Business Intelligence For Dummies®

Chapter 2. Fitting BI with Other Technology Disciplines

In this section, we look at the most prominent technologies commonly associated with BI. Because these other classes of software are common in so many companies, it's important to understand how business intelligence is related to them. The associations—some casual, some arrangements of convenience—are of interest and importance to anyone considering a BI implementation.

These disciplines exist outside the immediate realm of BI—but in each case, business intelligence concepts and approaches have had a dramatic effect and helped the underlying technology round itself out into full form. The relationship between BI and each of these technologies is a two-way street. Each technology area has benefited from the BI process, and BI has grown and in response to the widespread adoption and evolution of these technologies—especially data warehousing, Customer Relationship Management, Point-of-Sale systems, and Enterprise Resource Planning.

Best Friends for Life: BI and Data Warehousing

Maybe you remember the old Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercials featuring the inevitable collision between the person carrying peanut butter and the person carrying chocolate. "You got chocolate in my peanut butter!" the former would exclaim, followed by the other proclaiming "You got peanut butter on my chocolate!" After a moment of consternation they realized the wonder they had created by mixing those two essential substances of the universe together ...