Self-Service BI

By definition, self-service business intelligence (self-service BI) is a solution that enables users within a company to carry out highly individualized data analyses independently and without in-depth technical knowledge. Intuitive tools and dashboards are used to simplify the process of data collection, analysis and visualization.

For power users from the various specialist departments, self-service BI means a significant expansion of their options because they are no longer necessarily dependent on IT staff.

In plain language: they no longer have to wait for ready-made reports or analyses, but can access data flexibly and quickly themselves and create queries that are specifically tailored to their individual needs.

In traditional business intelligence, users usually work with predefined reports and dashboards, which are often created and managed by the IT department.

While this is often sufficient for the general user - such as sales staff in the field - power users such as controllers and business analysts quickly reach their limits here. The reason: traditional BI systems often do not allow for individualized queries. As soon as you need more specific analyses, you quickly reach the system's limits.

This is where self-service BI comes in. It offers the necessary freedom to customize cubes, dimensions and key figures, for example, and to create queries in real time.

Do you often need quick access to very specific data and reports that you have to laboriously request from the IT department with a long lead time?

Then a self-service BI architecture is the ideal solution for you - this is especially true if you repeatedly experience the limitations of traditional BI systems in your reports and want more control and flexibility in data analysis.

However, it is important that the data quality and user-friendliness of the tool are right so that you can get the full benefit from your self-service BI solution.

In a free consultation, we will be happy to show you what is possible with self-service BI and which solutions we at antares have already developed together with our partners for customers from a wide range of industries.

Switching from traditional BI systems to a self-service BI solution often brings with it one or two challenges that you should not underestimate:

Data quality: When working with self-service BI, it is crucial that the underlying data is error-free, complete and up-to-date. Otherwise, even the best self-service BI tool will not provide you with reliable results.

Security and governance: Especially in large companies, it is important that self-service BI solutions are integrated into a strong security and governance structure. All users should have unrestricted access to the data relevant to them, but at the same time should not be able to change or download sensitive information for which they are not authorized.

Change in processes: The transition to a self-service BI solution requires not only the use of new software, but often also a fundamental change to existing work processes. In traditional BI systems, many analysis processes are centralized and are often carried out by IT teams or specialized analysts. With the introduction of self-service BI, power users and specialist departments take on a large part of the analysis work. This can lead to a shift in responsibilities that does not always run smoothly.

Self-service BI offers power users a fantastic opportunity to take their data analysis into their own hands and thus significantly improve the speed and quality of decision-making.

If you find the right self-service BI solution for your company, you can quickly reap the benefits and make your work much more efficient. Would you like to know how self-service BI could enrich your company?

Then book a free consultation with our BI experts now.