Business Analysis Vs Business Intelligence: Differences Between BA & BI

While business intelligence (BI) involves taking a thorough look at past, present and historic operations and collecting data, business analysis (BA) is about using the data to identify the current challenges and predicting future hardships and gearing business towards better productivity and a more stable future.

With the emergence of Big Data and predictive analytics, both BI and BA have gone through some major changes which have made them incredibly crucial as data management tools. While BI’s main focus is monitoring of data to make way for more effective insights, BA depends upon the correct interpretation and implementation of acquired data, in order to make way for leaner and a more functional way of operations, which obviously makes BA more futuristic.

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Major Differences Between Business Analysis and Business Intelligence

1. BA is a more expressive indicator than BI

Since business analysis relies on several aspects to illustrate data, to demonstrate growth or slowdown statistics, it is more descriptive in nature and a little broader in genre than business intelligence.  BA monitors data from the past and present to derive insights about current operations and fathom customer needs and priorities, it does not just report back what it has found.

There’s a lot of scrutiny and review involved; so some crucial, timely and accurate foresight can be made; these analyzed conclusions need to be implemented so operations can be streamlined and enterprises can gear towards more functionality.

Whereas business intelligence works very differently, because it is a lot more technicality-driven, since it needs to process structured and unstructured data. To put it simply, business intelligence answers the ‘what’ and helps business analysis to interpret the answers for ‘why, when and how’. Read more about benefits and applications of business analytics.

2. Business analysis is a lot more far-sighted

Since business intelligence essentially relies on collection of data, it is usually focused on bringing about immediate productive development, while BA is a constant process. Business analysts are constantly analyzing data acquired by business intelligence units to figure out the best options for better operations in future.

Business intelligence uses data mining, reporting, analytical processing to create more effective business strategies, which in a way affects business analysis, in a direct way; but then again, without BA there would be no way of forming effective strategies. BA is also a lot more planned and aimed at re-programming future operations to make the enterprise leaner and to help it generate more profits.

A lot of BI’s focus is geared towards practical implementation and effective translation of acquired information and actually using it to get a better perspective. While the analysts work with a system which is meant to secure the future and to help understand the oncoming challenges, which makes business analysis very future-driven.

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3. BI has limitations, which BA often does not

Since business intelligence is so heavily reliant on data, it faces challenges when it has to deal with semi-structured or unstructured data. Unstructured data is the kind of data that does not fit into a significant or pre-planned data model and consists of a lot of irrelevant information. Semi-structured data is the type of data that does not abide by the standard mould that’s easier to translate, which makes it a hurdle for business intelligence.

Which is why business intelligence has its share of limitations, when it comes to dealing with raw data. When it comes to assessi ng unstructured data, there’s often no standardised tool involved which makes accessing and translating semi or unstructured data possible. This is not something business analysts have to directly deal with, since their work relies on their own calculations and their own strategy-building tools and subjective problem solving skills, they essentially clear paths for business intelligence to be implemented.

Business intelligence produces information about the data but cannot create or even convert data into insight, because that’s an analyst’s job. BI and BA’s behaviour with data defines a core difference between these two business tools. To understand more, read What does business analyst do?

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4. BA is more crucial to decision-making than BI

Large-scale corporations depend almost entirely upon their skilled team of analysts who can predict an oncoming challenge or a market fluctuation or even a drop in stocks. It is essential to understand that an analyst is accessing all his information with the help of business intelligence, but translating this intelligence into a useful resource is only possible with analytics, because business analysis studies growth patterns, economic shifts and also studies the market keenly which equips it to make an informed decision depending upon the history of the enterprise, its current functionality and also its prioritisations.

Predictive analytics, especially, can actually direct you towards some very convincing behavioral patterns which can act as crucial insight as to what’s the best way out for your company. So, when it comes to forming major decisions, the analytical perspective is most crucial because it doesn’t just tell you about an enterprise’s current state but can also see ahead.

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5. Difference in technologies / tools

Since business analysis and business intelligence differ so much in core format, it’s not surprising that they depend on very different sets of tools. For instance, besides Big Data, business intelligence can make use of technologies like MicroStrategy which basically brings you some very effective, high-speed dashboarding which can help you monitor current trending developments and even fathom more avenues for advanced productivity.

Then there are certain web-based analytical tools which actually aid in business intelligence because  they deliver real-time reports, let users connect and brainstorm and even work with top-notch visualizations to make your job easier.

Whereas, in business analysis, the business tools have to be a lot-more wide-ranging and technologically sound. Like prototype and wireframe producing tools, task management tools which also help you keep a real-time tab on all your new finds, real-time work management tools, rapid wireframing tools etc. Read more on business analysis tools.

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6. It’s essential for BA to learn from the past

A crucial aspect of business analytics is investigating the previous fiscal patterns or market shift or corporate behaviour which helps analysts come to an insightful conclusion about available and actionable options. 

Business intelligence may benefit from a sound knowledge of the past industry patterns, but since it’s most important job is collecting data, and actually mining through as much fresh data as it finds, it does not have to study the past developments, it only has to factor in the numbers.

But business analysis involves a more diverse process, since it has to take into account all the factors, the past, the present and also the potential future (also determined by BA). It’s a constant study of past business performances, which actually helps a company gauge it’s newer set of policies and guides them towards a more effective mode of productivity. 

7. BI can run the business but BA can change the business

Experts unanimously agree that business intelligence is the data that helps companies stay on top of things, be it their own performance or about the competition. But business analytics can effectively make or break a business and actually bring about much-needed changes in the business model.

It is important to note that both BI and BA are data management solutions and eventually have to work with data. But analytics involves a lot more than that because it engages human intelligence and individual perspective to arrive at conclusions about the next plan of action. Also BI does not create information, it has to do with data that already exists; whereas business analysis has to do with viewpoints and foresight, and that can be very subjective. 

Also read: Difference between Business Analyst vs Data Scientist

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Conclusion

The core difference between business intelligence and business analysis lies in its ability to shape a business; something like predictive analytics can take an enterprise to new heights. While business intelligence is very tethered to collection of data, even if there’s an amount of monitoring and user-interface involved.

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Plus, business analysis is one of the most lucrative areas in the job sector right now, and experts confirm that not only is it one of the most sought-after career options but in the next decade, business analysis job opportunities will double in number. Which means this is a great time to explore BA further! 

If you are curious to learn about business analysis, data science, check out IIIT-B & upGrad’s PG Diploma in Data Science which is created for working professionals and offers 10+ case studies & projects, practical hands-on workshops, mentorship with industry experts, 1-on-1 with industry mentors, 400+ hours of learning and job assistance with top firms.