Mark Bannerman is country manager at MicroStrategy

Businesses that have the best relationship with their data are the businesses most likely to succeed. Over a very short space of time, the relationship between business and data has shifted from being simple, to something much more complex. Companies getting BI right are at a significant competitive advantage over their peers.

Over the last decade, BI has evolved beyond recognition, driven by some of the massive technological developments, such as social media and big data.

In the early 2000s, operational reporting was key. BI consisted of line-by-line items in its raw state, with little trending and analysis. The next step was to shift the view from this detailed state to a more strategic overview. Subsequently, senior management was now served with useful information they could base decisions on.

The next big step was shifting it from the IT department to the business owners instead. Traditionally, the business relied on the IT department to deliver on their data needs: IT would receive the request, schedule the work and build intensive queries in order to provide the data. Too often, by the time it was delivered, the query would be out of date or no longer relevant.

This last step truly unlocked the value of information, providing management with the intelligence to make informed decisions to drive the business forward.

Surveys carried out in 2007 showed that 50% of key business decisions were still being made by ‘gut feel’. This was often due to excessive data but insufficient analysis, or conversely, too little information to support informed decision-making. Over the next two years, this was remedied with enterprise-wide standardised services.

Today, hardware continues to decrease in relative cost, giving a greater capacity to store data. In addition, progress in the mobility space allows businesses to collect and consume detailed BI data on the go via smartphones and tablets, making accessing information in real-time easier than before.

Simultaneously, we have seen the massive amounts of customer data being generated on social media platforms. This offers businesses the largest opportunity to align sales and marketing efforts to customer preferences.

Looking ahead, the charmed partnership between mobile, social and BI is going to remain critical to driving competitive advantage in successful businesses around the globe.