Why Cloud-Based Business Intelligence Platforms Are Taking Over

Is your current Business Intelligence platform failing to meet your needs? You're not alone - many companies are finding that their current on-premises Business Intelligence platforms have limitations in flexibility, scalability, and cost. That's why some companies, such as Netflix, Starbucks, and American Express, are switching to cloud-based solutions these days.

Cloud-Based Business Intelligence Tools are a type of software-as-a-service(SaaS) that enables organizations to access and analyze business data through the cloud. 

According to the BI and Data Management in the Cloud report, cloud BI use climbed from 29% to 43% between 2013 and 2016, with over 50% of respondents favoring public cloud platforms for cloud BI, analytics, and data management installations.

Businesses can efficiently collect, store, process, and visualize data from various sources, helping them make data-driven decisions, gain insights, and identify trends to improve business performance-that is why businesses are switching their BI tools to cloud-based intelligence tools. 

If you're considering switching your Business Intelligence Tools to Cloud-based and want to analyze how this tool helps, this blog is for you. Here, we explore why cloud-based Business Intelligence Platforms are taking over, addressing key pain points, and providing actionable solutions for each.

The Rise of Business Intelligence Through Cloud Solutions

1. Add an Extra Layer Of Data Security

Data breaches and performance issues are real risks. With a Business Intelligence Platform, the burden of security and infrastructure optimization falls entirely on the company and its team. 

On the other hand, Cloud Business Intelligence platforms are like an extra layer of defense. It has many security features like backup, disaster recovery, and encryption, which optimizes infrastructure for peak performance. Moreover, Backup and disaster recovery capabilities exceed what most organizations can implement on-premises, ensuring continuity of operations.

And you can find all the capabilities in Grow Cloud-based Business Intelligence Tools, including encryption, access controls, and data centers with comprehensive digital security.  Grow has a secure connection (TLS or SSL) when connecting to a database; the data is encrypted on both ends.  With TLS or SSL, businesses can communicate security over networks. 

As these protocols use encryption to secure data as it travels between devices. This also prevents unauthorized access and changes to the data while in transit.

2.  Better Adapt to Future Requirements

On-premise BI solutions lock companies into rigid architectures that hamper responsiveness. Expanding capacity or upgrading capabilities means lengthy procurement cycles for new software licenses and hardware. With cloud Business Intelligence Tools and platforms, adapting to evolving requirements is frictionless. This platform automatically scales up computing power and storage as needed. So usage and data can grow without delays.

3. Ease Of Use

On-premise Business Intelligence tools often require significant technical skills to operate and maintain. IT staff need expertise in database administration, network infrastructure, security protocols, and more. Mastering complex BI platforms may take weeks of training. This limits widespread analytics adoption across the enterprise.

In contrast, the best Business Intelligence Dashboards focus intently on ease of use for broad accessibility. Intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces enable business users to create dashboards and queries independently with a minimal learning curve. AI augmentations like natural language queries and voice-driven analytics further reduce barriers.

Without Grow

With Grow

4. Efficient Reporting

Data latency issues mean reports lack timely insights. In  Batch ETL (extract, transform, load), data is extracted from various source systems, transformed into a suitable format, and then loaded into a target database or data warehouse. However, the processes may need to run overnight to update reporting databases, and version upgrades can disrupt access to reports entirely. 

As a result, sharing reports across the enterprise is likewise challenging without uniform access for all stakeholders.

But with Cloud BI platforms, all these issues can be resolved. Cloud-based BI Reporting tools automatically bring in live data from many sources continuously rather than relying on batch ETL. Moreover, real-time dashboards tap into fresh datasets, alerting users to emerging risks and opportunities. 

5. Flexibility in Execution and Implementation

BI historically required 'boil the ocean' implementations before deriving any value. A couple of months are required to set up infrastructure, migrate data, and build models before you go live.

However, with cloud Business Intelligence tool, all this process becomes faster. This tool is designed for rapid, incremental value. With no hardware to procure and software to install, cloud BI can be provisioned in days or weeks. Businesses can start with high-priority use cases that deliver quick wins. New data sources easily integrate to expand the analysis. Moreover, smart APIs and open architecture, complementary analytical capabilities connect seamlessly without disrupting operations.

6. Cost Saving

Cloud-Based Business Intelligence Platforms are not only efficient for business activity but also cost-effective options. This platform eliminates upfront infrastructure costs as it offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model that allows costs to flexibly align with business needs. Without ongoing maintenance and upgrade costs, combined with fast deployment and easy scalability. The cloud model maximizes ROI by delivering continuous innovation and new capabilities without added fees. 

Conclusion 

Compared to on-premise Business Intelligence Platforms, Cloud-based BI platforms provide better security, scalability, ease of use, real-time analytics, and flexibility. As these benefits lead to higher adoption, cloud BI is rapidly becoming the go-to choice for companies of all sizes across industries. The advantages over traditional on-premise BI make the cloud the future of business intelligence.

While Grow suits a wide range of businesses, enterprises with very specific needs may need to consult the team to ensure compatibility. 

But like with other tools, it depends on its quality and fit for your company's needs. Grow distinguishes itself as an easy-to-use, secure Cloud-based BI solution that can boost team productivity and data-driven decision-making. 

Grow's BI tool can connect to a wide range of databases, including both on-premise and cloud-based databases.  These connection procedures are standard for Grow's database integrations with PostgreSQL, MySql, etc., reducing vulnerability to data breaches. 

Moreover, Grow has the best Business Intelligence Dashboards that enable businesses to establish a connection and store data. This delivers transformative insights and data modeling to combine information from multiple sources, workflow automation for recurring reporting needs, and collaboration tools to share insights across the organization. 

Grow's cloud-based Business Intelligence platform offers a robust suite of tools and features, going beyond traditional charts and enabling businesses to leverage their data fully.