(
Business
Intelligence software) Software that enables users to obtain enterprise-wide information more easily. Such products are considered a step up from the typical decision support tools because they more tightly integrate querying, reporting, OLAP, data mining and data warehousing functions.
Many products claim BI capabilities, but the end goal is to let users slice and dice the information from their organization's numerous databases without having to wait for their IT departments to develop complex queries.
BI Evolution
Business intelligence was the 1990s buzzword for the management information system (MIS) of the 1970s and the decision support system (DSS) and executive information system (EIS) of the 1980s. MIS implementations often failed because the hardware was too slow and the software was not sophisticated. Countless DSS, EIS and OLAP tools followed, which added functionality, but were often point solutions to the problem. BI implies yet more integration and ease of use (of course, no matter what the subject, every new approach in the information field is touted as the one providing more integration and greater ease of use). See
Business Objects,
business intelligence portal,
EIS and
decision support system.