social media apps, SQL databases, Amazon, Redshift, etc.
One intelligent AI-powered dashboard reflects all your data.
This BI tool is packed with lots of features. One of the best features is AI-powered the dashboard. It enables you to connect all your data sources in one single platform to visualize and analyze. You can check all of your metrics from one viewpoint.
An AI-powered virtual assistant will help you analyze within minutes to get you the final answer quickly and efficiently; thus, no need to wait for your analytic expert to finish the report. Use this BI tool, and you can get the report almost instantly. As a result, make your business decision faster than before.
This visual dashboard is highly customizable and sharable; thus, you can easily configure it according to your need. Then, share it instantly with your employees and partners to make the decision quickly and easily. In addition, they can access this report from their device using a secure military-grade encryption channel. Therefore, no need to fear data leaking.
They have various pricing models to choose from—for example, on-demand, Cloud-hosted, and client-hosted solutions.
One of the cheapest is a client-hosted solution. Choose this pricing model if you want to install this BI tool on your business server. Started from $40 per month per user to $450 per month per user. If you have a small business, try their client-hosted solution.
You may use their cloud-hosted solution, starting from $40 to $80 per month per user. But first, you must use the $80 per month option. At the same time, the $40 option has limited capabilities that are only suited for 3rd party viewers.
Lastly, you may check out their “on-demand” plan starting from $15 to $70 per month per user. Of course, the best option would be $35 per month per user.
If you have a small business, you should use their client-hosted solution. And for a large organization, it is also the best option. Your BI software will be on your server. You will maintain it; therefore, no compromise in security.
Executive Summary.
Managing your business with a paper-based solution is long gone. Even using modern technology like MS Office for data storage and analysis, business communication with Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, etc., still needs to be updated. The new emerging technology is collaborating all of these sources in a single platform to maintain and analyze more effectively and faster than before.
If you want to outlast your competitors, you have no choice but to utilize this business intelligence tool. It will not only help you to collaborate all the data in one platform but also will help you to analyze it with the latest AI-powered technology. Thus, you can make any business report within a matter of moments instead of days or weeks.
Just think carefully; any human is prone to make errors. However, an AI with machine learning has no such thing, and also it has a lot faster processing power than any number of human teams. Therefore, it is best to use a BI tool in your business data maintenance and processing. It will make your business process much faster, more accurate, and more cost-efficient. You can make an informed decision almost instantly. And can see your entire business position from a 360-degree viewpoint. Just tell me, isn’t it great?
Further reading on Cliobra: as you have read this guide about business intelligence software, you may be interested in my other guide, “6 Best Business Plan Software for Startups (Tested and Reviewed)“.
Charito is the best because the dashboard provided is very good and easy.
Thanks for great information