Many management pundits around the world have tried hard to identify and define the two fields of Business Analytics and Business Intelligence. However, what one can induce is that nobody has really been able to differentiate and define the scope of both. To add to the bewilderment, everybody has a contrasting view on the subject.

This article has been written with a focus on addressing the differences between the two terminologies and explain the two interrelated but diverse terms.

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE VERSUS BUSINESS ANALYTICS

DEFINITION

Business Intelligence once tried to understood in more depth, can be described as a set of methodology and process that enables the transformation of the rough data available into essential and valuable information for the purpose of business. This data that was transformed is often utilised by organizations to gain competitive advantage over their competitors.

On the other hand, analytics is predominantly referred to the skills and technologies that is required for the analysis of the previous performance solely based on data and statistical methods deployed.

SCOPE

The scope of Business Intelligence is primarily on the analysis of past performance that is essential for maintenance of business. Thus, it is limited to addressing the present situation of the organization and industry.

Business Analytics is driven by the concept of predictive analytics. Thus, the focus is always on predicting the future using previous trends and identifying the factors responsible for the continuous survival and profitability of the organization. Analytics is the answer to finding and predicting the future performance of the firm and investigating the reasons behind the present situation.

METHODOLOGIES INVOLVED

As mentioned above, Business Analytics is driven by the concept of Predictive Modeling. Other than predictive modeling, it uses data mining and descriptive modeling for analysis of situation.

Business Intelligence uses metrics, reporting and monitoring techniques for the purpose of interactive analysis of past performance.

TOOLS & SOFTWARES USED

Business Intelligence uses SAP, SAS and other analysis tools for analysis purposes. On the other hand, business analytics uses softwares like R, Tableau and Jaspersoft for analysis purposes.

APPLICATIONS

The users are limited to business users for business intelligence, whereas, since Business Analytics has a wider scope, it is used by data scientists, business analysts and IT professionals around the globe.

CONCLUSION

Around the world, Business Intelligence and Business analytics have emerged as separate divisions in organization structures and hierarchies.

They have opened new doors for the organizations to meet business challenges and have helped identify new opportunities for organizations and managements. Organizations around the world, have started giving more emphasis on Analytics, rather than intelligence. This is because the scope of Business Analytics is more when compared to Business Intelligence, as it involves a more comprehensive analysis of data and helps predict the future performance effectively.