Guest Post: Actuate
Business intelligence means many different ways of gathering data about a corporation’s internal processes and the effect of those processes’ outcome on the enterprise and its customers. Accurate information concerning market trends can help companies determine which paths of research for products are good investments and which are dead ends. There are several ways to accomplish this:
1) Is this product related to my company’s primary purpose?
A company’s scope of service is usually centered on a single purpose, whether it is selling computers or managing investment portfolios. A successful brand name associates your company with that service in people’s minds, so when they hear your company’s name they think of that service. If you break this pattern by advertising a new product or service that is not closely connected to your previous service, then you have disrupted this pattern. Business intelligence can help you determine what your customer’s mindset is, then help you remain on track in advancing your product along that line.
2) Is the market right for this product? Do people want this?
Some prospective research lines are a solution in search of a problem. Knowing what your customers want is the first and most important step towards satisfying them. Some products just don’t have a large enough demand to merit research, while others may be needed, but the demand is dropping too fast for you company to buy into that particular market. The best way to determine if a research line is a worthy investment is to ascertain the projected profit based on business intelligence, and compare that to the cost of research. If cost is too high or the projection relies on too much guesswork, then the product in question may not be a smart path to follow.
3: Is this similar to an existing company product? If so, how is that product doing?
One of the things business intelligence tells us is where a company’s strong points are, and conversely, where it is weak. If the project proposed is directly related to a product or service in your company that is currently failing, then further research into that area may be already doomed. The only place where this might not apply is if the research proposed could rectify one or more of the problems with the failing product line. In such cases, business intelligence will point to the problematic areas and help match proposed solutions with the project in question.
4: Is this project feasible? Will this be successful?
This is one of the questions that often have no definite answer. Projects can look promising and profitable until an irresolvable problem arises, or a technical barrier becomes obvious. The only answer available is that every company must take some gambles if it is to advance in the real world. Risk in these cases can be minimized through careful research beforehand, and this is where business intelligence can help by showing where other companies have failed in the past.
