Reference no: EM133718858

Case Description

When we talk about business-driven analytics, we must consider utilizing data to drive our processes. All companies face tighter and tighter bottom lines and to be sustainable for the next generation of the organization, we will need to use this data through reporting mechanisms to make sound decisions based on facts. Recently, software companies have developed tools to help us with these important decisions. Business Intelligence applications are on the rise and improving rapidly. These relational databases can handle vast amounts of data nearly instantaneously. Using data to know your sales or to know your customer is key to making those financial decisions.

As we learn in Chapter six, business intelligence has been around for centuries. For Sun Tzu's book on the Art of War, we learn that we must know our own strengths and weaknesses as well as our competitors. Most companies have lots of data but so far, a large majority do not know how to use those data effectively. As we learn to aggregate our data, we then find it beneficial to business intelligence and decision-making responses. This is where data warehousing comes into play.

In your original post, answer the following:

Using research, define what Business Intelligence (BI) is and why it matters to our government or an organization you wish to use as an example.

During the 2020 pandemic, we got a glimpse into how we can utilize big data and business intelligence while tracking the spread of the COVID-19 virus and how hard it is to predict and present data accurately. As an example, Professor Lauren Gardner, from Johns Hopkins University, built a "source of truth" Covid-19 dashboard with her graduate student, Ensheng Dong, utilizing the ArcGIS platform by ESRI. This source was used by many healthcare and news organizations to try and present information that people could understand.

Using this BI dashboard provide details on the county you reside:

How many confirmed cases per 100,000 population are showing for your county?

How many hospital beds are in your county, and of those, how many are staffed? Why would this be important information for the hospitals and local authorities when dealing with a pandemic or other natural disaster?