Self-service BI disrupting analytics models

Traditional models for business intelligence (BI) and analytics are being disrupted by the rise of data discovery, data preparation tools and smart capabilities, according to Gartner.

The research firm predicts that by 2017 most business users and analysts in organisations will have access to self-service data preparation tools, further democratising access to analytics.

Gartner Research VP Rita Sallam said data preparation is one of the most difficult and time-consuming aspects of BI and data discovery.

“However, data preparation capabilities are emerging that will provide business users and analysts the ability to extend the scope of self-service to include information management and extract, transform and load (ETL) functions.”

By 2017, the firm expects that most data discovery tools will have incorporated smart data discovery capabilities, allowing for the process to be semi-automated.

This means the balance of power in the BI and analytics sector is shifting from IT to the general business, Gartner said.

But the increasing popularity of self-service BI initiatives is creating issues with data governance. Gartner believes that through 2016, less than 10% of self-service BI initiatives will be governed closely enough to prevent inconsistencies.

Self-service BI solutions are vulnerable to analytic sprawl - or the inconsistent or incomplete use of data with poorly defined metrics for successful use of the data.

“As a result of the limited governance of self-service BI implementations, we see few examples of those that are materially successful - other than in satisfying end-user urges for data access,” Gartner Research VP Doug Laney said.

“This, combined with increasing examples of data privacy and security breaches, along with anticipated instances of public disclosure inconsistencies, will temper businesses leaders’ enthusiasm for self-service BI.”

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