BI is commonly understood as analytical software platforms that are different from the classical analytical systems through a high capacity of interaction when working with data as ensured by OLAP technology, option to fulfil the unscheduled inquiries to data, self-service function for users (independent setting of new analytical reports by users).

One may single out three key objectives that relate to the sphere of BI tools automation.

■ Random analysis.

This objective is of interest for "researchers" who while analyzing information from different points of view are in search for unknown regularities and detect errors. The tool should provide them with the options to perform the unscheduled inquiries, go into detail, carry out data rotations, compute aggregates by diverse business and statistical algorithms. The most important features of this group of users include a high interactivity and rich library of functions.

■ Reporting.

Developing, BI has entered the area of report and e-tables generators that is it has become appropriate for issuing of managerial reports as intended for automation of business processes, intra-corporate exchange of information. BI platform is currently perceived as the universal tool for making of all sorts of reports, expect, let us say, the regulated ones. Here the requirement lies in the fast, powerful constructor of reports, convenient ways for providing the access to reports for a larger number of employees in the company, for example the reports publishing at the web-site. Owning to numerous options on filtering, the num­ber of due reports becomes lower.

■ Dashboards for management.

A dashboard is a metaphor of the car's or plane's gage board. The required information is sent there for control, and information is visualized the way that it can be assessed at a first glance and cannot be missed or misconstrued. The dashboard becomes an extremely important operation tool for the manager.

The key requirements for the dashboard include the abundant, descriptive visualization, deep aggregation of information and integrity of manifold data on a single screen. The new technology includes mobile client, a possibility of screening the company's operations through tablet PCs and smart-phones.

BI TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION IN BANKS

In commercial banks one can successfully implement BI for resolving of all the aforementioned tasks. Let us consider the example of Contour BI platform. For analysts the platform switches on the "thick" customer - Contour Reporter, where they are able to make unscheduled inquiries, independently create analytical reports while using the library of hundreds of functions.

In order to create and publish the managerial reports, we offer the same reports constructor - Contour Reporter. The ready-made reports go to the catalogues as intended for various groups of users, and are published at the bank's corporate web-site through use of Contour BIPortal system.

As the general corporate library of reports, reporting elements' drag and drop method (graphs, charts, tables, "devices") are used, the dashboards for managers are created.

In banks the BI technologies are applied in order to build up the intra-bank portals for reports that as a rule include:
a) reports on sales of the bank products (sale of credit products, new raising of deposits and accounts, sale of commission-based products and plastic cards, etc.);
b) analysis of credit and market risks;
c) publication of the managerial and financial reports of the bank as a whole and its subdivisions (management balance sheets, income and loss statements, KPI, budget performance sheets, etc.)
d) reports to the parent structures;
e) many other reports.

Source information for BI reports is collected in the data storage or is available through special data marts in the bank accounting systems.

TOPICS FOR BI

The multidimensional analysis has a lot of advantages against the "flat" electronic tables. Such advantages may be manifested in the most versatile areas:
■ management accounting and budgeting;
■ CRM analysis;
■ economic expenditure analysis;
■ tax analysis;
■ accounting analysis;
■ HR analysis;
■ warehouse analysis;
■ multidimensional analytical statements for customers, etc.