Business Intelligence Or Spreadsheets? The Power Of AgrEGG

Introduction

Claude Shannon is credited with saying that “information is the resolution of uncertainty”. This is an undeniable truth for business strategists. In order to understand where the business is going, they have to analyze a great number of data. The company produces data daily, but it does not end there. You should add that of their suppliers and competitors. However, after the collection of such numerous information, companies are left with an immense amount of data to understand. Today we are going to talk about how strategists make sense of this data and two of the tools they use: Business Intelligence and Spreadsheets.

We all know the power of spreadsheets and it is not a secret that they are still used a lot within the community. With them you can apply very complicated techniques and, most times, you can get the results that you need. However, they cannot always offer the appropriate solution for a business. The more you grow, the more data you acquire. The more data you have, the more complicated it becomes for a spreadsheet to handle your analysis.

Working with a Lot of Data

As we were saying before, one of the big limitations of spreadsheets is in the number of data they can handle. For instance, if you try to open a document that has too many rows, you might get an error. The solution is normally to split the data in several smaller files. This might have a negative impact in your analysis as it exponentially increases the chances of human error. According to F1F9, a group of financial modelling experts, roughly 1/5 companies experience financial loss because of spreadsheets.

Collaborating in Real-time

Another big limitation of spreadsheets is that they do not allow you to work in real-time safely. For starters, it is quite difficult to have a team collaborate on a single datasheet. To have the most powerful functions, you will have to work on premises on a static tool. This means that you will need to send over huge files to your team and that you will eventually end up with multiple versions of the same document. Moreover, this process makes spreadsheets quite unreliable in terms of security as you will never know who has access to your data.

What Makes Business Intelligence Better than Spreadsheets?

A Bi software can help with your data collection and it will automatically analyze complex set of data for you. It will help you get a clear picture of your business performance, but the benefits do not end there. With it, even low-skilled users can produce the best reports and help you keep track of your sales, costs, productivity and other key business functions. Thanks to the flexibility of this tool you will always know what your strengths and weaknesses are.

But let’s see exactly in what areas BI succeeds the most.

Capacity:

With BI tools you can handle a great number of data very easily. Spreadsheets are not equipped to deal with high volumes. Often times if you try to work with a lot of data the system will slow down a lot and will make it extremely hard for you to work on it. With BI tools, you will not have to worry about this issue because they are designed to help you deal with big data.

Automation:

BI tools automatically gather data from different sources and update it at request. By sourcing and analyzing data automatically, human intervention will no longer be required. This will enable companies to finally get rid of those very common mistakes that inevitably happen with spreadsheets.

Accessibility:

Using spreadsheets on mobile devices is quite difficult, inefficient, and often times impossible. On the other hand, BI tools can completely change your game. Thanks to the dashboards, keeping track of your KPIs has never been easier. Even from a phone! Most times, the mobile version of a BI tool has most of the functionalities that you have available on desktop. Moreover, the best BI tools come with an app that enables you to work offline too.

Collaboration:

Working with your colleagues on the same spreadsheet at the same time can be quite hard. One of the most common downsides when you work with big data is the risk of a version conflicts. With BI tools, this will not be a problem anymore. You can easily create reports that can be accessed and edited by anyone anywhere. Each worker has their own workspace where they can add comments and personalize reports how they want, all in real-time.

Security:

Spreadsheets do not have any security system. When you file them, you can protect your file with cryptography, but this cannot work for your daily job. Analysis reports need to be easily and frequently consulted and should not be archived and left unattended. In order to make them work, you need to constantly update them, optimize their queries, and share them with your team. This is why, BI tools have a lot of security options that can help you keep your data safe without compromising on anything. For example, you can decide who sees what by hiding rows or columns to a certain group of people/individual. Moreover, with BI tools you normally have access to secure portals where you can share your dashboards without worries. With them, you will not have to send sensitive data via email anymore and you can stop worrying about cybersecurity breaches.

User-friendly:

BI tools are way easier to use. Even if you do not have experience with anything similar, you will learn how to use them in no time. They are extremely user-friendly and require little training for you to become completely independent.

Why AgrEGG?

Thanks to AgrEGG and our team, you will have a tool that can easily analyze, handle, and represent your data. There are no limits to what you can do. You can create all the dashboards you need to monitor your business and to find the answers to your questions.

Our tool will allow you to work at the same time as your colleagues on the reports. You will have access to a safe environment that is very easy to use whenever and wherever you like.

Make the most of your information and your data and enter the world of Business Intelligence with the best product. Get in touch today. Choose smart, choose AgrEGG.