15 Key Business Analytics Tools You Can Master to Maximise Data Potential

Statistically, the total amount of data created and consumed globally will increase to more than 180 zettabytes by 2025. That is why swift and precise statistical analysis is required to succeed in today’s complicated and competitive business scene. This becomes possible with superior business analytics tools that can assist organizations in analyzing and prioritizing plans to meet such objectives. Businesses can also use these tools to discover areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions that can increase overall efficiency, production, and profitability. 

This blog has compiled a list of the best business analytics tools for organizations of multiple sizes, from small businesses or startups to mid-sized and large and global companies. 

What are Business Analytics Tools, and Why Use Them?

Business analytics tools are software programs that assist businesses in collecting, processing, and analyzing data. The idea behind this is to acquire insights and make better decisions. These tools can also help businesses make sense of big and complicated data sets by discovering patterns, trends, and correlations that are not always obvious.

Data visualization tools, reporting tools, predictive analytics tools, and data mining tools are examples of standard business analytics tools. Additionally, these tools give users interactive dashboards, reports, and charts that allow them to quickly examine and analyze data.

Finance, healthcare, marketing, and retail are just a handful of industries that use business analytics software. Furthermore, they can be used as stand-alone programmes or in conjunction with other systems, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), to provide a holistic picture of organizational data.

In today’s data-driven corporate environment, using business analytics tools can help organizations stay competitive. This is possible because of some of the benefits of these tools, which are given below: 

• They allow companies to base their judgments on data and insights rather than assumptions or intuition
• Such tools enable organizations to get a better understanding of their customers’ preferences, behavior, as well as needs
• They help organizations in reducing expenses and increasing profits by identifying areas for cost reductions and optimization
• By analyzing data in real time, organizations can respond rapidly to changing market conditions as well as client requests
• Businesses can also uncover growth possibilities by learning about market trends and client behavior
• More importantly, businesses can learn about operational inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement, allowing them to optimize their processes and increase productivity

What are the Best Business Analytics Tools for Small Businesses or Startups?

Numerous business analytics solutions on the market can assist small firms and startups in analyzing their data and making informed decisions. Here are a few of the most recent and effective business analytics solutions.

1. QlikView

This powerful business intelligence and data visualization platform enables organizations to analyze and visualize data in real time. It also has an easy-to-use interface and supports various data sources.

Features

• Analyze large data sets in real-time
• Interactive visualizations such as charts, graphs, as well as maps
• Additionally, it offers robust security and governance

2. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is one of the free web analytics tools that help businesses track website traffic and user behavior. It gives useful information about client behavior, such as where they come from, how long they spend on the website, and what activities they perform.

Features

• Monitors the website’s activity in real-time
• Tracks user behavior on the website
• Also, it enables multichannel funnels to drive conversions

3. Tableau

A powerful data visualization and business intelligence application, Tableau allows firms to create interactive visualizations as well as dashboards from their data. It also offers an easy-to-use interface and supports a variety of data sources.

Features

• Data visualization and exploration with a drag-and-drop interface
• Interactive dashboards for real-time data insights
• Makes collaborative analytics possible with secure sharing

4. Microsoft Excel

Excel can be used for simple business analytics such as data entering, sorting, filtering, and basic computations. It may not, however, be the most efficient or advanced tool for complex data processing, visualization, or reporting. In addition, more specialized business analytics solutions on the market provide some unique features and capabilities that Excel cannot. However, it can be a prominent tool to start with for professionals.

Features

• Integration with other Microsoft tools is possible
• Also allows for data entry and manipulation
• Allows for automation via Macros

5. HubSpot

This well-known software platform provides a variety of marketing, sales, and customer service solutions to companies of all kinds. Furthermore, its cloud-based software is intended to assist organizations in attracting and engaging consumers via inbound marketing and sales strategies.

Features

• All-in-one platform for marketing, sales, as well as customer service
• It offers free CRM with contact and lead management
• It also enables marketing automation for email, social media, and more

What are the Best Business Analytics Tools for Mid-Sized Companies?

The following tools offer a range of data analytics and visualization capabilities. They are also ideal for mid-sized companies that want to gain insights into their data and make better-informed decisions.

6. SAS Analytics Cloud

SAS Analytics Cloud is a cloud-based analytics platform created by SAS (a market leader in analytics software). Furthermore, it offers customers a comprehensive set of tools for storing, managing, analyzing, and visualizing data in the cloud.

Features

• Cloud-based analytics
• Allows for data integration from various sources
• It also offers advanced analytics with statistical modeling and machine learning algorithms

7. Domo

Domo, a cloud-based business intelligence and analytics platform, allows companies to access and analyze data from various sources. Besides that, it also facilitates integration with other tools and platforms and offers a wide range of data visualization choices.

Features

• One can connect, prepare, and transform data from multiple sources
• Real-time data visualization and exploration capabilities
• Advanced analytics capabilities (predictive modeling as well as machine learning)

8. Zoho Analytics

Zoho Analytics is a cloud-based business intelligence and analytics tool that allows companies to collect, analyze, and visualize data. In addition, it is a sophisticated and easy-to-use analytics tool that helps mid-sized businesses make better decisions by collecting insights from their data.

Features

• Drag-and-drop interface for creating data models
• Mobile access through its native iOS and Android apps
• Get robust security and user access control as well

9. Dundas BI

This is a web-based data analytics platform that has a plethora of capabilities. It enables users to generate custom reports and dashboards, analyze data, and acquire insights to make more educated decisions, among other functions.

Features

• Ad-hoc querying and analysis capabilities
• It has a range of reporting options (scheduled reports, alerts, as well as custom reports)
• It also has a wide range of data sources (databases, spreadsheets, and cloud services)

10. Sisense

Sisense is a robust business analytics software that allows companies to visualize complicated data from numerous sources. Besides, it offers a comprehensive data analysis platform, allowing users to get insights from big and complicated data sets without requiring substantial technical knowledge. Hence, it is ideally suited for mid-sized to large corporations and offers high-end pricing.

Features

• Collaboration and sharing of data insights
• Enables data modeling and manipulation
• It offers AI-powered analytics and embedded analytics capabilities

ALSO READ: What is Business Analytics? Decode the Why, What and How of Any Business

What are the Best Business Analytics Tools for Large Companies?

Many business analytics tools are meant for large/global companies, depending on their needs and requirements. Here are some of the best ones for professionals.

11. IBM Cognos Analytics

This business intelligence and analytics platform enables major enterprises to analyze and visualize data to make data-driven decisions effortlessly. Notably, the solution is appropriate for mid-sized to large-scale businesses. However, this comes at a higher price point.

Features

• Easy-to-use dashboard creation and customization
• Offers access to a multitude of data sources
• It also has advanced data modeling and exploration capabilities

12. Microsoft Power BI

Microsoft Power BI is a business intelligence application that allows users to build interactive dashboards, reports, and data visualizations in the cloud. Additionally, Power BI is one of the world’s most extensively used BI and data visualization solutions.

Features

• Integration with multiple data sources
• It has a wide range of customizable visuals
• Offers interactive data visualization

13. Oracle Analytics Cloud

It is a comprehensive analytics platform with self-service data visualization, powerful analytics, and built-in machine learning capabilities. Furthermore, Oracle offers industry-leading cloud-based and on-premise solutions to satisfy the data analytics needs of small and medium-sized organizations and large multinational enterprises.

Features

• Self-service data visualization and analysis
• Machine learning-driven insights
• Augmented analytics with natural language processing

14. Looker

A cloud-based business intelligence and data analytics platform, Looker shares real-time data insights. It is intended to offer simple tools for business users to access and analyze data without technical knowledge or support from IT professionals.

Features

• Self-service data exploration and visualization for business users
• Real-time analytics and dashboard creation
• Advanced data modeling, as well as a semantic layer

15. Pentaho

Pentaho is a business intelligence and data integration platform that enables organizations to access, prepare, blend, and analyze data from any source. Furthermore, it provides a comprehensive suite of tools for data integration, including Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) of data, as well as data modeling and analytics.

Features

• Comprehensive tools for reporting, data analysis, and data visualization
• It has a web-based user interface for creating, customizing, and sharing reports and dashboards
• Supports predictive analytics as well as machine learning capabilities

FAQs

How Do Business Analytics Tools Help to Make Data-Driven Decisions?

Business analytics tools assist organizations in making data-driven decisions by providing various features that can help them collect, analyze, and interpret data. Besides, businesses can utilize these tools to gain valuable insights, trends, and patterns. By offering insights into operations, recognizing opportunities, and optimizing processes, these tools can also assist firms in making informed data-driven decisions.

What are the Key Features of Advanced Analytics Tools?

Some of the primary aspects of advanced analytics tools are as follows:

• Using previous data, these tools use predictive models to forecast future trends and patterns
• They make complex data sets easier to grasp as well as interpret by using data visualization
• Real-time data streams are processed, providing quick insights and decision-making
• Prioritize data security by ensuring that sensitive information is safeguarded by encryption and other security measures
• Lastly, they have been designed to expand with the company, accommodating huge and complex data sets without losing speed

What are the Benefits of Cloud-Based Analytics Tools?

Cloud-based analytics tools provide various benefits to businesses, as mentioned below:

• Provide scalable solutions that can handle rising amounts of data and growing company needs
• Remove the need for organizations to invest in costly hardware and infrastructure, thus making it a more cost-effective alternative for enterprises of all sizes
• Provide sophisticated security measures that safeguard the safety as well as privacy of vital corporate data
• These tools can also be tailored to specific business requirements and integrated with other tools and platforms
• They eliminate the need for businesses to invest in costly hardware and infrastructure, making it a more cost-effective alternative for all sizes of enterprises

Upskilling for Success in Today’s Corporate Market

Due to the heavy reliance on data, business analytics tools have become indispensable for businesses today. Furthermore, these tools offer powerful capabilities to gather, analyze, and interpret vast amounts of information, enabling companies to make informed decisions and gain a competitive edge. There is thus a great demand for people to take up roles such as data scientists, business analysts, or data consultants.

Enroll in Emeritus’ online business analytics courses to embark on this professional growth and upskilling journey. Through a combination of theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience, participants can gain proficiency in data manipulation, statistical analysis, data visualization, and predictive modeling.

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