Guest post by Hannah West
Until the last decade, large organizations were the only entities that could afford the expensive and elaborate efforts of harnessing loads of data to inform their business decisions. Implementing Business Intelligence (BI) applications and technologies required data facilities and IT specialists – which meant these solutions were out of reach for small businesses lacking abundant resources.
Thankfully, there’s now an array of Business Intelligence software products that offer affordable, straightforward, and effective self-service solutions for small businesses.
But the plethora of options can make it difficult to know which one will best serve your company without breaking the bank. If you’re on the fence about investing in a BI tool for your small business, or you can’t seem to make a decision about which one to purchase, that’s understandable; a BI tool that’s improperly utilized in your company is a waste of money and time. You don’t want to end up with dashboards full of data and statistics that your team doesn’t know how to wield to the company’s advantage.
At the same time, it doesn’t make sense to spin your wheels when your competitors are already collecting and storing data to gain insights, save money, and reach new clients.
That’s why we’ve collected some top affordable BI tools that will allow you to analyze business performance, identify trends, and predict future outcomes. There are dozens of quality BI tools out there, from full-stack BI platforms suited for enterprises to data discovery and visualization apps. But small businesses have specific needs.These straightforward tools don’t require programming knowledge or special training for your team. Their price tags are reasonable, and most importantly, they picks are based on authenticated reviews of BI tools for small and mid-size businesses.
Price tag: Free basic version, Premium version for as low as $14/month per user.
Cyfe is an all-in-one dashboard software that analyzes data from online services including Google Analytics, Google AdWords, Mailchimp, Salesforce, social networks, and more. On top of social media and web analytics, it offers marketing and sales support. This authenticated user said the one-page reporting was easy to understand, and that the built-in integration of data sources made it easy to add widgets and collect more data. Upgrading to premium will get you features like unlimited dashboards and widgets, custom logo, historical data, public URLs, and more.
Price tag: As low as $6/month per user
Dundas BI is a business intelligence and data visualization software that offers standard reporting, ad-hoc reporting, scheduling, data discovery and visualization, and more. The pricing is adaptable depending on your needs; since small businesses often only require a few users and basic capabilities, the pricing scale may be advantageous for you. This verified user appreciates flexible visualization and the flexible pricing model that allowed his mid-size company to tailor a plan to its budget.
Price tag: $25/month Basic version (includes two users), $50/month Standard version (includes five users)
Zoho Reports is a cloud-based platform that makes it easy to create and share reports with insightful dashboards and data visualizations. You can connect to any data source and combine data from different sources. This verified user said Zoho Reports has just about everything their business needs, plus it’s easy to use and affordable for small businesses.
Price tag: Free one-year Basic trial, then $83/month per user for Standard
Domo is a full self-service business intelligence software that offers a year-long free trial for up to five users. Domo makes it easy centralize data/insights and collaborate with team members by sharing any type of attachment, receive real-time notifications, and manage your business across different devices. This authenticated user from a small company said Domo is a “great tool for small teams with big data.”
With these tools, small businesses can easily wield data to make important business decisions without emptying their pockets.
Hannah West writes about the newest technology tools and trends for TrustRadius and is the author of young adult fantasy novels Kingdom of Ash and Briars and upcoming Realm of Ruins. She holds a degree in French that rarely comes in handy and lives in Texas with her husband.
