History of Business Intelligence.
1865
The first time concept “Business Intelligence” was coined in the year of 1865, the era without technology. Richard Miller Devens first mentioned the word to describe a banker, Sir Henry Furnese used the surrounding information to gain advantages over his competitors. The definition of Business Intelligence is not related to technology at all.
1958
“A Business Intelligence System” was a name of an article which published on IBM Journal by Hans Luhn. The concept of business intelligence mentioned in the article similar what we know about today, which is extract, compare and analysis the internal and external data to help make the best possible decisions.
60’s
Along with the increasing number of small companies, data has never been important for a business before. During the 60s, most of the business were using mainframe computer, consequently, people realised that the format of storing data need to be changed.
70’s - 80’s
Despite hard disks been invented in the year of 1956 by IBM, the data storage was still a big problem. After years of innovation, the first database management system, decision support system(DSS) came out. By the year of 1970’s, there are a few proactive BI tools available in the market, but be restricted to the limited clumsy technology, its were underwhelming.
1990-2000
In the decade of 1990 to 2000, BI 1.0 generation starts. Along with the increasing numbers of BI vendors providing tools in the market, companies starts use BI for their business. During the period, BI able to produce data and reports, and organise it and visualise in a presentable way already. But disadvantages are obvious, the tools are designed for the IT team, which mean only experts are able to manage the tools, not for normal people。 Thereby, the time took during the processes had extended longer.
2000
At beginning of 21st century, BI 2.0 had a big innovation from BI 1.0, complex and speed. Along with the cloud computing widely used in companies, BI started transferred their functions to the cloud. There are two new functions have been created, real-time process and self-service. The first function allows users access the latest information. The second function allows non-expert users access to the data without IT expert. Those two functions reinforced the role of BI in companies tremendously, the simple and fast utility is no longer a just alternate in business instruction, it became a necessary function for a business.
Now
BI has been prevalent nowadays. There are three main improving functions that people most expect, more specific tools, better self-service system, and visualization tools. BI is not only wildly used in big companies, but also used in some specific departments, thereby, a specific tool which meets the special need is necessary. For self-service and visualization tool, its can help non-expert people manage the data, even without training.
Also, cloud BI and mobile BI are escalating rapidly by using cloud computing and mobile technology, end users able to access the system on any devices at any time.
Similar to other storing data technologies, cost and security are always been problems. Building up, maintain, develop and train employees to use BI all costs a lot of money. Along with other improved technologies, reduce the cost and increase the security in the future will escalate for sure.
Reference:
- Heinze, Justin. “History of Business Intelligence.” Better Buys. N.p., 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
- Davies, Natalie. “A History of Business Intelligence.” Sales-i. Sales-i Http://www.sales-i.com/wp-content/themes/sales-i/Assets/img/png/logo-for-light.png 29081, 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
- Ricky. “Advantages and Disadvantages of Business Intelligence (BI) with Relevance to Business Performance - ChinaAbout.net.” ChinaAboutnet. N.p., 02 May 2014. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.