There is a wide array of business intelligence automation platforms available in the market today. This includes highly technical and powerful platforms to user-friendly and lightweight dashboard builders.  

Selecting the right one is contingent upon the type of business, where you want to go, who requires access to the data, your tech stack, etc.   

It is a tiresome process to select the right business intelligence automation platform requiring multiple stakeholders’ buy-in. However, you need to start somewhere and understand the biggest players in the business intelligence domain. 

To help you make the correct decision, we have zeroed in on six business intelligence platforms and what types of businesses they are most suited for. 

So, let’s get started. 

Top 6 SaaS business intelligence platforms

1. Power BI 

Do you and your team work with Microsoft products such as Office, SQL Server, and SharePoint? Then Power BI would be the best Business Intelligence solution for your business. 

A. Potential target audience 

The primary target audience for Power BI are everyday business users and not just BI developers. The tool is developed keeping users and decision-makers in mind.

B. Exclusive features 

1. Interactive Power BI desktop: This tool helps you build reports real quick with quick access to data. It doesn’t require you to have advanced skills to create a report, and the best part is that you can download it for free.

2. Customized visualization: Every organisation is unique in how it operates and how it accomplishes its goals, and there are instances when the standard route is the best option. The same is true when it comes to visualization.

Power BI takes the standard route by default; however, it isn’t sufficient for certain organizations because of complex data. In such cases, Power BI offers a custom visualization library that can be accessed to create a visualization that meets their requirements.

3. Natural Language Q&A: With Natural Language Q&A, Power BI lets you provide content, and it can be changed as per your visual requirements.

C. Strengths 

• Power BI has a very convenient pricing model. isn’t it something we are all looking for?
• It is integrated with Microsoft products, so it’s great if you are already used to the ecosystem.
• It can be accessed through the web and on mobile devices. That’s convenient at best!
• Top visualization capabilities (including real-time visualizations).

D. Weaknesses 

• Power BI is a Microsoft product, and it works with Azure only, now that is a huge limitation.
• The on-premise solution lacks the cloud solution’s Business Intelligence features.
• Offers limited customization.

2. Chartio 

Chartio is a powerful, award-winning, cloud-based analytics tool with an easy-to-use drag-and-drop user interface. The best thing about this tool is that you don’t need any prior knowledge of SQL and thus works well for teams with limited or no technical knowledge.

A. Potential target audience 

Right from the top executives of the company to the strategists and analysts, the tool has been designed keeping everyone in mind. With the extensive range of drill-down reports and live charts, Chartio helps founders and executives have a clear overview of business data. Similarly, it lets marketing and sales teams combine data from various sources and make better decisions accordingly.

B. Exclusive features 

Snapshotting: Through this feature, Chartio lets users take snapshots so they can capture specific data at specific points in time.

Easy to use and understand: It allows you to modify and present data using a variety of charts and live, interactive dashboards that are simple to use. Additionally, its visualization tool allows data transformation and identification of trends and patterns.

Connectivity: It connects directly with popular data sources, including Google Analytics, GitHub, Trello, MailChimp, Asana, and more.

C. Strengths 

• The user doesn’t require prior SQL knowledge to use it.
• There are no proprietary languages to learn because the software uses SQL.
• The charts, tables, and dashboards can be shared among coworkers.

D. Weaknesses 

• There aren’t a lot of visualisation possibilities, and chart modification is limited as well.
• The cost is quite high for a small or medium-sized business.
• Chartio emphasizes on end-user usability above everything. This means it has to work on a few functionalities in order to satisfy even the most ardent data analysts.

3. Google Data Studio 

Google Data Studio comes integrated with ease with the entire Google ecosystem. Additionally, it is free, making it a top go-to BI tool; however, the tool comes with limited visualizations and formatting capabilities.

A. Potential target audience 

It can be said that Google Data Studio targets a very broad market. The tool is good for everyone who has bought into the company’s ecosystem and wishes to visualize data.

B. Exclusive features 

• Access unlimited widget options: This is undoubtedly the best feature of Google Data Studio. With this feature, users can share and explain data in multiple ways.
• Seamless integration: Data may be easily connected across Google’s ecosystem thanks to a seamless link to Google products.

C. Strengths 

• Getting started is quite easy; a Google account is all that is required.
• Because Google Data Studio is simple to set up and use, it has a vast number of users, ranging from students to hobbyists to businesses. This user base is extremely supportive of the community.

D. Weaknesses 

• Google Data Studio is excellent when it comes to integration with other Google products. However, it has issues when it comes to third-party integrations.
• Google Data Studio has difficulty when formatting reports.

4. Tableau Desktop 

The Tableau Desktop is a data visualization tool. The BI tool offers several features, including dashboards, visualizations, and reports. This tool is known for being powerful and intuitive.

A. Potential target audience 

The tool is designed for data scientists and analysts requiring the power to develop dynamic custom charts and complex visualizations.

B. Exclusive features 

• Tableau Dashboards: With Tableau Dashboards, users can get a wholesome view of data through visual text, objects, visualizations, etc.
• Live and in-memory data: The tool offers connectivity to data extraction from external resources (in-memory data) as well as from live data sources. This way, users get the flexibility to use data from different types of data sources.
• Maps: This is yet another important feature of the tool. Tableau has pre-installed information such as cities and postal codes. This feature makes Tableau very detailed.

C. Strengths 

• Simple to use.
• Visualizations provide a lot of flexibility.
• Experience with intuitive data analytics.
• High usability thanks to an easy-to-use interface.

D. Weaknesses 

• When compared to other Business Intelligence products, it is quite expensive.
• For on-premises customers, there is a lack of cloud-native architecture.
• The tool’s feature set can make it robust, but the tool is not very agile.

5. Looker 

Looker is one of the most powerful platforms for data modeling using its proprietary language, LookerML. The tool, which Google has acquired, has become the tech giant’s main bet in the BI world. This tool is known for its reporting tools and dashboard capabilities.

A. Potential target audience 

The tool is developed for data teams that require powerful modeling capabilities more than anything else.

B. Exclusive features

• The tool comes with LookML, its proprietary data modeling language.
• Looker Blocks®, its pre-built analytics code, offers a trigger point to data modeling.

C. Strengths 

• The dashboards and reports are extremely user friendly.
• The drag and drop dashboard creation is an added advantage to the user, like it makes your work two folds easier.
• Excellent customer support.

D. Weaknesses 

• Some of its functions, such as data modelling, are designed specifically for technical users.
• This tool fails to offer some crucial Business Intelligence capabilities like augmented analytics and AI experiences.
• It has a very limited presence outside Japan, Europe, and the US.

6. Domo 

This cloud-based BI tool is easy to use and provides data analysis, predictive analytics, and insights. In fact, creating personalized visualizations and creating dashboards doesn’t require any expertise. Domo is a robust tool that includes everything from data warehouses and ETL to visualisations and reports.

A. Potential target audience 

It is the best fit for enterprises looking for a tool that helps them get better insights on their data day-to-day happenings. Specifically, the tool targets executives with a mobile-first philosophy.

B. Exclusive features 

• Domo’s mobile-first strategy syncs all BI data to your phone and sends you alerts depending on your priorities.
• The “Business Cloud,” as Domo refers to it, divides features into modules for each team.

C. Strengths 

• It’s simple to use and designed with the user in mind.
• Enterprise apps can be accessed quickly.

D. Weaknesses 

• In terms of presence, it lacks its own application ecosystems and cloud platforms.
• The price isn’t the best as compared to better products available in the market.

Go beyond business intelligence with SmartKarrot 

If you are looking for a tool that goes beyond business intelligence and provides customer intelligence, then I would recommend you try SmartKarrot.

Before going deep into this ingenious customer success tool, I would request you to check out this micro podcast link:

The Difference between Business Intelligence and Customer Intelligence 

SmartKarrot is the only platform that has been built for intelligent customer success. It uses customer success, customer experience, and product experience in an effective manner to help retain revenue and drive account expansion using a comprehensive suite of customer success tools.

It helps you to:

• Reduce churn and grow accounts
• Drive onboarding effectiveness
• Improve team productivity
• Increase product adoption
• Enhance customer experience

Schedule a quick demo today!

Concluding Thoughts 

All the business intelligence automation platforms mentioned above have some form of a free trial. So, it is easier for the users to try them out.  

Every platform has its strengths and weaknesses; however, we were hoping you could try them out and not frame an opinion based solely on our research.  

We assure you that these business intelligence automation platforms mentioned above are the best and will help transform your business over time.  

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