How Operational Intelligence Drives Smarter Business Decisions

Software and IT equipment in businesses have become much more than purely transactional systems: thanks to operational intelligence, they nowadays enable companies to make more efficient data-based decisions.

In an increasingly complex world, companies that apply these systems will obtain competitive advantages. It is because of this that you should know what operational business intelligence is, and how to implement it.

What is operational intelligence?

Operational business intelligence (OI: Operational Intelligence) consists of a way to manage data generated or collected in real-time by a company to make decisions.

It is an automated data analysis process that allows for the detection of problems or trends in real-time and provides immediate access to that information to people who are qualified to make decisions in a business environment.

Benefits of operational intelligence

Through technology and data analysis, operational controlling offers several advantages to companies:

• Applying a predictive approach in relation to possible problems: through real-time data analysis, detect issues promptly and even before they occur.
• Ability to make data-based decisions in daily operations.
  Have in-depth knowledge of the systems and processes that compose the company thanks to data analysis.
• All of this will imply a competitive advantage for businesses that implement it, allowing access to information that remains hidden without the knowledge provided by operational intelligence tools.

How operational intelligence works

Operational intelligence uses real-time data analysis in conjunction with data processing; all of this with the purpose of quickly determining both improvement opportunities and threats and various levels.

Technologies dedicated to operational business intelligence include at least the following:

• Real-time monitoring of the status of systems and processes. Notifications may also be defined in the event that certain parameters are incurred, or automated responses to certain data patterns may also be implemented.
• Dashboards that present data in a way that is comprehensible and adds value. Generally, these involve data views.
• Connections between events, relating trends in a way that makes it possible to have a general overview of the systems.

Uses of operational intelligence

Operational intelligence is already being applied in many business areas, which are taking advantage of the power of real-time data to make more efficient and faster decisions.

Operational business intelligence can be applied at many levels: from production in manufacturing industries to digital marketing and sales teams, all the way through logistics and transportation. The application of this new paradigm in investment management is also worth noting, seizing its potential to analyze large amounts of data while making quick decisions.

Regarding the manufacturing sector, operational intelligence stands out as a trend in industrial digital transformation. Together with systems connected as per IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), this paradigm is already being used to monitor the state of the machinery, allowing for predictive maintenance and other advantages that can be applied to an industrial automation system.

Operational intelligence vs. business intelligence

Operational business intelligence is often compared to business intelligence (BI). Both methods do indeed use the power of data for decision-making in a business environment.

In fact, you could say that operational intelligence significantly derives from the previous development of business intelligence techniques, and nowadays both terms may even be used as synonyms.

Technically, there is however a major difference between both paradigms, which is the ability of operational intelligence to act in real time.

This being the case, on one hand, business intelligence has been characterized by the analysis of historical data: through sensors and other technologies, the company receives and stores information. This data is then used to verify how KPIs have worked in the past (such as income or profits) and make decisions regarding the company strategy.

On the other, operational business intelligence provides organizations with data regarding its processes immediately, in real time, which allows for on-the-spot decision making. This type of tool thereby includes the management of actions through alerts and reports in real-time presented in dashboards.

In addition, we could say that a second difference would be the ability of operational intelligence systems to detect trends by activating links between systems that were formerly disconnected or significantly complex.

Nexus Integra: using the power of data for a more efficient industry

The Nexus Integra platform was born with the mission of integrating IoT systems and data analysis and offer an integral digital transformation to various industries.
This makes it an intuitive and comprehensive tool for the implementation of operational intelligence in industrial businesses. The platform combines both historical and real-time data in a single web-accessible interface, allowing for an informed and automated decision making and predictive maintenance, among other advantages.

As a result, our clients have already achieved savings for 1 million euros in energy costs and 20% savings in maintenance costs, in sectors such as automotive, food, ceramic and smart cities.
Do you want to know how to apply operational intelligence in your business, as well as its benefits?