To stay ahead of the competition, enterprises today need to leverage mass volumes of data using the right tools and strategies. However, they face several challenges in doing so, from difficulties integrating data from varied source systems to low business intelligence (BI) adoption levels from employees. 

Addressing these issues will allow companies to get more out of their business intelligence and provide a competitive advantage. Part of tackling modern business intelligence is choosing the most well-suited software tools and solutions for your enterprise. Microsoft’s Power BI — an advanced self-service business intelligence tool — is among the most popular. 

Just as BI evolves over time, Power BI does too. So let’s look ahead to some predicted trends we can expect from this BI software solution in the future. 

Future trends in Power BI and business intelligence

1. Mobile business intelligence

Business people don’t simply operate in office buildings anymore. In recent years, remote work has seen tremendous growth. Currently, almost a third of American workers operate remotely — a rate six times higher than in 2019. 

BI tools will need to adapt to this shift in how companies operate. The software must be accessible not just on desktop computers but also on tablets and even smartphones. Microsoft does offer Windows, iOS, and Android apps for viewing Power BI dashboards, but expect this mobile access to expand in the coming years. 

Users should be able to interact with and manipulate data visualizations, for example, through multi-touch gestures on mobile devices. Mobile-friendly data visualizations will make your reports even more accessible for team members at your company. 

2. More interactivity in reports

A static report on your data is helpful — it conveys vital information about the data to your team at a glance. Interactive reports are so much more useful, however. Users who interact with intuitive data dashboards and reports are much more likely to find actionable insights in that data. 

Today’s users don’t want to go through menu after menu to create meaningful data visualizations. Instead, they expect to be able to create and engage with dashboards with a few clicks. These dashboards must respond to commands quickly and without complications. 

Interactive, responsive reports make it easier for users to explore the data — even if they don’t have data science training. In the future, the reports created with BI software will likely be even more interactive and intuitive. The more interactive these reports are, the more information your team can get from them without wasting time and resources. 

3. Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)

Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) will also work together to make BI systems and data more accessible to the entire team — not just the dedicated data scientists. With greater integration of natural language processing (NLP), any team member can query the BI systems for information and analysis. They type in searches in natural, plain English, and the system returns the applicable results.

According to estimates from Forbes, machine learning and AI can automate 70% of data processing and more than half of all data collection tasks. This automation saves enterprises valuable time and effort, allowing team members to focus on other business functions. 

Data gathering is one of AI’s most notable applications in business intelligence. BI tools with AI features can automatically generate data from images and text. AI features also help teams clean up their data so it’s ready for analysis without analysts spending lots of time on data processing.  

Every day, there are new advancements in AI. BI tools like Power BI will increasingly incorporate machine learning and AI so users can more efficiently interact with big data sets. Thanks to AI, these systems may be able to generate and suggest useful queries for users or automatically trigger alerts based on changes in the data. The applications of AI in business intelligence software are endless, so expect to see tools incorporate this technology more in the coming years. 

4. Real-time visualizations

It isn’t enough for modern, data-driven enterprises to have interactive data dashboards of historical data. Business leaders at these enterprises need dashboards that reflect the most up-to-date, relevant data. After all, the only way to make the best data-backed decisions is to use the most current available data. Anything less can lead to faulty decisions based on outdated and no longer accurate information.  

It’s no surprise, then, that over 75% of chief information officers (CIOs) and technology leaders say that real-time data is a “must-have.” Accordingly, BI tools incorporate real-time data as much as possible. 

Tools like Power BI will likely aim to make real-time data more accessible through the platform in the future. Currently, the challenge is that many of these systems can’t handle real-time data streaming. As a result, teams will need tools specifically geared toward real-time data streaming to utilize their data to full effect.   

How businesses benefit from these BI trends

So what do these trends in business intelligence and Power BI mean for enterprises? First, companies that leverage these trends will stay ahead of their competitors and have a distinct advantage in the marketplace. 

Advanced BI tools will offer business leaders a foundation for more forward-thinking decision-making at their companies. The best way to reap the rewards of using such tools is to choose software solutions that are on the cutting edge. For example, business intelligence software with highly interactive reports allows your team to engage more with your data sets and find the valuable insights hidden within them. 

You need modern, advanced solutions to address the many business intelligence challenges facing companies today. Live Earth is one such solution. Live Earth is a real-time data streaming and analysis platform. You and your team can visualize and analyze your big data sets in real-time through the powerful platform. The intuitive design makes the platform easy to use with little to no training. As a result, you’ll never have to worry about making business decisions on outdated information — use the platform to find valuable insights and act on them immediately. Contact us today to schedule a call!