Business Intelligence
What is Business Intelligence?
Business Intelligence (BI for short) is about the collection of data within one’s own organisation. These data are then converted into information that can lead to greater knowledge and encourage appropriate actions.
The data displayed in EduViewz can come from various sources within an educational institution. EduViewz is able to process these data in real time and display them visually.
As the data in EduViewz are always available, irrespective of the system that is used, comparisons can always be made with historical data in order to garner further insight. It is even possible to make predictions for the future based on the historical data – this is also known as ‘Predictive BI’.
By adding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to the dashboards in EduViewz, the end user can immediately see whether the established objectives have been achieved or whether adjustments need to be made to the process.
How does Business Intelligence work?
With data. The starting point is to extract data from different systems and understand those data. We call this the ETL process, which stands for Extract, Transform, Load.
Extract: we extract the data from the source systems, including scheduling systems, student information systems and financial packages.
Transform: we edit the data so that they can provide the right insights. After all, data are not always intended to be visualised. This phase is about making sure that the data can be understood.
Load: we load the data into a ‘data warehouse’. This way, we can always look back at the same set of data without the source system constantly modifying them. A data warehouse also makes it easier to merge data from different systems.
Once the ETL process has been completed, the data are visually presented to the end user in a way that’s attractive. For this, we use EduViewz, which allows the data to be viewed, interpreted and analysed. There is also a zoom function to zoom in and out and change the level of detail.