Organisations today understand that Information is Power. Sure we compete on product, price, service etc. Those aspects have to be right. Increasingly though it is the ability to know what is happening and what we can do about it that matters.

So everybody is working on 'Business Intelligence' or BI. That can mean a whole host of things from the most mundane reporting to the deepest analysis, modeling and most revolutionary automated or assisted decision making processes. All of it fed from comprehensive sources of data (often a Data Warehouse) and subjected to interpretation that is both rational and creative. And it leads to action that is different and real. Then we measure the impact, refine the processes and improve the results.

There are many parts of the BI process. We need to establish the core data model and populate the data from the source operational systems. Almost certainly we need to extensively transform and condition the data on the way to make it more suitable for this new purpose. Then we may cleanse, accumulate history and add newly derived information to the raw material.

All of this is necessary groundwork but it is the use of the data that puts the 'Business' into BI.

There are all sorts of ways that BI can and should be used. Some are basic and routine. Others are leading edge and experimental.

Sometimes the application of BI will be built into a system such as in a 'Standard Management Reporting' system or as part of the 'Customer Relationship Management' rollout. The end consumers of the information do not necessarily know where it came from or how it was produced. That was taken care of by the people who built the system.

A vital capability in these systems and in just about every other endeavour in the BI arena is the ability for people to do new types of analysis as the need arises. This 'ad-hoc' requirement is met by people who may be called Data Analysts or Power Users. And almost certainly they need to be able to do things in ways that the formal systems don't allow, or at least don't make easy. They need direct and unfettered access to the information and the tools to help turn it into results quickly.

Ad-hoc analysis is in fact the capability that can produce the greatest returns from BI. There are many examples of a single analyst doing some ad-hoc queries in minutes or hours that has resulted in millions of dollars of value and that would not have happened in any other way. What might start as a notion, leads to an investigation that produces a revelation and causes a revolution.

Even if it isn't this dramatic, ad-hoc analysis is a key part of many operational activities and business initiatives. It is the oil that speeds up the flow of information and lets things move ahead. Without it everything would grind to a halt waiting for formal work to build or change the system to produce the information that you need NOW!

There is no more direct and powerful way for an analyst to go about their assignment than to use SQL. It is the common language and currency of the databases that hold the information assets of a company - whatever the form and from whatever vendor.

Yet this growing population of essential and important Data Analysts has to deal with a relatively primitive set of existing tools. The existing products are not specifically designed for Data Analysts. They are primitive, try to hide the ‘complexity' which is their bread and butter or lack major features. Data Analysts are held back by the incomplete and inadequate tools currently at their disposal.

Hence the creation of QiD - the Query Integrated Development tool for database query and reporting. It is based on all of our experience of what the Data Analyst needs to best grapple with the available data and produce the results that make Business Intelligence actually worth while.

Enough chat. If you are a Data Analyst then have a look at the Overview of QiD Features. Then put together the business case that will convince your management that this is the tool for you.