Business Intelligence

Basic knowledge of data analysis and database management systems is recommended.

Evaluation during the school term (75%, with a minimum of 50%) encompasses participation and work done in class, which includes self-evaluation and peer evaluation:

• Elaboration of a review article in Business Intelligence and Analytics (BI&A) area. Analysis, presentation, and discussion in classes of the review articles elaborated.
• Elaboration of a critical analysis of a company or institution from the point of view of BI&A. Presentation and discussion in classes of critical analyses of companies or institutions.
• Realization of tutorials and projects, using Power BI. Presentation and discussion in class of the projects elaborated.

Only students who obtain the minimum in this component evaluated during the academic period are admitted to the exam.

It is not allowed to repeat or improve this component throughout the school year.

Evaluation in the exam (25%, no minimums).

The objectives of the Business Intelligence (BI) curricular unit (UC) are to provide students with the ability to:

• Analyze and present the latest research in the area of BI.
• Know the fundamental principles of design of the different types of BI applications for data-based decision making.
• Know and apply the fundamental principles of data visualization for BI systems and decision support.
• Guide, evaluate and analyze BI projects, namely design, and criticize different BI applications to support decision-making at operational, tactical and strategic level.
• Draw and develop BI applications.
• Analyze, criticize and draw standard reports, dashboards and scorecards for decision making.
• Define performance indicators with different levels of aggregation. Know, understand, and use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

1. Introduction to Business Intelligence and Analytics (BI&A).

• Definition of BI&A.
• Key concepts and techniques in BI&A.
• Types of BI&A systems and tools.
• Evaluation and selection of BI&A softwares.
• The role of Business Intelligence in organizations.

2. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Scorecards.

• Definition and types of KPIs and Scorecards.
• Relationship between Scorecards and KPIs.
• Types of KPIs and Scorecards.
• Identify and select KPIs.
• Creating and implementing KPIs and Scorecards.

3. Visualization and Dashboards.

• Introduction to data visualization and importance of visualization in BI&A.
• Types of data visualizations techniques.
• Definition of dashboards and their purpose.
• How to choose the right visualization for the data.
• Designing and building effective and informative dashboards.

4. Research, case studies, applications, and projects.

• Overview of BI&A implementations.
• Analysis and comparison of BI&A solutions.
• BI&A research.
• Exercises using real-world data.
• Analysis and building of dashboards in a real-world scenario.

NAO