"Without data, there is no competitiveness."
As China's economy turns to a high-quality development path with the digital economy as an important engine, data has become a key element in promoting economic growth.
Thomas Redman, founder of Navesink Consulting Company, believes that enterprises need to establish data organization and processing capabilities, only in this way can they reap the value brought by big data.
Data analysis is an important support for the digital transformation of enterprises, and it is also a key factor in enhancing the competitiveness and innovation capabilities of enterprises. However, there are many problems in the traditional data analysis methods, such as complex data sources, low data quality, cumbersome data processing, single data presentation, and difficulty in data insight, etc., resulting in low efficiency, poor effect, and value of data analysis.
In order to solve these problems, enterprises need tools that can deeply mine and gain insight into data from multiple dimensions, so as to improve the value and efficiency of data. Therefore, a new generation of business intelligence (BI) platform that integrates cutting-edge technologies such as big data and AI core technologies (machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, intelligent voice interaction, knowledge graph, etc.) "Flying grass grows" period.
1. Turn data into "gold" and reconstruct the organizational capabilities of enterprises
Data visualization and education expert Hans Rosling once said: "Data is like sand, if you can't turn it into gold, you can only see its dust."
Therefore, the business intelligence (BI) platform that can turn data "sand into gold" is becoming an indispensable tool in the process of enterprise digital transformation.
Take the digital transformation of Shenling Environment, a manufacturing company, as an example. The company introduced tools such as MES production system, EHR system, and SAP system to support the operation of the integrated business of production, research, marketing, and supply. However, Shenling Environment found that the various systems and software introduced could not work together effectively, nor could it reflect the real-time status of business and production in a timely manner, resulting in low management efficiency and unable to meet the needs of the market and customers.
In order to solve this problem, Shenling Environment chose Smartbi, the intelligent BI platform of Sematic Software.
By connecting the business system databases of various departments, Smartbi has helped Shenling Environment realize the unified storage of all data generated by operations, improving data quality and consistency. In the process of business progress, Smartbi provides corresponding data permissions to employees in each position, which not only ensures data security, but also meets the reporting needs of different users. For example, grassroots managers can directly see the work progress of the group, and middle and senior managers can learn more detailed business management analysis reports.
At the same time, integrating its own advantages in data models, index management, and visualization capabilities, Smartbi has solved the complex needs of Shenling Environment for large-screen data visualization in smart factories and workshops, and helped it establish a scientific production command and dispatch center to realize production. Active management, timely scheduling, and quick response.
It is not difficult to see from the above cases that BI must have at least three basic functions: one is to break down data islands and store data in a unified manner. The second is to make data visualization to meet the needs of different people. The third is to establish a data security system and improve data authority settings.
It is worth mentioning that the concept of "ease of use" is also an important feature of the domestic BI platform. In the case of Shenling Environment, Smartbi has significantly reduced the difficulty and learning threshold for users, allowing IT technicians to get started quickly, and solved the pain point of talent shortage in the digital transformation of domestic manufacturing enterprises.
Of course, the need to build strong organizational capabilities around data management exists in all areas. In addition to manufacturing companies, financial, real estate and even government agencies are at the critical juncture of digital transformation. An excellent business intelligence platform should be able to solve specific business problems of enterprises in combination with the industry environment, and have the ability to adapt to changes in market and customer needs.
For example, in the financial field, Sematic is the domestic BI manufacturer with the largest number of large financial customers. There are 10 domestic banks in the world's top 500, and 9 of them use Smartbi. Based on more than ten years of service experience, Sematic builds It has established a complete solution for the financial industry, and built a smart BI platform for financial companies with "high scalability, fast response, and comprehensive business". Provide financial enterprises with data portal solutions that integrate data navigation, application stores, interactive communities, personalized portals and other functions. In addition, for how to improve the penetration rate of self-service analysis, Smartbi does not blindly seek the route of data visualization, but blossoms from multiple points. NLA to Office integration, from ad hoc query to data visualization, provides a set of combined punches.
Source: Sematic Software Official Website
For another example, Sematic provides a one-stop fine-grained management platform and solutions to help hospital personnel in different roles use data in response to the current problems of competition and incentives among medical institutions, large and difficult business indicators, and low manual reporting efficiency. Assist in decision-making, supervision, and execution, and establish a digital operation platform that can serve the whole world.
In short, powerful, easy to use, flexible, intelligent and efficient, Smartbi has achieved the basic conditions that a successful business intelligence software should have. It can help enterprises solve various business problems in different industry environments and establish better data management capabilities. .
At the same time, from Smartbi, we also see that the Chinese BI platform is blazing its own unique path and forming a localized competitive advantage.
2. Take root in China's business ecology, deepen cutting-edge technology and move towards ABI
In the Chinese market, the BI industry has experienced a development process from the monopoly of foreign giants to the wave of domestic substitution.
Today, China's business intelligence platform has domestic advantages and can better adapt to the business environment and corporate management culture of Chinese companies. By comparing with the international mainstream BI platform Power BI, we can see that Smartbi is more in line with the needs of domestic customers:
First, Smartbi has a stronger ability to connect to enterprise data platforms.
Power BI supports connecting to conventional file data such as Excel, CSV, TXT, etc., but Smartbi has added the ability to connect to big data platforms commonly used by domestic enterprises such as Kylin, Gbase, and Mongodb.
Secondly, Smartbi starts with professional links such as data processing, modeling and data mining, which reduces the difficulty of user operations.
In terms of data processing, compared with PowerBI, operators need to be familiar with M language and DAX functions, and have the ability to write formula codes. Smartbi has added self-service ETL functions, and processes data into a data model with semantic consistency and integrity through easy-to-operate visualization tools .
In terms of data modeling, compared to the PowerBI data model that can only be used for the current report, the data association model established by Smartbi can be stored in the form of a business-themed business package to achieve unlimited reuse.
In terms of data mining, Smartbi creates a visual data mining modeling tool, which brings together 50+ data mining algorithm components to quickly realize various types of data mining applications, provide enterprises with predictive capabilities, and realize predictive analysis capabilities in multiple new scenarios .
Thirdly, Smartbi is more in line with domestic application scenarios.
From the perspective of visualization capabilities, there are relatively few built-in charts in PoweBI. Most of the commonly used advanced charts need to be downloaded and used separately, while Smartbi directly provides a variety of component styles, smart diagrams, custom graphics, etc. In particular, Smartbi has multiple built-in themes, which can switch settings with one click, making the operation more concise.
At the same time, in mobile integration applications, Smartbi also supports WeChat and DingTalk integration, which is self-evident for domestic users.
It is worth mentioning that Smartbi can also analyze translations through the natural language analysis engine, deeply identify user intentions, help users obtain data insights more easily, and realize analysis results as they think, and answer questions immediately. Users only need to talk to Smart Wheat, and Smartbi can automatically generate corresponding charts or reports, allowing users to easily complete data analysis without writing code or dragging and dropping operations.
Just like the ChatGPT human-computer interaction method that has exploded recently, just a little example prompt can make AI greatly improve its performance and answer in a way that humans like. Smartbi also implements conversational analysis based on NLA, and Smartbi's NLA technology has been applied in the BI projects of many large groups, helping enterprises accelerate their development in the era of "digital intelligence".
From Smartbi, the author also clearly perceives the attitude of domestic IT companies to actively embrace new technologies.
The market's requirements for IT tools are always simpler and more efficient, and one-stop data analysis is the function that best meets the needs of enterprises. Therefore, domestic top BI manufacturers have accelerated the integration of BI, data center, AI and other technologies in recent years, and further upgraded the BI platform to the ABI platform.
The ABI platform can meet the data analysis needs of different roles and scenarios, and realize self-service, agile and intelligent application of data. Following the "3A" strategy, that is, one-stop application (All in one), enhanced analysis (Augmented Analytics) and intelligent decision-making (AI-driven Decision), the ABI platform demonstrates comprehensiveness, efficiency and intelligence, and has become an enterprise A "better solution" for digital transformation.
During the data analysis process of Sematic's ABI platform, when business personnel have needs and problems, business personnel can quickly build new indicators by themselves based on atomic indicators, visual interfaces and standard process guidance to achieve the best collaboration between technology and business , Precipitating enterprise data assets.
It is not difficult to see that from BI to ABI, Sematic is writing a more imaginative future. According to Gartner's forecast, by 2025, the growth rate of China's analysis platform market will increase from 18.21% to 23.38%, and the fastest growing market segments are ABI platform and AI and data science platforms.
Finally, with the rapid development of China's digital economy, domestic IT companies are actively innovating and pioneering, and the process of localization of the data industry chain is expected to accelerate.
3. The data element market is developing rapidly, and domestic BI vendors are at the forefront
In 2022, new and important progress has been made in the construction of digital China. The scale of the digital economy ranks second in the world and has become one of the main engines of economic growth.
With the advancement of digital transformation, more and more enterprises realize the importance and value of data analysis, and the overall demand for business intelligence will maintain high growth. According to 2020 market share data provided by IDC, the global business intelligence and analytics market totaled $19.2 billion, growing a healthy 5.2 percent despite the economic turmoil associated with the pandemic. It is expected that China's BI market will still maintain an annual growth rate of 20%-30% in the future, which has broad prospects.
At the same time, the policy will also accelerate the development of the information technology industry. On April 3, the Department of Innovation and High-Tech Development of the National Development and Reform Commission stated that it will make efforts from six aspects to continue to make my country's digital economy stronger, better and bigger. These include cultivating a group of ecologically-led enterprises with core competitiveness, accelerating the creation of digital industry clusters with international competitiveness, and supporting platform enterprises to show their talents in leading development, creating jobs, and international competition.
Driven by the two wheels of policy and market, China's information technology industry is about to reach a new level. As the "last mile" of the localization of the data industry chain, the BI industry has broad prospects for future development, but it is not easy for manufacturers to stand out.
On the one hand, with the development of artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud computing, big data and other technologies, technological innovation in the business intelligence industry is accelerating, and the market's requirements for automation and intelligence of BI software are constantly increasing.
Specific to data source, data warehouse, data model, data analysis, data visualization, data application and other fields and levels, there are many manufacturers participating in the competition in each link. At the same time, CRM and ERP vendors are also embedding BI into their platforms, becoming competitors of BI vendors. It is foreseeable that key industries such as finance and manufacturing will become "focus battlefields".
On the other hand, user needs are showing a trend of diversification, and users of different industries, scales, and levels have different needs and expectations for business intelligence.
Specifically, users need not only more flexible, easier-to-use, and lower-cost BI tools for self-service analysis and quick decision-making, but also more professional, deeper, and more accurate BI services for data mining and predictive analysis.
Therefore, BI vendors need to provide application scenarios and solutions in line with their real conditions according to the characteristics of user needs, and provide refined local and timely response service support.
To sum up, the market prospect of the business intelligence industry is full of opportunities and challenges. BI manufacturers need to continuously innovate technologies and products, and focus on the needs of various industries and enterprises of different sizes to do a good job in the implementation process, in order to make steady and long-term progress in the tide of the times.
Article source: Songguo Finance