Business intelligence (BI) has two different meanings related to the use of the term intelligence. The primary, less frequently, is the human intelligence capacity applied in business affairs and activities. Intelligence of Business is a new field of the investigation of the application of human cognitive faculties and artificial intelligence technologies and the management and decision support in different business problems.

The second, which is the subject of this article, relates to the intelligence as information valued for its currency and relevance. It is expert information, knowledge and technologies efficient in the management of organizational and individual business. Therefore, in this sense, business intelligence is a broad category of applications and technologies for gathering, providing access to, and analyzing data for the purpose of helping enterprise users make better business decisions.

The term implies having a comprehensive knowledge of all of the factors that affect your business. It is imperative that you have an in depth knowledge about factors such as your customers, competitors, business partners, economic environment, and internal operations to make effective and good quality business decisions. Business intelligence enables you to make these kinds of decisions.

A specialized field of business intelligence known as competitive intelligence focuses solely on the external competitive environment. Information is gathered on the actions of competitors and decisions are made based on this information. Little, if any, attention is paid to gathering internal information.

Business Intelligence enables organizations to make well informed business decisions and thus can be the source of competitive advantages. This is especially true when you are able to extrapolate information from indicators in the external environment and make accurate forecasts about future trends or economic conditions. Once business intelligence is gathered effectively and used proactively you can make decisions that benefit your organization before the competition does.

The ultimate objective of business intelligence is to improve the timeliness and quality of information.

Businesses realize that in this very competitive, fast-paced, and always changing business environment the only thing that will help them gain a competitive advantage over their competitors is how quickly they respond and adapt to change. Business intelligence enables them to use information gathered to proactively respond to changes.

BI provides many benefits to companies utilizing it. It can eliminate a lot of the guesswork within an organization, enhance communication among departments while coordinating activities, and enable companies to respond quickly to changes in financial conditions, customer preferences, and supply chain operations. BI improves the overall performance of the company using it.

Information is regarded as one of the most important resources a company can have, second only to human resources. So when a company can make decisions based on timely and accurate information it improves the performance of that company. BI also expedites decision making because businesses realize that information can be used to achieve a competitive advantage so that when a business obtains key information they quickly use it before a competitor obtains the same information. It also maximizes the customer experience because when you are able to properly cater to the wants or needs of a customer you enhance the customer's experience.