Should You Custom Build Your BI Solutions?

Every modern business needs business intelligence (BI) solutions to remain competitive and efficient. With better BI tools, you’ll be able to better understand your business operations, your customers, your competitors, your finances – and basically everything else that your business needs to run. You’ll have wider access to objective data and better tools and features to understand those data; in turn, this means you’ll be able to make much better decisions for your business.

There are many generic BI solutions on the market, but should you choose one of these for your business? Or should you custom build something from scratch?

The Advantages of a Custom-Built BI Solution

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of precisely fitting business intelligence solutions over their out-of-the-box counterparts:

All the data you need

The first and potentially most powerful benefit we need to understand is that a custom-built BI solution should provide you with a platform that can help you track all the data you need. You no longer have to worry about tracking different metrics across different platforms, nor do you have to deal with clunky dashboards that don't consolidate all your information in one place. Instead, you'll have a single source of truth that you can rely on for all your business’s data analytics needs.

Better convenience and accessibility

In addition, custom business intelligence solutions offer better convenience and more accessibility. Because this tool is designed to serve your business specifically, it's going to be intuitive for most of your employees. You can also design it to make sure it functions in your business environment, specifically, whether you operate remotely, in an office, or some combination of the two.

Industry-specific catering

Chances are, businesses in your industry don't need the same types of tools and dashboards as businesses in totally different industries. Despite this, if you start shopping around for business intelligence tools, you'll find many offers that attempt to provide a universal solution that all businesses can use. In many situations, it's better to get a tool that was designed and developed with your industry in mind. This way, you'll get access to all the tools, features, and displays that work best in your niche.

Appropriateness for your users

You may also consider designing a business intelligence solution from the ground up if you're concerned about how your users are going to handle it. Experts in data analytics with decades of experience are going to need different types of tools than people who are dipping their toes into the data analytics field for the first time. Are you sure you have the most appropriate solution for your users? If you're custom building, you can develop exactly the tool you need.

Less fluff

It's not just about including all the features you need any business intelligence tool; it's also about deliberately not including features that you don't need. Too many business intelligence tools on the market come packaged with extra fluff that isn't necessary or valuable for most businesses. Instead, it's just a point of additional complexity that makes the tool more confusing and harder to use. By custom building your own solution, you can cut out this fluff proactively.

Scalability

In general, custom-built tools tend to be more easily scalable. If you design the tool with a strong foundation, you can continue adding to it and make modifications conveniently as your business grows and as its needs change. You may not have the same flexibility if you're running with something out-of-the-box.

 Total flexibility and control

From the ground up, you'll have total flexibility and control over how your business intelligence tools are designed and developed. Some business owners appreciate this meticulous, more controlled approach.

Are There Disadvantages to Custom Building a BI Solution?

Of course, many businesses are able to get by without custom-built solutions; instead, they can buy existing products. Are there any disadvantages to custom building that should influence your decision?

Costs

One of the biggest downsides to building a business intelligence solution from scratch is the extra expense. Buying a product that already exists doesn’t require any additional effort from the people who built it. Accordingly, you might end up paying thousands of dollars more for a solution that's perfectly appropriate for you.

Time

It may also be difficult to get a custom BI solution created in a short time frame. Depending on the complexity of your product, it could take weeks, or months, for your tool to be ready. If you're in a rush, or if you want to minimize the time you spend running without a BI tool, this may be a major drawback.

Dependency on direction

The power and effectiveness of your custom solution is going to depend on your direction. If you make bad calls during the development process, you may end up with a tool that doesn't fully address all your needs. That said, there should be enough flexibility for you to make ongoing changes if needed.

Custom-built BI solutions aren't the right choice for every business. Depending on what you need, they could be expensive, time consuming, or even incomplete. But for the majority of businesses, a custom solution is better in every measurable way, offering everything you need in a concise, convenient, and accessible package. Consider your options carefully before making a final decision.