Finding 2

Finding 2
Effectiveness Is a Sometimes Thing
BI brings benefits, but many goals go unmet. In general, IT executives are bullish on BI; nearly three-quarters say it's doing a good job of contributing to the bottom line and pleasing users. Newcomers to BI will be glad to know the more experience companies have with BI, the happier they are with the results. But drill down to specific goals and benefits, and the track record is spotty. BI is good at analyzing financial data and internal operations. However, it's not as effective at analyzing marketing campaigns, or cross-selling and upselling to customers. That's a problem, especially since these are likely to be big growth areas for BI, judging by how companies with extensive BI experience use them.