Revolution 4.0 is now a reality in the procurement area. Gartner predicts that, by 2026, more than 75% of businesses providing digital solutions for procurement management will incorporate advanced analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science into their systems.

The use of Business Intelligence (BI) enables the development of relevant strategies for the sector. This is because technology increases the ability to analyze the key trends in procurement, and thus assist in the search of the best opportunities for the business.

The buyer can, for instance, cross-reference purchases made through a partner, by category, seasonality, geography, business unit and lead time.

BI offers also the possibility to monitor the team’s productivity and bring more efficiency in people management. Another benefit is its contribution to the transparency of information, strengthening compliance in transactions with suppliers.

The mix of BI with other integrated systems, such as ERP, E-procurement and SRM (Supplier Relationship Management), among others, allows extracting important data and converting it into information that will guide procurement decisions.

The evolution of Business Intelligence (BI)

In spite of seeming a recent concept, Business Intelligence was created in 1958 by Hans Peter Luhn, a German computer scientist. At the time, he defined BI as a “set of concepts and methods to improve decision making, through data analysis systems”.

But what Hans couldn’t have foreseen is that BI‘s decision analysis tools could go beyond the creation of mere reports. In our days, BI is more discovery-oriented.

The fact is that the tool’s ability to monitor companies’ information and guide the management of their choices is a complement of human competencies.

Contrary to what many think, BI is not a threat to professionals, but a way to improve activities, in order to achieve better results, in less time.

Nowadays, this ability is achieved with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which allow a 360° view of the organization – such as spend, risk and performance.

With lighter interfaces, excellent usability and cloud-based solutions, the current BI has mobility in its favor. All information can be tracked in real time, from anywhere and from any screen.

Besides, it offers greater accuracy when compared to manual methods of data comparison and crossing.

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