The Next Generation of Business Intelligence

The term Business Intelligence 2.0 (BI 2.0) is cropping up more and more in the industry, generally referring to the next generation of BI just as Web 2.0 has come to refer to the next generation of the Web. The focus, like Web 2.0, is on people, empowering users to express their creativity, allowing them to freely access information and produce something meaningful from it while focusing on information sharing, communication, and collaboration.

The widespread availability of business applications on the Web has actually boosted the need for better BI tools and more interactive capabilities.

It opens the door to allowing many users, who otherwise may not have had access, to get at valuable information, bringing the power of BI to the everyday user. This also encourages more information sharing among employees, managers, partners, analysts, clients, suppliers/vendors; that is, any business user in the enterprise.

To become more 'intelligent' and remain competitive, organizations need to understand the whole picture: the current state of their business as well as where it's been and where it's headed.

Optimally, organizations would be able to tap into their information wherever it is in the organization using tools that take advantage of the latest technologies and are fully Web-based for wider enterprise reach and availability.