Business intelligence (BI) is a process that uses several tools to help enterprises collect, analyze, present, and integrate data to facilitate actionable insights for business growth. Over time, the business intelligence industry has morphed into a billion-dollar enterprise. There is no sign of it slowing down. More and more businesses undergo digital transformation in response to industry demands.
We now produce more data daily than ever before. According to business intelligence statistics, any business capable of analyzing, interpreting, and effectively applying the insights extracted from the quintillions of data that we produce daily will surely own their market. The big brands of any industry know this.
We also know the importance of BI to your business growth. We have handpicked some of the most sought after business intelligence statistics for 2020 to prove our point.
Eye-Opening Business Intelligence Statistics
Here are some highlights to help you understand how your business can get ahead with business intelligence.
- Data analytics makes decision making 5x faster for businesses.
- Self-service platforms provide a significant competitive advantage, according to 64% of business owners.
- The global business intelligence market could hit $29.48 billion by 2022.
- In 2018, the highest adopters of business intelligence solutions were small businesses of about 100 employees.
- The top three business intelligence trends are data visualization, data quality management, and self-service business intelligence (BI).
- Business intelligence maturity is a trait that 87% of businesses don’t have.
- 82% of cloud-based BI adopters choose Microsoft Azure as their preferred cloud-based BI services provider.
See?
Business intelligence is crucial nowadays.
Let’s dive deeper.
General Business Intelligence Statistics
We offer you an in-depth explanation of some key business intelligence statistics.
1. 54% of enterprises agree that cloud-based BI is vital to both their current and future initiatives.
(Source: Forbes)
Cloud-based BI is cost-effective to manage and provides access to more data (both structured and unstructured). In addition to these, statistics on business intelligence tools show that it is easy to scale (up or down) if needed, highly reliable, and offers better security than physical servers.
2. As of 2018, the highest adopters of business intelligence solutions were small businesses of about 100 employees.
(Source: Learn G2)
According to business intelligence stats, modern-day startups rely a lot on data intelligence and data analytics to stay relevant in the marketplace. This prompts the need for increased usage of business intelligence tools. Plus, the implementation of business intelligence to SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses) requires less effort (due to a small workforce) and has low barriers.
3. Data analytics makes decision making 5x faster for businesses.
(Source: Better Buys)
Gone are the days when businesses were operated based on assumptions and instincts. These days, companies are actively utilizing data analytics to help make fact-based decisions. Tools like self-service BI allow almost anyone to extract insights from data in real-time, without having to go through all the cumbersome processes involved in the organization’s decision making.
4. Record-keeping organizations (financial institutions, higher education, retail companies, etc) are the major industries leveraging cloud business intelligence today.
(Source: Learn G2)
Record-keeping is a delicate job, and when done right, it can lead to marketable insights that increase business revenue. According to business intelligence industry statistics, cloud BI does quite an excellent job of helping record-keeping enterprises to store, manage, and report insights from data at a reduced cost and increased efficiency. Plus, the added advantage of reduced storage risk compared to traditional forms of storage establishes it as a stronghold in the record-keeping industry. And considering the number of data breaches is on the rise, this just might be a good decision.
5. 69% of companies already have plans to increase their usage of cloud-based business intelligence.
(Source: Learn G2)
This trend started in 2016 when cloud-based usage was placed at a meager 25%. It continued in 2017 at 31% and landed at 49% in 2018. However, business intelligence statistics for 2019 reveal that as of 2019, 54% of enterprises already think that cloud business intelligence is essential to their business.
6. Business intelligence maturity is a trait that 87% of businesses don’t have.
(Source: Finances Online)
Business intelligence maturity is simply an index that gives an indication of the level of organization of a business’s data strategy. An ideal business with a high business intelligence maturity score should have a Chief Data Officer (CDO), organized and accessible data that provides actionable insights. Unfortunately, most businesses do not fall under this category.
7. Business intelligence in any organization needs the executive managers, operations, and sales team to thrive.
(Source: Forbes)
Although operations used to be the leading sector, the executive managers have since assumed more of an active role in the BI thought process.
Business Intelligence Market Size
According to statistics for business intelligence, the BI market is already worth billions. It is expected to grow even further. Here is a breakdown of various BI services and their market worth.
8. The global business intelligence market could hit $29.48 billion by 2022.
(Source: Finances Online)
As of the first half of 2020, the BI market is valued at $14.7 billion. The banking sector makes up 13.9% of the BI market, and that is about $204 million in revenue. Other crucial industries with significant shares in the business intelligence market are discrete manufacturing (11.3%), the federal government (6.8%), professional services (8.2%), and process manufacturing (8.2%).
9. The global business intelligence software market could hit $28.77 billion by the end of 2022.
(Source: Business Wire)
The world of businesses today has become mainly data-driven, and big data has been at the top of it all. However, what use is big data if there are no tools to make sense of it? This explains why the BI software market has become such a significant player in businesses and a crucial factor in how organizations draw insights from big data. BI software tools enable organizations to retrieve, manage, and transform data into actionable insights for businesses.
10. The cloud-based BI market is the fastest-growing BI segment.
(Source: Finances Online)
Stats on business intelligence show that the cloud-based BI market was worth $750 million in 2013. Fast forward to the end of 2018 and its value had risen to $2.94 billion – almost four times more.
11. The mobile business intelligence market could grow up to $16 billion by 2023.
(Source: Nix Solutions)
Business intelligence market statistics reveal that the mobile BI market had a value of $4.103 billion in 2016. In 2017, it hit the $5.03 billion mark. It is expected to grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 21.6% till 2023.
Business Intelligence Adoption Statistics
Digitalization and increased data production have called for improved business processes. Businesses across various industries are embracing these changes through business intelligence. The following business intelligence stats will familiarize you with the rate of BI adoption across the globe.
12. 82% of cloud-based BI adopters choose Microsoft Azure as their preferred cloud-based BI services provider.
(Source: Forbes)
According to business intelligence adoption statistics, Microsoft Azure only comes second to Amazon Aws (86%). Google Cloud follows closely, sitting in third place with 66%. Microsoft Azure, however, provides its users with cost-effective options for storing their data in the cloud. What’s more, it provides a wide range of cloud-based BI tools that can be used to perform data analysis.
13. North America remains the largest market for BI software adoption.
(Source: Finances Online)
Business intelligence adoption statistics reveal that countries like the USA and Canada are the significant pushers of the business intelligence software market in North America. This is expected as a significant number of organizations over there have adopted BI services as a core part of their business strategy.
14. The adoption of cloud-based BI is highest in the manufacturing, business services, and financial services industries.
(Source: Forbes)
The manufacturing industry generates tons of data from customers, suppliers, and even competitors. When properly utilized, these data can help manufacturers have a deeper understanding of their market, develop better products, reduce cost, increase revenue, and even increase their customer base. So far, 58% of manufacturing companies are already using cloud-based BI. Both financial and business services have 40% apiece according to business intelligence usage statistics.
15. More than 46% of businesses are already using a BI tool as a core part of their business strategy.
(Source: Finances Online)
This could be for data cleaning, reporting, exploration, dashboard, or predictive analysis. Regardless, business intelligence stats for 2020 show that business intelligence tools are now so important that almost every business leader wants to implement them.
16. 37% of manufacturers in Asia-Pacific rely on data analytics and Big Data for improved production quality management.
(Source: Forbes)
Asia is the continent with some of the largest manufacturing firms whose services and customer base span globally. Manufacturing companies in this region use BI to try and make sense of all the influx of data being generated, for effective production and increased efficiency.
17. 90% of sales and marketing teams cite BI as a crucial tool in getting their work done effectively.
(Source: Finances Online)
Even before big data, sales and marketing have always been a data-driven process in any organization. With the introduction of BI, decision making is now faster, more accurate, and insightful. The sales team can now track best-selling products, and marketing teams can better understand what channels bring in the most traffic.
Business Intelligence Jobs Statistics
Job creation is one of the significant impacts that business intelligence has had. Here we take a look at some of the business intelligence statistics related to jobs.
18. 75% of large organizations will have a Chief Data Officer (CDO) by 2021.
(Source: Enterprisers Project)
With each passing day, more businesses are beginning to realize how critical big data and analytics are for a faster and smarter decision making process. This has, in turn, led to an increased search for CDOs. According to business intelligence and analytics statistics, as of 2018, 63% of Fortune 1000 companies already had a dedicated CDO, compared to just 12% in 2012.
19. In 2020, there would be 2.72 million jobs requiring various data science and analytics skills.
(Source: Learn G2)
According to statistics on the future of business intelligence, in 2018, there were just around 364,000 data science-related job openings. It is predicted that this figure will rise towards the 2.72 million mark after 2020.
20. 85% of business leaders agree that big data will significantly change the way that they do business.
(Source: Forbes)
The presence of big data in any business provides an opportunity for business leaders to improve the overall business performance. In addition, it creates room for a more effective business strategy.
When integrated with BI, big data can improve decision-making processes, uncover new business insights, and boost productivity. Other perks include increased sales and revenue, reduced cost of operation, boosted employee performances, and enhanced business capacity.
21. Globally, only 24% of business leaders have passed the data literacy test.
(Source: Hype Right)
Data literacy entails the ability to work with data in various ways. This covers being able to read, work, analyze, interpret, and interact with data in a meaningful way. According to business intelligence statistics for 2020, an organization is not considered data literate until the majority of its employees can comfortably work with and make sense of data on their own.
The Financial Impact of Using BI Tools
Business intelligence provides a significant advantage for enterprises that utilize its tools for informed decision making. Read on to discover more about the economic impact of BI tools.
22. In the US alone, poor data quality costs the economy up to $3.1 trillion yearly.
(Source: Finances Online)
The United States is one of the world’s most developed nations and is one of the core drivers of a data-driven business economy today. Business intelligence stats for 2020 show that the over-reliance on business models requiring data intelligence makes the United States more vulnerable to the consequences of poor data quality. Plus, the time-consuming process and costs involved can cause a few individuals (in decision making positions) to skip the validation of data received. This will inevitably add to the expenditure incurred due to poor data quality.
23. Back in 2018, organizations lost an average of $15 million per year because of poor data quality.
(Source: Gartner)
Business intelligence stats reveal that poor data quality slows down productivity, which in turn reflects on the total revenue generated by a company. To avoid this, more than one-third of data analysts supposedly spend 40% of their time vetting and validating data generated before releasing it for strategic decision making.
24. More than 51% of businesses that are leveraging data analytics are experiencing better financial performance.
(Source: Business 2 Community)
Faster and informed decision making, real-time information, accurate predictive analysis, detailed market insights, amongst others are the many benefits of implementing BI tools into any business.
25. The average ROI for enterprises using business intelligence and analytics is 1300%.
(Source: Yellow Fin BI)
The world today is governed by data – traditional business models no longer meet the required standard of a successful business. Business intelligence stats about customers show that whoever controls data now controls the market. Decision making now requires only a few seconds to gain an advantage in the market. The implementation of self-service BI and cloud-based BI provides a significant advantage to organizations that utilize their many benefits.
26. 56% of organizations utilizing analytics have reportedly experienced faster and effective decision making.
(Source: Business 2 Community)
How do you know what works for your business and what doesn’t?
Of all your products and/or services in the market, how do you determine which is performing poorly and why?
Best case scenario, you run a market survey on your customers, which may take a lot of time to get a fully detailed report. With business intelligence tools and big data, you can derive all the insights you need about a market before launch, in a much shorter time frame.
Self-Service Business Intelligence Statistics
Self-service business intelligence is a tool that allows the average employee to successfully manage, interact, and draw insights from data without the help of a data analyst or BI team. The following are some crucial self-service business intelligence statistics.
27. The most challenging issues for self-service business intelligence are data combination (20%) and data security (14%).
(Source: Learn G2)
Big data does not come from one source; neither does it come in one format. Analyzing and reporting these data from different sources and different forms is an arduous task, and it poses a significant challenge to organizations practicing self-service BI.
Another major problem is data security. With self-service BI, authorized employees can have access to company data at any point in time, regardless of their location. As much as that sounds convenient, it opens doors to data theft. This means that hackers can easily hack the database of an organization by merely tapping into the unprotected personal device of an employee.
28. 71% of business leaders agree that self-service BI hastens learning and improves the responsiveness of an organization.
(Source: Learn G2)
Do you have a product that is not performing as expected?
BI can help you study the market, draw insights about why a product is not performing, indicate areas that need improvement, and even suggest future trends that can give your product an edge. That way, your team can learn what works, and respond faster to changes.
29. Finance (67%), sales (61%), and marketing (60%) are the sectors benefiting the most from self-service BI.
(Source: Learn G2)
According to business intelligence statistics, these sectors deal most with information in real-time. For market decisions that require immediate reaction or response from your sales, finance, or marketing team, going through a business analyst or BI team may not be ideal. With the right data in place, quick and informed decisions can easily be made. Self-service BI provides your business with more control over the market, improves resource allocation to more profitable trends, and ensures that only relevant data is made available.
30. 64% of business leaders agree that self-service BI gives an organization a competitive advantage.
(Source: Learn G2)
When all sectors of an organization are solely dependent on one entity for data, the whole process can become cumbersome. This may go further to slow down the decision-making process of an organization. Also, the issue of misalignment of data due to too much workload becomes inevitable in such a case. However, self-service business intelligence eliminates the problem of monopolization of data by one entity (the IT or BI team). As such, it ensures that almost any employee can make critical decisions that will move the business forward based on correctly interpreted data.
Trends in Business Intelligence
The following are business intelligence trends across various industries.
31. The top three business intelligence trends for 2020 are master data and data quality (MD/DQ) management, data visualization/discovery, and self-service business intelligence (or data-driven culture).
(Source: BI-Survey)
It is clear to see why these three are the top business intelligence trends for 2020. MD/DQ management allows you to collect and exchange master data (e.g. customer or supplier master data) from discrete data sources. Data visualization, in its own case, enables the presentation of the already processed data in a graphical format. This reveals real-life business insights that can be used to make informed decisions about a business. Lastly, self-service BI empowers employees with the right tools and knowledge to draw insights from data without the help of IT teams or BI teams.
32. The data scientist position is the highest-paying entry-level job in the world.
(Source: Glass Door)
Business intelligence statistics show that the median base salary for an entry-level data scientist is $95,000. The reason for such relatively higher incentives is the increased need for experts who can draw insights from data.
Data Visualization Statistics
Data visualization is the presentation of business intelligence analysis in graphical illustrations where it best conveys the information needed. It utilizes data visualization software to present information in graphical formats. According to data visualization statistics for 2020, it remains the best way to present data analysis from BI. The following data visualization stats will shed more light on this.
33. Quality infographics get 30x read time compared to plain text.
(Source: CSG Solution)
Nobody wants to read hundreds of pages before they can successfully extract the tiniest of valuable insight. According to statistics on data visualization, presenting information with graphical illustrations reduces your workload, engages your reader better, and ensures that they get what they are looking for without much hassle. That said, if you want to engage your audience better consider using the best infographic tools, to get it right.
34. People will believe a piece of information more if presented in graphical form (97%) than when presented in plain text (68%).
(Source: CSG Solution)
The human mind is programmed to process visual content faster than text. A study reported by the Visual Communication Agency suggests that visuals communicate information to us at a speed 60,000 times faster than plain text. So, the next time you find yourself going through graphical illustrations instead of plain text, just know that nature is simply in play.
Wrap Up
Business intelligence statistics have it that we now produce enormous amounts of data daily, all of which can be analyzed for marketable information. Such information will inevitably bring about business growth. That is where business intelligence comes in. BI can provide businesses with an array of tools that enables the effective utilization of data for actionable insights, thus providing an edge in a highly competitive market.
Is your business effectively harnessing the powers of business intelligence?