Traditional BI vs Self-Service BI: Unlock the Power of BI

Learn which business tool is best for your business, Traditional BI or Self-Service BI in this guide

One must choose between a self-service BI option and a standard BI solution while searching for the best business intelligence (BI) tool for their organization. There may be ambiguity in the response. The sort of solution you pick depends on several variables, like the use cases for your organization, your budget, your level of technical competence, and others.

To go a step closer to the solution to the query, "Which is best for my business, Self-Service BI or Traditional BI?" The essential traits of both choices have been discussed.

Traditional BI vs Self-Service BI: What is the Difference?

 Traditional BI

The leaders in the BI sector, including SAP Business Objects/Crystal Reports, Oracle BI, and IBM Cognos, provide sophisticated, scalable, and traditional BI solutions.

Low Cost of Ownership and Low Initial Cost

Compared to traditional BI tools, self-service BI products are relatively affordable to buy and simple to use. The total cost of ownership is lower with a Self-Service BI tool than with a Traditional one since they are also significantly less expensive to maintain. Therefore, it may be a BI solution that is reasonably priced.

Encourages Experimentation

Self-service business intelligence solutions make it possible to quickly integrate various data sources, offering developers and business users the freedom to test out various strategies in less time.

App-Based and Web-Based

Self Service business intelligence solutions are web-based and app-based, accessible through smartphones and tablets, making them ideal for a workplace that is becoming more mobile. Business users who work remotely and, on the go, may rapidly access the information and data they need to make decisions in real-time, just as if they were doing so from their desktop. A reports unique visual may be highlighted, annotated, and shared with other users via smartphones using technologies like Power BI.

Simple to Use

People who utilize Self Service BI solutions don't need to know how to code, in contrast to those who use Traditional BI tools. Even business users with a basic understanding of SQL and Excel can run complex queries and generate reports.

Less Reliance on IT

Self-Service BI, a self-service business intelligence solution, enables the end user to conduct Self Service Data Analytics activities or Self-Service Reporting with ease without being overly reliant on IT.

Self-Service BI

Self Service BI solutions are user-driven BI solutions that make good use of the advantages of mobile and online technology. Self Service BI solutions are created to quickly and regularly adapt to shifting company demands, as the name suggests. Giving people the data they need to make fast, educated business choices is one of the goals of self-service business intelligence. Power BI and Tableau are two examples of self-service business intelligence applications.

Business users of all skill levels may easily access the real-time data they want and produce outcomes without working with spreadsheets or requiring any technical knowledge. Often, no coding knowledge is necessary, and even the reports themselves may be customized without the use of Excel pivot tables or any other SQL aggregation techniques.

The upfront expenses and total cost of ownership (TCO) of Self-Service BI are much lower than those of Traditional BI. It is more practical for organizations to migrate to it since even the total cost of change (TCC) is considerably cheaper than with traditional BI.

Self-Service BI is quicker to deliver than Traditional BI, has a shorter development cycle, needs fewer IT resources, and is simple to deploy across numerous platforms & devices. For instance, tablets and smartphones can be used to view reports.

User acceptance is often higher with Self Service BI than with Traditional BI since it is simpler for any non-technical business user to comprehend and use thanks to the rich user interaction feature.

Data discovery is quick and simple in Self Service BI Analytics because it enables organizations to go over the challenges of Data Extraction & Data Processing tools and collect data from many sources inside their company (including the main data pipeline) to address ad hoc one-off queries. When the data model is appropriately built, it enables information-savvy users to quickly get the answers they need without having to spend more time on data processing.

When they have the money, many major organizations choose to combine Traditional & Self-Service BI systems that address all the many use cases that exist inside the firm. On the other hand, small and mid-sized businesses often have fewer BI use cases and greater financial constraints.