Collaboration and BI

Collaborative BI (collaborative business intelligence) is the merging of business intelligence software with collaboration tools, including social and Web 2.0 technologies, to support improved data-driven decision making.

Collaborative BI can be applied to enterprise-wide reporting and analytics, making the sharing process easier and enabling more efficient decision making among team members who may have been working to reach conclusions on an individual basis.

Compared to more solitary, conclusion-based traditional BI tools, collaborative BI emphasizes the problem-solving process. Tools allow peers to analyze data and exchange information and ideas through Web 2.0 tools like blogs and wikis. Modern tools also support brainstorming through social networking-like features, which continue to gain popularity for both business and personal use.

Data is displayed to decision-makers using dashboards, visual analysis tools or reports.

Collaborative BI vendors include SAP and Microsoft. Microsoft SharePoint, which focuses on content management, is a popular collaborative product. Other collaborative software includes Lotus Notes.