Top 5 Factors to Consider When Selecting an Analytics Solution

Traditionally, to analyze data and provide insights, businesses had to depend on specialized resources with expert knowledge, which was challenging. Besides, data is not easy to handle, be it from multiple sources, slow and poor performing systems, or being technically complex, which means increased and longer time to value.

However, that is not the case anymore. With advances in the data science industry, analytics solutions today, especially cloud-based analytics and business intelligence (BI) tools, enable functional users and those without much technical knowledge to realize analytics. This not only gives them more control over their data but also improves operational efficiency and decision-making ability.

But how does one choose what analytics tools are right for their business?

With so many solutions in the market offering features and functionalities which are similar, it can be a difficult decision to make. We at To-Increase, offer our customers simplified end-to-end analytics solutions for Dynamics 365 that drive them toward becoming a data-driven company successfully.

In this blog, we list the factors you need to consider before choosing an analytics and BI solution for your business and how having access to the right solutions can help. Irrespective of the ERP platform that you are on, this blog can prove to be a helpful read before you invest in an analytics solution.

What are the factors to consider before selecting an analytics solution?

Business objectives

Like any other solution you are trying to invest in, the analytics tools also need to be able to fit your current and future business requirements. Once you understand your core business processes and the expected outcomes that you are looking to achieve, these can be further broken down into measurable analytics goals. To further support you with your objectives, ensure the solution gives you easy access to the data and convenient reporting features.

Data accessibility

Data is the key to analytics and the most crucial factor. To ensure you become a data-driven organization, you need access to the right data. Setting up an analytics and BI platform would only work as well as the data you have so that you can make the most out of it. Therefore, having a significant amount of reliable data in a form you can use and work with is essential. As a first step, it would help to identify if your organization collects, processes, and stores data or if you are required to get that sorted.

Cost of ownership

Analytics solutions/platforms can prove to be a costly affair, and there are various aspects attached to them, like implementing, setting up, integrating, and installing them, which is time-consuming. In addition, factors such as whether you need it on-premises or on-cloud, the kind/number of licenses required, the complexity of requirements, and any indirect costs also play a role. Thus, it is essential that users thoroughly understand the costs based on the budgets and what is ideal for the company before deciding to invest.

Extensibility and scalability

In this dynamic and modern world, we need solutions that can adapt to changes and grow with your business. This can give you a competitive edge over the others and act as a support system as you expand. Besides, this guarantees that you make better decisions quickly with access to real-time data and powerful insights that can be easily scaled based on your requirements.

Easy visualizations

Another important aspect when selecting an analytics solution is how you visualize the data. It should be in a manner that is easy to understand, even for non-technical business users, be it in the form of dashboards, reports, or other visual representations. The objective of good visualization is to offer quick insights into various metrics that will be useful, along with being flexible and easily customizable, allowing users to define their desired metrics.

Would you benefit from an analytics and BI partner?

For organizations looking to invest and implement analytics solutions, various aspects come into play, such as budget, the need for the right resources, or having knowledge of what is needed, among others. Moreover, it isn't easy to keep up with this ever-changing technology landscape, and organizations do not have that kind of time. As a result, a BI partner that offers scalable and adaptable solutions could be the right choice to drive the desired business value.

So, how do you select an analytics and BI partner? With hundreds of possible solution providers out there, it can be a challenging process to decide on a good fit for you.

However, if you are looking for analytics and BI solutions in Dynamics 365, you could consider To-Increase. We offer analytics solutions embedded in Microsoft Dynamics 365 that leverage the Microsoft Dynamics 365 cloud capabilities and enable end-to-end analytics. With advanced capabilities, an easy-to-use approach, and faster setup and implementation, our solutions ensure your path toward achieving successful analytics is smooth.

Being an ISV and a trusted Microsoft Partner, we follow the monthly upgrade cadence of Microsoft, which guarantees your solutions are always up-to-date and run on the latest version of the software.

How to ensure you make the right choice?

If you are a business looking to invest in an analytics and BI solution, you can get started by considering the factors discussed above. These can be a starting point, but we understand each business is different and may have specific requirements. An analytics solution that caters to a broader audience, is easy to use, extensible, and flexible can be a good answer.

As a next step, once you have evaluated the options against the factors, you may want to opt for no-code analytics solutions that are out-of-the-box and can be implemented faster, allowing you to get started immediately.

To help you further, here is an on-demand webinar conducted in collaboration with Microsoft, that you can check out.

The webinar covers the following:

• The market pulse and trends surrounding analytics
• Some of the typical challenges people face when enabling analytics
• What should you look for in an analytics solution
• How our analytics solution suite embedded in Dynamics 365 can benefit organizations

Alternatively, you can also reach out to our experts for any questions you may have regarding selecting the right solution for your organization.