Big Data and AI

If you are a business intelligence (BI) professional, you know how important it is to understand the needs and expectations of your clients and stakeholders, and to plan your project accordingly. In this post, you will learn how to create two essential documents for any BI project: a Stakeholder Requirements Document and a Project Requirements Document. A Stakeholder Requirements Document is a document that summarizes the information you gather from your client and other stakeholders about the business problem they want to solve, the goals they want to achieve, the data they have available, and the constraints they face. It helps you to define the scope and objectives of your project, identify the key stakeholders and their roles and responsibilities, and ask relevant questions to clarify their requirements and expectations. A Project Requirements Document is a document that outlines the details of your project, such as its purpose, audience, features, dependencies, success c...

If you are a business intelligence (BI) professional, you know how important it is to have a strong set of skills and experience that can help you deliver data-driven insights and solutions to businesses. But how can you prove your value and stand out from the crowd in this competitive field? The answer is simple: you need a portfolio of projects . A portfolio of projects is a collection of work samples that showcase your BI skills and achievements. It can include reports, dashboards, visualizations, code snippets, case studies, blog posts, videos or any other format that demonstrates your BI capabilities. A portfolio of projects can benefit you in many ways: • It can help you land your dream job or project. A portfolio of projects can show your potential employers or clients what you can do for them, how you approach BI problems, what tools and techniques you use, and what results you have achieved. It can also help you highlight your stren...

Gap Analysis in Business Intelligence Summary: Gap analysis is a method for evaluating the current state of a process to identify opportunities for improvement. In this post, you’ll learn what gap analysis is, how to apply it, and how it helps optimize BI systems and tools. What Is Gap Analysis? Gap analysis compares the current state of a system with its desired future state. BI professionals use it to identify inefficiencies, improve data delivery, and build better dashboards. For example, a sales team using a dashboard with a six-hour data lag may struggle to access timely insights. Reducing that lag to one hour or less becomes the goal of the gap analysis. How to Perform Gap Analysis in BI The process begins by working with stakeholders to define goals and understand unmet needs. BI professionals must ask: What decisions are stakeholders trying to make? What data is missing or delayed? How are users interacting with dashboards? For more on stakehol...

What Is a North Star Metric in Business Intelligence? A north star metric is a crucial metric that reflects the core value of a business and guides its long‑term growth. As a business intelligence (BI) professional, understanding and defining a north star metric helps you align teams, measure progress, and keep strategy focused on what truly matters. What Is a North Star Metric? A north star metric is a single, high‑level metric that captures the core measurable value delivered by a product or service. It represents the mission and vision of the business and acts as a long‑term reference point for decision‑making. Just as the North Star is used for navigation, a north star metric helps organizations navigate complex decisions and stay oriented toward sustainable growth. Why Do You Need a North Star Metric? A well‑chosen north star metric is useful in at least three key ways: Cross‑team alignment: Different teams work with different metrics and priorities. A north ...

How to Choose the Right Metrics for Your BI Dashboard As a business intelligence (BI) professional, selecting the right metrics is essential for building dashboards that support decision‑making. Metrics guide business actions, measure progress, and reveal whether a project is succeeding. This guide provides five practical tips to help you choose the most effective and relevant metrics for your BI dashboards. Key Takeaways Limit metrics to those that are actionable and meaningful. Align every metric with a clear business objective. Ensure the required data, processes, and technology exist. Consider data cadence and refresh frequency. Use the SMART framework to refine and validate metrics. 1. Limit the Number of Metrics More information does not always mean better insights. Overloading a dashboard with too many metrics can confuse stakeholders and dilute focus. Key metrics should be both relevant and actionable—meaning they clearly indicate whether goals are...

Data Ethics, Privacy, and Availability in Business Intelligence As a business intelligence (BI) professional, you transform data into insights that support better decision‑making. To do this responsibly, you must ensure that data is handled ethically, privately, and reliably. This post explains what these concepts mean, why they matter, and how to address the challenges associated with them. Key Takeaways Data ethics ensures fairness, transparency, and respect for data subjects. Data privacy protects personal and sensitive information from misuse. Data availability ensures timely, accessible, and usable information. Bias, anonymization, and data quality are central to trustworthy BI. Data Ethics: Respecting the Rights of Data Subjects Data ethics refers to applying well‑founded standards of right and wrong to how data is collected, shared, and used. Ethical handling is especially important when working with personally identifiable information (PII). Eth...

Business intelligence (BI) professionals rely on data models, pipelines, visualizations, and dashboards to deliver data‑driven insights. However, these solutions only work effectively when data availability is ensured. Data availability refers to how easily timely and relevant information can be accessed and used. Several factors can compromise data availability and reduce the quality of BI solutions. This post explores the most common challenges and how to overcome them. Key Takeaways Data availability is essential for accurate, timely, and actionable BI insights. Integrity, visibility, update frequency, and change are the main availability challenges. Improving availability strengthens trust, decision‑making, and business outcomes. BI teams must collaborate across departments to uncover hidden or siloed data. Data Availability Challenges The most common challenges affecting data availability include: Integrity Visibility Update freq...

Data analytics transforms raw data into meaningful information — but to do this effectively, you must contextualize your data. Context means understanding the origin, background, motivation, setting, and impact of the information you are analyzing. When data is properly contextualized, it becomes more meaningful, reduces bias, and supports fair, accurate insights. This post explores how to contextualize data and dashboards in a business intelligence (BI) environment, along with best practices for creating BI solutions that align with business goals and user needs. Key Takeaways Contextualizing data means understanding its origin, purpose, audience, and impact. Dashboards should act as a central, consistent place where users interact with trusted data. Good context improves interpretation, reduces bias, and supports fair, data‑driven decisions. Design, audience, and collaboration are as important as the data itself in BI solutions. What Is Con...

In this post, you will learn how to ask effective questions as a data analyst using the SMART framework and fairness principles . You will also understand why stakeholder expectations matter and explore examples of stakeholder needs in real projects. Understanding Stakeholders Stakeholders are the people who invest time, interest, and resources in your data projects. As a data analyst, you must understand their needs and communicate with them clearly and effectively. How to Ask Effective Questions Using the SMART Framework Effective questions follow the SMART framework : they are specific, measurable, action‑oriented, relevant, and time‑bound . Specific Questions Focus on a single topic or a small set of related ideas. Instead of: “Do children get enough physical activity today?” Ask: “What percentage of children achieve the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity at least three days a week?” Measurable Questions Ensure the answer can be quantified or evaluated...

Have you ever visited an online store, added something to your cart, and then backed out at the last moment? Maybe you were shopping for a new camera, a fitness tracker, or a gift. But then you found a better deal elsewhere, realized you didn’t really need it, or simply got distracted. When this happens, the online store records an abandoned cart . According to Shopify, online merchants lose over $20 billion per year due to cart abandonment. It’s a massive challenge — and one that Business Intelligence (BI) professionals are uniquely equipped to solve. How BI Professionals Use Data to Understand Customer Behavior BI professionals analyze data to understand exactly how customers interact with an e‑commerce website. They can track where a visitor came from — a Google search, an email campaign, or a social media ad — and visualize the entire customer journey. They can even pinpoint the exact moment a shopper leaves the site and investigate why. For example, a BI professional might ...

Communicating Effectively in Business Intelligence: Accessibility, Fairness, and Ethical Insights Business intelligence (BI) is not just about building dashboards or data pipelines. It is about making data accessible, understandable, and actionable for the people who rely on it to make decisions. As a BI professional, communication is one of your most important skills. In this post, we explore key communication strategies, best practices for stakeholder engagement, and the importance of fairness and ethical analysis in BI. Make BI Accessible to Stakeholders To ensure your BI work has real impact, you must be able to simplify technical processes and present insights clearly. Your audience may include people with very different levels of technical expertise, so your communication must adapt accordingly. When communicating with stakeholders, consider four essential questions: 1. Who Is Your Audience? Different stakeholders have different goals and expectations. ...

Software Project Team Roles: Key Responsibilities and Contributions Software projects are complex initiatives that bring together different skills, perspectives, and responsibilities. A strong software project team is not just a group of developers; it is a balanced mix of business and technical roles working together to deliver value, quality, and reliability. This post introduces the key roles in a software project team and explains how each contributes to the success of the project. Project Sponsor The project sponsor is a senior manager or executive who provides support, resources, and strategic direction for the project. They ensure alignment with organizational goals and are accountable for enabling the project's success. Main Responsibilities Define the project's vision, scope, objectives, and expected benefits Secure funding, resources, and approvals Monitor progress, risks, and issues Communicate status and achievements to stakehold...

What Is Business Intelligence (BI)? Our world is constantly changing and evolving. Companies everywhere are racing to create the next big thing, while customers expect fast deliveries, smooth digital experiences, and services that “just work.” In this environment, speed has become one of the most valuable assets in business. Seeing an opportunity or a problem is important. But the real competitive advantage comes when you spot that opportunity before others do, or catch a problem before it becomes critical. Today, organizations collect more data than ever about markets, customers, competitors, operations, and employees. Data alone, however, is not enough. To make smarter decisions faster, businesses need something more: Business Intelligence . What Is Business Intelligence (BI)? Business Intelligence (BI) is the set of technologies, processes, and practices that transform raw data into meaningful, actionable insights for decision‑makers. Instead of leaving dat...