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The Power Of Real Time Analytics & Business Intelligence Explained

Real time analytics and real time business intelligence by datapine

As digital transformation evolves, and more businesses begin to harness the power of digital technologies, the rate at which we are creating data is rising by the second.

But, while data offers us invaluable insight in more ways than one, with so much to analyze and such little time, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to understand which metrics offer real value. As such, we have to find approaches to data analytics and business intelligence (BI). By utilizing professional online BI tools, half of the work is already done.

Not to forget, to squeeze the most value from your business’s most valuable data across touchpoints, it’s important to analyze it as it unfolds. If you’re able to respond to metrics or insights as they’re created, you will be able to take immediate action, making your organization more responsive in the process.

Industry or sector aside, real time business intelligence and analytics are invaluable to the ongoing success of your business.

With real time BI and analytics, you will move to the beat of a new digital drum, accelerating the evolution of your organization in ways you never thought possible. Here, we explore these invaluable concepts in more detail, starting with definitions, and looking at a mix of practical examples.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

What Is Real Time Business Intelligence?

Real time business intelligence (RTBI) refers to the processes and tools used to analyze live data and extract insights in the shape of interactive data visualizations. This level of in-the-moment information is focused on making informed decisions within minutes.

That way businesses remain responsive and adaptable in an ever-changing digital environment. To serve up quality at the moment data, the right BI analytics platforms leverage smart data storage solutions that empower users to gain access to up-to-the-minute insights in one centralized location and act accordingly. Usually, the process is done through a BI dashboard software that helps users directly interact with the data and generate insights instantaneously.

BI analysis is centered on working with the latest data-driven insights as they unfold and being able to make intelligent decisions swiftly — the kind that will benefit the company in a wealth of key areas.

Your Chance: Want to get started with real-time BI analytics?
Try our Business Intelligence software for 14-days completly free!

What Is Real Time Analytics?

Closely linked to real time BI, real time analytics is a set of processes and technologies used to analyze data as soon as it enters the system. This data provides insights to inform strategies immediately, allowing users to act instantly and without any delay.

As visualized data presents itself, ‘in the moment’ analysis empowers the user to draw swift conclusions that are both informed and accurate. It’s the art of using live dashboards to respond to data promptly.

By focusing on real time analysis, it’s possible to spot emerging trends and pounce on them or prevent detrimental issues before they occur (or get out of control). As such, with real time BI analytics, you can thrust yourself ahead of the curve while making your organization as cohesive, communicative, and informed as possible on a sustainable basis. A surefire way to thrive in today’s ever-evolving digital landscape.

“Knowledge has become the key economic resource and the dominant, if not the only, source of competitive advantage.” - Peter F. Drucker

Benefits Of Real Time BI & Analytics

Now that you’re up to speed with the fundamentals of real time business intelligence and analytics, let’s look at the key benefits—starting with improved decision-making.

1. Make better decisions

One of the prime benefits of real time data analysis is improved decision-making. Armed with fresh, clean data that’s presented in an accessible format, you can connect with a wealth of valuable insights in the moment.

Using real time business analytics, you can interact with a wealth of insights with a simple glance, making concrete strategic decisions founded on reliable information sources. Not only will this boost your confidence as a decision-maker, but it will consistently boost your performance (this, in turn, will help to accelerate your organizational growth).

2. Improve responsivity

Another big plus-point for embracing real time BI is the fact that you will become more responsive as an organization.

By interacting with dynamic data visualizations, you can spot trends, patterns, or issues as they emerge. In doing so, you will be able to take targeted measures to either leverage an emerging trend to your advantage or nip a problem in the bud before it snowballs.

If you notice a sudden drop in your contact center’s service levels, for instance, you will be able to drill down into the data right there and then, take swift action (calling in additional representatives or opening extra comms channels, for example) in the process. In our hyper-connected digital age, remaining responsive is key—and real time data analytics tools will help you do just that.

3. Enhanced communication

Having company-wide access to the right real time business intelligence tools will ensure that everyone in the organization can consistently work to the best of their abilities.

If everyone across departments can share responsive insights across departments, intelligent communication, as well as collaboration, will thrive, which will ensure the entire company pulls in the right direction.

4. Better customer experiences

Utilizing real time analysis software will also help you with the wealth of responsive insights you need to meet your customers’ expectations head-on across channels.

Armed with a mix of consumer or partner-facing insights, you can track behavioral trends, buying data, and engagement insights that will empower you to formulate short-term strategies and create responsive comms that offer value and build trust in every pocket of the customer journey.

By meeting or even exceeding your customers’ needs consistently, you will broaden your audience, boost brand awareness, and push yourself ahead of the pack.

Static vs Real Time Analytics

When considering the various components of real time analytics architecture, it’s important to understand the key differences between static and real time analysis.

Static analysis

Static reports are designed to offer data-driven insights into a specific timeframe. These types of reports are typically presented in Excel, Powerpoint, Word or PDF format and serve up specific pockets of information based on a particular function, or department’s trends or performance.

Static reporting has been a part of business operations for many years now, however, its static nature has made them less useful as years pass. This is because by the time the report is generated the data in it might not be valuable anymore. That is where real-time analysis comes into the picture.

Real time analysis

Real time analytics solutions on the other hand, also offer a wealth of data-driven insights based on specific departments, functions, or processes, but are dynamic as well as interactive in nature and they provide live insights as soon as they occur.

Real time BI serves up insights in the form of interactive key performance indicators (KPIs) or visualizations in one accessible report. These types of reports evolve with the data as it unfolds, meaning that it’s possible to capture invaluable information at the moment, capturing trends or patterns as they unfold.

Static reports quickly become outdated and almost act as historical informational documents, whereas dynamic responsive analysis innovations remain relevant as well as interactive.

With responsive analysis, it’s also possible to build a data-driven architecture that combines information from various sources, creating an efficient and responsive framework in the process. In building a solid architecture, you can access insights in a way that is not only highly visual but also represent dynamic fluctuations in your data.

Emerging analysis architectures empower users to accelerate their data-driven performance by significantly reducing latency. With less lag time between a query being raised and a result or insight delivered, performance improves significantly. Improved data infrastructure also helps to automate key aspects of the analysis process, making interacting with key organizational insights in a way that’s intuitive and delivers genuine at the moment results. 

When it comes down to it, real-time-style reporting offers far more value than the traditional static reporting options of yesteryear. 

Capturing the right level of intelligence at exactly the right moment will help you make consistently powerful decisions regarding every possible facet of the organization, making you better, stronger, and more profitable in the process.

There is still a space for static reporting in the modern age, but to ensure your organization is able to evolve with the world around it, working with a real time analytics platform is the way forward.

Your Chance: Want to get started with real-time BI analytics?
Try our Business Intelligence software for 14-days completly free!

Real Time Analytics & Business Intelligence Examples And Use Cases In Various Industries

Now it’s time to dig a little deeper. The potential of business intelligence and analysis is clear. However, to really understand how agile business intelligence and responsive analytics work, it’s important to explore such metrics or insights in a practical context.

Here, we look at responsive analysis examples and responsive business intelligence platforms to demonstrate how responsive data analysis can assist in various key operational areas.

a) IT project management dashboard

Real time analytics and business intelligence example for an IT project.

**click to enlarge**

Primary KPIs:

  • Total Tickets vs. Open Tickets
  • Projects Delivered on Budget
  • Average Handle Time

There’s no doubt about it: when it comes to IT in the digital age, troubleshooting emerging issues and remaining adaptable to change at all times is essential. There’s no room for sluggishness or complacency when it comes to a company’s IT department - it is the operational nerve center, after all.

One of our most informational applications, the IT dashboard offers up-to-date visualizations that IT project managers can use to foster greater efficiency while reducing response times. With this kind of dashboard, you can track all your IT project-related tasks as they unfold, without waiting for various stakeholders to send you their reports or manually insert any relevant data. The dashboard has everything covered.

Drilling down into every key aspect of the IT department’s various projects and recurring duties, this most perfectly designed BI analytics platform features key performance indicators (KPIs) built to offer a panoramic view of in-the-moment data, empowering users to extract essential insights at a glance. A prime example of the power of BI real time analysis, visualized on a project management dashboard perfect for the IT department.

b) Retail store dashboard

Real time analytics example tracking relevant metrics for a retail store performance

**click to enlarge**

Primary KPIs:

  • Sales By City
  • Out Of Stock Items
  • Top 5 Articles By Sold Items

Solid retail store management inspires, educates, and cement success. As smooth operations across the board are so critical to retail growth, having the innovations to respond to real time data with informed efficiency will help to push you ahead of the competition.

An invaluable piece of self service BI and real time analysis software, our retail dashboard boasts a balanced mix of real time insights designed to help retail managers and professionals make essential tweaks or changes to their store strategies by leveraging data as it arrives on-screen. For example, if anything runs out of stock, you can immediately spot which merchandise needs to be re-stock and maintain your top performance. We all know that customers can quickly find someone else to order from, so your stock items should be closely monitored - always.

Sporting a logical layout and data visualizations built for responsive benchmarking, this dashboard has everything you need to meet or exceed your core retail goals while remaining adaptable at all times. It’s real time BI and analysis software that yields incredible results.

c) Hospital KPI dashboard

Hospital real time analytics gathered on a hospital management dashboard.

**click to enlarge**

Primary KPIs:

  • Patients By Division
  • Average Waiting Time
  • Outpatients vs. Inpatients
  • Available Staff

When it comes to managing your hospital and optimizing your performance, focusing on your real time healthcare data is essential. Hospital strategies require a certain level of flexibility and responsive innovation.

Our hospital dashboard is a piece of real time data analysis software that exists to make the hospital manager’s demanding role easier to manage while offering access to in-the-moment data that creates a clear-cut competitive advantage.

This healthcare-centric real time data analysis software is detailed, visually digestible, and includes a mix of KPIs that provide an all-encompassing view of every critical hospital activity related to a particular division, waiting times, or costs. For example, you can see how many patients each division welcomed and how long they had to wait before seeing a doctor. To have that data at the moment, each hospital can optimize and boost its performance while taking care of the most important part of the industry: patients.

By using these business intelligence solutions to your competitive advantage, it’s possible to drive down unnecessary costs, leverage emerging trends, and formulate ideas based on the latest data-driven insights. As a result, you can use responsive data analysis to extract maximum value from your hospital-based activities with relative ease.

d) Real time manufacturing analytics

Real time manufacturing analytics dashboard example

**click to enlarge**

Primary KPIs:

  • First Pass Yield (FPY)
  • Throughput
  • Scrap Rate

If you develop and create your products in-house, keeping a firm grip on your entire operation is essential. This most valuable real time manufacturing dashboard is designed to serve up responsive insights into machinery status as well as operational efficiency.

Equipped with a mix of responsive visuals, this dynamic dashboard serves up important data based on vital aspects of manufacturing including first pass yield (FPY), throughput, and scrap rate. This melting pot of KPIs focuses on the short-term or daily efficiency of your manufacturing operations. It serves as a crisis management report, where you can spot any issues with your machinery and take prompt action, as well as a dashboard that will help you boost output while saving on unnecessary costs.

As the KPIs featured in this particular template are designed for daily as well as ‘in the moment’ analysis, it’s possible to spot any issues as they arise and take the right course of action to prevent damage, loss or productivity outages.

Here you can measure how many units your machines can produce within a certain timeframe while gaining an objective overview of your overall production capacity as well as failures. Working with these critical pockets of information will empower you to develop strategies that ultimately allow you to boost your output while optimizing every stage of your production processes.

e) Real time marketing analytics

Real time marketing analytics example tracking campaign performance

**click to enlarge**

Primary KPIs:

  • Click-Through-Rate (CTR)
  • Cost-per-Click (CPC)
  • Cost-per-Acquisition (CPA)

Your marketing department is one of the beating hearts of your entire organization. These days, consumers are well and truly in the driver’s seat and to build trust as well as loyalty, delivering value-driven communications is vital.

The best way to deliver the right content, and communications at the right times is by working with the right responsive data. As one of our most powerful real time data analytics examples, our marketing analysis dashboard is designed to help you earn the very best return on investment (ROI) from your promotional activities.

This dynamic and visually balanced marketing dashboard breaks down your various campaigns with ease for the best real time analytics insights across the board. Here you can track, analyze, and respond to KPIs including click-through rate (CTR), cost-per-click (CPC), and cost-per-acquisition (CPA) and understand exactly what works best in terms of advertising or content.

These three essential marketing metrics will help you balance your paid media costs while making more informed advertising choices, and improving those all-important click-through rates. 

Also, having access to this responsive level of data will help you jump on any promotional opportunities that emerge while continually improving your core marketing strategies. Most vitally, having access to responsive “in the moment” insights will also give you an honest appraisal of your campaign’s performance. If you feel your campaign is underperforming, you can halt proceedings and start again, rather than wasting your marketing budget on something that isn’t likely to yield any results.

f) Real time customer analytics

Real time customer analytics example for customer service quality

**click to enlarge**

Primary KPIs:

  • Average Resolution Time
  • Cost Per Resolution
  • Total & Solved Tickets By Channel
  • Abandon Rate

In addition to marketing, your customer service department is, in many ways, the heart and soul of your entire organization. With so many consumer-facing channels to cover and such little time, squeezing every last drop of value from your data is vital.

By working with this responsive customer service dashboard, you can drill down into the quality of the service you're offering across channels, accessing a wealth of relevant data at the moment. You can also get an objective overview of your call resolution times as well as the average cost of resolving a customer service query.

Here you can also keep a firm track of your ticket numbers across channels to ensure you’re managing expectations with pinpoint efficiency. It’s possible to track the number of abandonments over a set timeframe to take targeted actions that will help you tackle customer interactions with maximum efficiency and minimal costs.

In the modern age, customer experience is one of the biggest brand differentiators, with customers confirming they often value excellent service across channels over price and product. Working with the right dashboards will ensure you exceed expectations while maintaining economic efficiency - boosting your success in the process.

Real Time Analytics Applications - What Real Time BI And Analytics Can Do For You

We’ve explored striking real time analytics examples and real time analytics use cases. Now, we’re going to consider the benefits of working with in-the-moment insights.

1. Informational relevance

Studies suggest that 69 percent of organizational data loses its relevance or regulatory value the longer it sits on the shelf. But with real time data analysis, you will gain access to completely fresh, compliant, and relevant information - the kind that you can harness to make decisions that enhance all facets of your company on a sustainable basis. With data analysis, there’s far less chance of falling down an informational rabbit hole and working with insights that offer little value - an essential advantage in today’s fast-paced commercial environment. 

2. Increased innovation

By being able to connect with data-driven insights as they’re born and having the innovations to put them into context, you will be able to improve innovation throughout your business. While many strategies are formed over a longer timeframe, some of the best initiatives come from swift decision-making based on events, trends, or information as it happens. If you’re able to be creative yet informed in the moment, you will foster innovation, which, in turn, will catalyze your success.

3. Zero latency

When it comes to tackling important issues or making powerful decisions, in business, hesitation will only serve to stunt progress. But with data analytics in real time, you will be able to react without delay, confident that you’re acting on relevant insights as well as responsive analytics platforms that exist to navigate your choices with strategic success. If you’re able to respond to trending data faster than your competitors, you will become more successful - and that’s the power of data analytics at the moment. For more insights, read our tips and tricks on developing a successful BI project.

Your Chance: Want to get started with real-time BI analytics?
Try our Business Intelligence software for 14-days completly free!

Responsive Analytics: Final Thoughts

We’ve considered the question ‘what is real time analytics?’ and explored a mix of powerful dashboard examples, looked at use cases, explored practical applications, and outlined the virtues of software. There’s no doubt about it: if you want your organization to thrive and continue to evolve in a cutthroat digital commercial environment, embracing the power of real time analytics tools is no longer a far-flung luxury—it’s a living breathing necessity. 

To get the most out of BI and analytics for improving your business decisions, becoming more data-driven, and generating insights within minutes, you can test our software for a 14-day trial, completely free!