The issue facing businesses today is finding the balance between business intelligence (BI) solutions that work and business intelligence solutions that don’t destroy their budget. Companies ranging from small startups to established enterprises are discovering how implementing BI solutions can help them create a more secure network while fostering business growth.
With so many options for improving business intelligence, the question is which strategies provide the most benefits and secure IT infrastructure. Below, we look at some best business security systems and strategies for business intelligence.
Installing a Virtual Private Network
A Virtual private network (VPN) started as a solution for enterprise-level businesses. Over the last few years, they’ve also become the go-to security app for individual users, creating a market for more personal security. However, small businesses and larger corporations still utilize VPNs either directly or through a managed IT company.
The best thing about VPNs is that they are scalable — meaning, they can provide top-level security for any platform regardless of the platform’s size or the company’s projected growth. As a business adds new components to their network, the VPN scales its security measures to the expansion.
VPNs offer a wide range of features such as:
- IP masking
- IP protocols
- End-to-end tunneling
- Email encryption
- Access to blocked websites or streaming services
- Kill switch capabilities to prevent network vulnerability
- No logs or tracking for a user’s activity
- Multi-device usage on a single account
- Hundreds of servers across all habitable continents
Cloud-based Warehousing Solutions
Although a lot of companies still prefer on-site warehousing for their data, they’re struggling to find models that are secure, cost-effective, and scalable. It is difficult to find all three in an in-house data center or digital warehouse.
A more practical BI strategy may be to transfer all data to a cloud-based platform for collecting data from a wide range of sources. A cloud server can efficiently store and curate data, as well as allow users to retrieve the data from any remote location. Companies need to find a warehousing solution that integrates well with security software or a VPN to ensure that the data is managed well and secure. There are plenty of reputable services and software available.
Look for the following features with warehouse solutions:
- Warehouse design
- Inventory management
- Order fulfillment management
- Labor management
- Tracking capability
- Analytics and reporting
- Backups and integration
Analytics Architecture
Companies that are seeking the best BI solutions need to consider how well the service or software can provide real-time, accurate analytics according to the organization’s needs. Products need to be able to provide ongoing updates without affecting the performance of the network or any of the computers using the software.
Users need to look for BI interfaces that are easy to use and easy to understand while providing lots of customizable features. The hardware and software do not need to be enterprise-level. However, they do need to be big enough to accommodate both current and projected workloads.
What are some features that top companies look for in Analytics solutions?
- Real-time reporting and analysis
- Consistent, accurate data
- Greater UX from the ground floor to the executive level
- Tools and analytics that give companies a more significant competitive advantage
- Products that provide cost-effective solutions
- Products that provide increased revenue solutions
- Secure platforms that protect valuable data and user privacy
Open Source API That Allows Software Integration
Companies are always looking for ways to streamline their workflow and cut down on the number of steps it takes to perform any task. For this reason, software that features open-source API has become a key selling point for BI software or SaaS developers.
For instance, when it comes to security, users want to know that the VPN they just purchased will work with BI software to protect it on the network. They also want to be able to use their BI platform with products such as social media, Microsoft, email, cloud platforms, and other hardware or software applications across multiple devices.
Look for products that have easy to use drag-and-drop interfaces. These features allow users to combine multiple sets of data from a wide range of resources in as few steps as possible. There are lots of products on the market that range from baseline startup software to high-level enterprise products.
Business Intelligence Should Aid in Regulatory Compliance
While a VPN can assist companies with security compliance issues, BI software has to address other compliance and risk issues, including system performance reliability, transparency, and interaction with customers. As a result, BI reports must provide accurate historical, current, and projected data for the sake of the company’s reputation and legal adherence.
Users need to understand the limits of these capabilities according to their company’s needs. Any restrictions in software analytics or reporting can cause gross miscalculations in intelligence and throw a company off-track for months. Business intelligence hardware and software must be able to handle large volumes and varieties of data, as well as the rate at which the data is read and processed. This is especially important with the emergence of AI and Big Data sourcing.
All of this amounts to using products that produce correct data so that a company understands how well they are staying compliant within their industry regulations. Administrators should carefully choose business intelligence products that offer the most accurate data and can handle large volumes of data to provide the most current information for compliance issues.
The Bottom Line: BI Is About Minimizing Risk and Security Issues
Business intelligence involves more than just gathering intel for marketing purposes or improving customer UX. It also consists of lowering a company’s risks and increasing security on several levels. The best BI software and hardware products offer the most up-to-date data, open source API, and a secure platform that is compatible with a virtual private network.
Since technology is always evolving, administrators should look for BI products that are scalable and versatile in both on-site and cloud-based platforms. Users should consider how easy to software is to use and whether it can be accessed across multiple remote devices all shielded under a VPN.
About the Author: Christopher Nichols has always enjoyed using new technology advancements to scale marketing efforts. He believes in data-driven marketing and in practices it in his agency, Strictly Digital. Can be reached at email christopher@strictly.digital
