Business Intelligence no Google Sheets

Business Intelligence is the collective knowledge of the hive. It is a technology-driven process of analyzing existing data and organizing actionable information. It is used to help managers and executives make strategic decisions for a firm. Google Sheets business intelligence refers to the analysis and organization of data on spreadsheets.

Where is Business Intelligence?

Despite heavy investment in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, most Business Intelligence resides in or is downloaded to spreadsheets.

ERPs are excellent for retaining large repositories of data. They are also a means of implementing and enforcing processes and procedures that maintain coherence and control of how data enters the databases.

All ERPs generate reports. However, a one-size-fits-all solution for data analysis and reports is impossible. Companies and managers have specific preferences for what data to analyze and how.

A new report will probably be required when a new manager joins the firm. This becomes impractical because most ERPs require a paid consultant to modify or create reports in the system.

However, practically everybody in the organization shares their know-how on a spreadsheet. The data required for each report is extracted from the ERP to a spreadsheet (usually by clicking a button), where it is manipulated according to the user’s needs and the required results.

“The hype around Big Data is misplaced – small connected data is where the real value lies.”

Rufus Pollock – Open Knowledge Foundation

Why Google Sheets business intelligence?

The principal advantage of Google Sheets is that it’s in the CLOUD.

As a Google Sheets user, this means you don’t have to worry about access to shared drives or, worse yet, failures of the local drive. Leaving the firm to go on a business trip does not limit your access to the data.

Sharing data in the cloud is also much easier. With offline solutions, you likely save a copy on your hard drive, email it to a colleague who makes edits and saves it on their hard drive with a different name, and then email it to someone else. Pretty soon, you have dozens of copies of the same file, and no one knows which one is correct. With cloud-based solutions, everyone who needs access has access and knows which version is the latest.

Finally, because it’s easy to share data between Google Sheets (no #REF errors if someone moves a sheet from one folder to another) it allows you to segregate your data better peruse.