The world is changing faster than ever and that means that our data discovery tools have to keep up with it.
The advent of real time analytics may have raised our game, allowing us to quickly and interactively analyze vast collections of historical data. With it, we’ve been able to examine important data patterns and recognize enduring trends allowing us to see the bigger picture and make wiser decisions for our businesses.
However, real time analytics has its limits since it does not tell us how current performance metrics relate to those patterns and trends, and if we are faced with opportunities or potential problems that we should be jumping on, or preventing, respectively. Since it draws only on historical data, real time analytics does not incorporate live intelligence that might provide another level of compelling actionable insights.
That’s where operational intelligence comes in. As companies press to stay current with their data, even as it changes, operational intelligence may be the next generation of B.I.
Operational intelligence is the ability of a system to analyze streams of live data, as opposed to static information, and feed metrics and indicators back to those it impacts. It can thereby compare and contrast current metrics with historical data, limits and targets, and provide precise and accurate windows into performance. As a result, decision-makers and/or managers alike can course-correct with a much finer hand.
Operational intelligence is part of the trend that is putting more smart data delivery tools in the hands of those that use them — and away from IT. Smart data discovery may allow nontraditional BI users the benefits of complex interactive analysis and insights in a way that they can consume them.
It’s a changing world.