BI's Impact on Analyses and Decision Making Depends on the Development of Less Complex Applications

This paper addresses where BI developers have failed to create applications suited for the common end-user and provide a conceptual roadmap to address these shortfalls. It is argued that BI’s impact on analyses and decision-making depends on the development of less complex applications. Research conducted for this paper finds that BI lacks a common definition and standard, that BI tools are too complex for the common user, and that a shortage of analytical literacy relevant to BI among business professionals is a barrier to BI adoption. The paper suggests that until BI analysis tools become more “human-centric, design-oriented†and less from a “technology-centric, engineering-oriented perspective†, BI will continue to fail in its objective to routinely improve business decision-making.