Business intelligence, data analytics, data visualization, embedded business intelligence,… There are dozens of terms, but don’t they all just mean the same thing? 🤷♀️ If it were only that simple.
To find out which type of business intelligence is right for you, there are some important nuances to be aware of. In this article, we’ll zoom in on embedded business intelligence, the new kid on the block in BI.
Learn what embedded BI means, how it’s different from traditional BI, and if it’s right for you.
Embedded business intelligence is the process of embedding analytics capabilities into existing business applications. This could be a SaaS product, web application or any cloud-based portal. It gives product users access to information they need to make smarter decisions.
In common terminology, business intelligence encompasses the entire data supply chain. That includes everything from data connection to data modeling and data visualization for the end users. Where embedded business intelligence should excel, however, is in the data visualization process.
And even beyond data visualization alone, embedded BI can add self-service BI analytics capabilities straight into the apps and platforms we use on a daily basis.
Whether it’s a marketing tool, an accounting program, or a cash register system. Anyone can create reports, interact deeply with data, and get notified of trends. All in an easy and intuitive way in a web-based app.
Imagine embedded business intelligence as your software product’s “control center”. You can compare it to the control panel on your car’s dashboard. It shows your speed, gas level, and alerts you when something is wrong. It would be impossible to drive without a control panel inside your car. And dangerous too!
Embedded business intelligence works the same way. It’s difficult to make confident business decisions without insights at hand. And too often, business users have to switch to between their work apps and dedicated reporting tools. As a result, they make crucial decisions at a much slower pace.
Traditional business intelligence is almost a privilege for data scientists and people with technical knowledge. Traditional BI software is complex to learn if you don’t know data science or coding. It takes a long time to create reports. And often, the people who end up using the reports are not even involved in that process.
Because of this limitation, data scientists often need to start all over again. With so much ad-hoc data analysis, it takes months before businesses can make critical decisions they should make within hours. And with a shortage of good data scientists, it strains your most scarce resources. And it’s insanely expensive too!
The intuitive visualization of embedded BI in analytics tools cuts out the middleman. No more back and forth on reports between IT and business teams. With the use of intuitive tools, business users can slice and dice their own data.
With this empowerment and functionality, they reduce the time to make a decision from months to mere hours. From data management to action, an embedded BI solution helps you speed yourself up.
From that perspective, the biggest difference between embedded BI and traditional BI is the user experience. Insights are now embedded into the daily workflows of any person. Data scientists no longer need to be involved in the creation of the actual visualizations in an analytics platform. And business users no longer need to learn clunky BI tools to run data-driven businesses. Finding insights is now an intuitive process that is part of their day-to-day.
Embedded BI is like eating farm-to-table. Ingredients come straight from the source, cutting out intermediate suppliers. You pay less for better quality. With embedded BI, you get your insights straight from the source. At a faster pace, with competitive pricing, and with less margin for error.
SaaS product builders enjoy many advantages when using embedded business intelligence.
Your product users will also reap the benefits of this new way of analyzing their data.
The following capabilities make embedded BI stand out from other approaches to great data insights.
Product and engineering teams are still hesitant to adopt embedded business intelligence software. Engineers often prefer to stitch their own solution together instead. Even though low-code software can save them months of time.
The most common misconceptions of using a third-party embedded business intelligence software are:
The product teams who build instead of buy analytics often delay their roadmap. You need a specific skill set to build business intelligence and big data features. If your team lacks the expertise, you are draining your resources for months to come without realizing it.
For this reason, product teams often postpone or halt analytics development cycles. And that leaves engineering teams with nothing but technical debt.
Compare sites like G2 are a great starting point to find the right embedded business intelligence software. But keep in mind that not every tool listed will specialize in embedded BI only.
For example, BI platforms like Tableau, Domo or Microsoft Power BI, or Domo are market leaders in traditional BI. Even though they allow embedding, their core focus is still traditional BI. As a result, the user experience caters to data-savvy users. Although very powerful, these tools may be less accessible to non-technical personas.
We recommend starting free trials to assess which embedded analytics solution is right for your use case. Browse their websites to get an idea of their capabilities. Gather all your findings in a vendor comparison matrix like the example below. This canvas is helpful for comparing embedded business intelligence software objectively.
Building business intelligence features for your SaaS product is an exciting journey. With the right resources, you’ll quickly get the hang of it!
Below are a few resources on embedded business intelligence that will set you up for success.
If you’re curious to try embedded BI software yourself, Cumul.io offers a free 10-day trial. Or sign up for a product demo from one of our embedded BI experts.
What is embedded business intelligence?
Embedded business intelligence or embedded BI is the practice of adding reports, dashboards and data visualization that are embedded into a product, rather a standalone tool.
What are the best embedded BI tools?
It depends on your needs. If you want maximum ease of use and great pricing, you should opt for Cumul.io. If your focus is more on analytics and less on visualization and you can afford the extra cost, try going for tools such as Tableau and PowerBI.
