What is business intelligence?

Business intelligence is an architecture and a collection of integrated operational as well as decision-support applications and databases that provide the business community easy access to business data. It is about using yesterday and today’s data to make better decision about tomorrow.

The theoretical foundation of business intelligence can be traced back to the ancient philosophies of Sun Tzu who wrote about laying plans, tactics, maneuvering, the use of spies, etc, circa 300 BC.

Business intelligence is essentially timely, accurate, high value and actionable business insights, and the work processes and technologies used to obtain them.

Business intelligence can lead to:
Increased profitability
Decreased costs
Improved customer relationship management
Decreased risk

Enhanced business intelligence operations can be an important driver of future profitability. Information systems in general are viewed as ‘critical success factors’ by some executives and others view them as ‘strategic arsenals the core business’.
What is business intelligence?