Best products from r/BusinessIntelligence

We found 27 comments on r/BusinessIntelligence discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 47 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

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Top comments mentioning products on r/BusinessIntelligence:

u/pile_of_napkins · 2 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence



Well you already have half of what you need (the “business” in “business intelligence”).
Do you have an idea of what kind of work you would like to do? BI is a pretty broad subject, here’s some examples :


ETL developper : You develop executables to extract data from various sources (databases, flat files, Excel, web), clean that data (using cool tools) and load it into a data warehouse, so the data can be used easily. This is the most technical type of job in BI.
Data warehouse designer / data architect : Design various "databases" to gather the data needed for other BI processes (dashboards, analytics, ...). You can also work with big data tools if needed.


Report / dashboard developper : Display information on a screen to help people make better decisions. Here you have to talk to a lot of different people from a shop floor employee to a CEO. You mostly work with tools like Power BI and Tableau.


Business analyst / data scientist : search for valuable "stuff" in the data that you don't see with visual reports and dashboard. You use statistics and algorithms to solve business problems. You mostly work with Python and R.


Some people only have one role, some people have many. Usually the smallest the business, the more roles you have.


As for what you should learn. There's no escaping SQL. Make sure you understand what is the point of a database and how it works (broadly). Python is good if you're going the analytics route. Power BI and Tableau are usually good skills to have to land an entry level position. Tools are good, but make sure you understand what is the classical BI process.


This book gives a very good overview of what is BI and what problems it tries to solve. I think it's a very good place to start.


[Business Intelligence Guidebook: From Data Integration to Analytics](
https://www.amazon.com/Business-Intelligence-Guidebook-Integration-Analytics/dp/012411461X/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=22395DI4CLI74&keywords=business+intelligence+guidebook&qid=1557632916&s=gateway&sprefix=business+intelligence+guide%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-1)


BI is more about the "B" than any tools or techniques, so whatever you do, make sure it helps the business.


Welcome to the lovely world of BI!

u/PhysicsIsMyBitch · 3 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

> We are still very early days in this rollout and so far I have received high level concepts of what my manager would like to have a available in the system for our users and been building those out (while also doing my other full time job maintaining the "old" infrastructure)

If you're able to, try to have interactions with the users directly. That's what will set you apart from being a BI Developer to being a BI Analyst (although I know many use the terms interchangeably) and you'll get a much better appreciation for what they need instead of what they want. Understanding the problem is 80% of the task at hand, developing the solution is the other 20%.

To help you with requirements analysis techniques, I'd recommend the following 2 reads:

Agile Analytics: A Value-Driven Approach to Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing

Business Analysis for Business Intelligence

Tableau is awesome at making data pretty, and that's a blessing and a curse, because it can sometimes make people get caught up with the attractiveness of the output as opposed to the usefulness of the data.

If you're wanting to make yourself a really attractive prospect for your future career I'd definitely put as much time into the requirements/BA side of the role as the BI developer side. BI development (developing dashboards etc) isn't super difficult, working with the business to ask the right questions and define the right metrics...now that's tricky! But it's also where you will make yourself a star to the business.

It sounds like you're on a good track with your development side of things, you've got a solid background and are immersing yourself in the tech. Make sure you pay as much attention to the flipside!

Of course, that's just my 2c.

u/4thekill · 2 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

Pretty much anything by Stephen Few. His 2nd edition of Information Dashboard Design is a great start. He's also done some great whitepaper type stuff as well. Google can help you find it.

Edward Tufte is pretty famous in the area as well. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information is a classic and an amazing book on representing data.

To me, telling a story with data is essential to calling something BI. Otherwise, it's just presenting a bunch of data in a different format than it started. You need to guide users to be able to diagnose issues and make decisions. Wireframing out a dashboard that starts big picture and have different paths users can follow to additional focused dashboards is key.

I just did a presentation on dashboard and visualization best practices at my company's conference for the 2nd time, and both times a lot of people told me how it changed their view of how they view analytics, or that they needed their team or boss to see the presentation because they are thinking about things the wrong way. Most of what I know and practice/preach today is a result of the above two gentlemen, plus things learned on the job along the way.

Visualize the data with the best chart type for the data. Not because they are pretty. Not because users want to see it a certain way. Pie charts suck, don't ever use them. I use this tweet in my presentation. Along with an example chart of when to use pie charts. Your dashboard might be KPIs and bar charts, and that's ok.

I could go on forever...

TLDR; Check out a couple of guys who are good at what they do. Tell a story with your data! Pie charts suck. Use the right visual. Feel free to PM me questions.

u/entropia3x · 8 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

Window functions, not windows function. The idea is that it applies the function over a "window" of the rows in the dataset. They are very useful for solving complicated source data problems. Check out this book for many examples (ignore the SQL Server 2012,it's so highly useful and relevant on any version of SQL Server that supports them). I highly recommend anything by Itzik Ben-Gan for SQL, and anything by Andy Leonard for SSIS, and Marco Russo, Alberto Ferrari, Chris Webb for DAX / SSAS (even OLAP).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0735658366/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_-NtwCbKA67Y7W

10 years of BI experience here... I would say that BI covers a huge range of topics and the questions they asked may be relevant, but I would focus more on how the interviewee goes about finding solutions rather than wrote knowledge. You can be book smart but not know how to think and how to break down complex problems into solvable pieces.

I recently hired a guy that knew all about dimensional modeling and a good bit about SSIS. He interviewed excellent and seemed like a good fit. Two days in, I regretted the hire because his attention to detail was non-existent and his ability to solve problems matched that of a goldfish. Lesson learned and now I ask different types of interview questions, more of a scenario based interview rather than a technical pop-quiz.

Keep learning and don't let this interview get you down. If you show that you have a passion for solving difficult puzzles then you will find a place in BI.

Also... It sounds like a DBA gave you the technical interview. Brush it off and keep moving. ;)

u/DonLaFontainesGhost · 25 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

Customers don't care about certifications, skills, or breadth of experience. Those are proxies for "Can you solve my problem?" And what you want to do is communicate to customers that yes, you can solve their problem properly, while Mr. Cowboy "I downloaded Tableau and it doesn't look that hard" Coder can't.

a) Reputation. You want to have a portfolio of references.

b) Charge Cadillac rates and don't negotiate. If you start at $85/hr, the customer is going to think of you as a glorified staff aug / placement type. Charge $175/hr "take it or leave it" and they know you're serious. (You also know they are serious. If they don't want to talk about prices like that, they're going to be a very frustrating customer)

c) Recognize that you are going to be spending more time finding work than you're used to. That's actually the way consulting has traditionally worked - the high rates are about expertise, sure, but also recognition that someone that good can't work 2000 hours a year.

d) The really great thing about Cadillac rates is that they make it much easier to cut good clients deals. Let's say you're on a three month gig and end up spending a week wrestling with access to some data source. It's easy to tell the customer "Hey, this took longer than it should have, and I feel it's mostly my fault, so I'm not going to bill you for those 40 hours."

e) Portfolio. When you're starting with a client, especially on a dashboard job, try to get a provision to use screenshots with dummy data in your sales media. Also try to get a signed endorsement at the end of the job.

If you didn't already know this - when working in the rarefied air of senior consulting rates, you have to understand enterprise sales. It's a nasty job, but it's how you win work.

On that note, I highly recommend:

u/metalmilitia980 · 1 pointr/BusinessIntelligence

Hi guys,
I see quite a few people on here asking about learning SQL and I figured I may be able to offer a resource. I wrote a book on SQL Server fundamentals and published it back in May of 2018 and it’s free today.

It goes over database use, database objects, syntax for creating and altering data and objects, administration tasks and user/security permissions, plus more. It also has exercises and screenshots to make it easier for the reader and better retain what they learn.

I’ve had quite a few people tell me that it actually helped them in their day job and that’s really awesome to hear. If you end up picking it up please let me know and leave a review if you can! I would enjoy hearing how it helped you.

The free promo expires today at 11:59 pm PDT but you can always search for “Learn SQL Jacob” in the Amazon site for your country to find it and it should be free.

Feel free to take a look and thanks for reading :)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D5S2W4Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_fytADb7XXDQ1V

u/Scooby1295 · 1 pointr/BusinessIntelligence

Here is an informative ebook perfect for BI beginners, The Ultimate Guide to Cleaning Data with Excel & Google Sheets. Or get it free at www.inzata.com

Nothing helps accelerate and improve a decision-making process like clean data. Updated & accurate data supports analytics and business intelligence, which in turn provides organizations with the proper information for better decision-making and execution.

u/laserswithsharks · 3 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

Without a warehouse there will be no data governance over your reporting. So everyone does something different and no numbers match. Not only is this confusing to business, they are less likely to "buy-in" to the reporting you provide.

I strongly recommend Successful Business Intelligence for reading. Its light (non-technical) reading and author provides a lot of use cases and examples.

Your best BI tool will be spreadsheets. Its not sexy by any means compared to PowerBI or Tableau, but its the #1 BI tool. You can build a multi-million dollar portal with impressive visualizations, but if the user wants a spreadsheet- but can't get one- then your investment is squandered.

So get good at Excel... power pivots, vlookup, match, index all that

I also see other good resources here for you to check out.

Good luck!

u/shannonlowder · 1 pointr/BusinessIntelligence

I'm not a bookseller, but here's a resource for you:

[Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals](
https://www.amazon.com/Storytelling-Data-Visualization-Business-Professionals-ebook/dp/B016DHQSM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502990869&sr=8-1&keywords=Storytelling+with+data%3A+a+data+visualization+guide+for+business+professionals)

Learn to tell compelling stories with data. Only about half of the story is numbers and logic, the rest is emotion and intuition. Learn how different stakeholders define value. Play to that definition when driving change. If they define success as what makes them look the best, you have to play into that to drive change.

u/[deleted] · 2 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

I know this post is kinda stale, but do yourself a favor and pick up the Kimball Group Reader book. Fantastic for understanding the concepts behind designing and building dimensions, facts, and how they represent various business processes.

From what you say, you sound like a "senior" data analyst: you write queries that give correct results in a performant manner. You could probably look for a "junior" DWH engineer role which should pay about the same or maybe 10% less per year. However, as you grow in experience, the top end for relational DWH engineers is around US$110,000 per year while I would expect a data analyst to top out around US$70,000 per year.

Aside from learning DWH concepts, I'd say learn Tableau or Power BI as a data analyst should know not just how to get to the data, but how to present it in a meaningful manner. Learn about the "concepts" of ETL and the patterns they implement. Again, the book I referenced above will give some good examples of what should be done within each letter of E-T-L. These are the most logical and attainable next steps in your career. From there, once you understand more about ETL, the next logical step is to start thinking about how all the various systems integrate with one-another.

u/kthejoker · 2 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

A good crash course is https://www.edx.org/course/analyzing-visualizing-data-power-bi-1

And an excellent book given your Excel background is Power Pivot and Power BI: The Excel User's Guide to DAX, Power Query, Power BI & Power Pivot in Excel 2010-2016 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1615470395/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_LmxaCb6WFJ1ZB

You've already got a huge leg up with your finance and SQL background. Good luck, PM me with any questions!

u/toad7 · 2 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

I'm a Qlikview developer, so PM me if you have any specific questions. Also, Qlik JUST came out with a new product "Sense" last week. I've yet to dig into it but it seems like it's a very quick way to build ad-hoc reports with a nice drag-and-drop interface. This might be an easier start than Qlikview. http://www.qlik.com/us/explore/products/sense/desktop

Here's a comparison between Qlikview and QlikSense
http://community.qlik.com/blogs/qlikviewdesignblog/2014/07/29/view-or-sense

I highly recommend this book, and there are also lots of resources in the Qlikview Community forums
http://www.amazon.com/QlikView-11-Developers-Barry-Harmsen/dp/1849686068

Here are some other resources I've saved

http://tools.qlikblog.at/SetAnalysisWizard/QlikView-SetAnalysis_Wizard_and_Generator.aspx?sa=

http://community.qlik.com/community/resource-library

http://community.qlik.com/blogs/qlikviewdesignblog/2013/03/22/the-qlikosphere-external-resources--part-i

http://www.citagus.com/citagus/blog/different-ways-to-load-data-in-to-qlikview/

http://www.quickintelligence.co.uk/nine-essential-qlikview-development-tools/

u/most_humblest_ever · 3 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

How to Measure Anything

Perhaps not what you are expecting to see here, but a great book for dealing with a ubiquitous BI issue: how to measure business success given vague guidelines.

u/ford_chicago · 2 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

I will second Kimball's books on data warehouse design in general.

My favorite book on data visualization, Visual Display of Quantitative Information, won't show you in three minutes how to build a great dashboard, but will certainly help you recognize good and bad options and think about the topic.

u/ablaaw0w · 2 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

Take a look at Data Science for Business. It covers a lot of other topics and are more theoretical, but I think it is pretty nice. Let me know what you think

https://www.amazon.com/Data-Science-Business-Data-Analytic-Thinking/dp/1449361323

u/newworkaccount123 · 3 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals.

This one was super helpful when i transitioned from ops to using that data to create visualization and reports.

u/IrrelevantNameHere · 1 pointr/BusinessIntelligence

I've attended Cole's 1-day workshop and definitely recommend it to any business who needs to summarize the so-what of their data. The book is good too.

http://www.storytellingwithdata.com/public-workshops/


https://www.amazon.com/Storytelling-Data-Visualization-Business-Professionals/dp/1119002257

u/daraghfi · 2 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

You are on the right path - first understanding the business question that needs answering.

However, the business should be providing that, and the concept is that of Performance Management, rather than Business Intelligence - i.e., first defining the strategy, objectives and KPIs/metrics to measure performance.

You might start by looking for someone you can work with internally. Devoid of help and having a strategy with metrics, ask the business for their 'Board Report', automate it and think about how individuals are currently measured for compensation.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_management

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470449985/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_i_zqv0DbHTXGN7Q

u/zzreflexzz · 1 pointr/BusinessIntelligence

Read this book Its a little deep, but I believe its a good start if you want to get into data science. Also, check out the Tableau and Alteryx tutorial videos.

u/RealisticBullfrog · 3 pointsr/BusinessIntelligence

For DAX, SQL BI is a great resource (especially free articles).

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This book helped me learn powerpivot/DAX when I was first starting out:

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Pivot-BI-Excel-2010-2016-ebook/dp/B019BNG4YW

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I can't really speak for courses since I've never taken one. I mainly scour BI blogs, forums and buy books, but these guys seem to know what they are talking about:

https://pragmaticworks.com/Training/On-Demand-Training/Introduction-to-SSAS-Tabular

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