Duhok Polytechnic University
ITM Department
Stage 3
Business Intelligence
Lecture 3
Lecturer
Ms. Lozan Mohammed Abdulrahman
2024-2025
Duhok Polytechnic University
Contents
⮚ What is Business Intelligence Architecture?
⮚ Advantages of BI Architecture.
⮚ Disadvantages of BI Architecture
⮚ Business Intelligence Architecture Layers.
⮚ Business Intelligence Architecture Components.
What is Business Intelligence Architecture?
A business intelligence architecture is a framework for the
various technologies an organization deploys to run
business intelligence and analytics applications. It includes
the IT systems and software tools that are used to collect,
integrate, store and analyze BI data and then present
information on business operations and trends to corporate
executives and other business users.
The fundamental purpose of business architecture is to close
the gap that exists between an organization’s strategic
objectives and its operational realities.
The underlying BI architecture is a key element in the
execution of a successful business intelligence program that
uses data analysis and reporting to help an organization
track business performance, optimize business processes,
identify new revenue opportunities, improve strategic
planning and make more informed business decisions.
Advantages of BI Architecture
1. Enhanced Decision-Making.
2. Enhanced Operational Efficiency.
3. Better Business Insights.
4. Enhanced Data Visualization and Reporting.
5. Enhanced Competitive Advantage.
6. A Stronger Focus on Data Governance and Compliance.
7. Scalability and Flexibility.
Disadvantages of BI Architecture
1. Implementation Complexity.
2. Resistance to Change.
3. Resource Consumption.
4. Maintenance and Updates.
5. ROI (Return on Investment) Uncertainty.
Business Intelligence Architecture Layers
A number of layers make up the business intelligence
architecture, which combines them smoothly to turn raw data into
insightful information. In the total pipeline for data processing and
analysis, each layer is essential. these layers:
1. Data Source Layer.
2. Data Integration Layer / ETL.
3. Data Storage Layer.
4. Presentation Layer.
BI Architecture Layers
Business Intelligence Architecture Components
Business Intelligence Architecture Components
1. Sources System (Data Sources): The core components of a business
intelligence architecture are data sources. They comprise both internal
systems (such as databases, ERP, and CRM systems) and external
sources (such as social media, market research data, and web
analytics). These sources offer the raw data needed for analysis and
decision-making. The format and structure of the data may vary,
necessitating the use of proper extraction and integration procedures.
Unstructured, partially structured, or structured data may be
present in the data sources. Semi-structured and unstructured
data are more flexible in nature and may need extra processing
and normalization, whereas structured data refers to well-defined
and organized data with a preset format.
2. Data integration and cleansing tools: To effectively analyze the
collected data for a BI program, an organization must integrate and
consolidate different data sets to create unified views of them.
The most widely used data integration technology for BI
applications is extract, transform and load (ETL) software, which
pulls data from source systems in batch processes.
A variant of ETL is extract, load and transform, a technology in which
data is extracted and loaded as-is and transformed later for specific
BI uses.
3. Analytics data stores: Analytics data stores: Analytics data stores,
including data warehouses, data marts, and operational data stores
(ODS), serve as repositories for BI data.
The data warehouse stores structured data for querying and analysis,
while data marts cater to specific departmental needs.
An ODS acts as an interim repository and can support analytical
queries on recent transaction data. Additionally, a data lake, often
running on a Hadoop cluster, serves as a repository for raw data,
which can be analyzed within the lake or loaded into a data
warehouse.
4. BI and data visualization tools: The tools used to analyze data
and present information to business users include a suite of
technologies that can be built into a BI architecture. BI tools enables
business analysts and managers to run queries themselves instead
of relying on the members of the BI team to do that for them.
BI software also includes data visualization tools that can be used to
create graphical representations of data in the form of charts,
graphs and other types of visualizations designed to illustrate
trends, patterns and outlier elements in data sets.
Marketing Performance Data Visualization
Sales Data Visualization
5. Dashboards, portals and reports: These information delivery
tools give users visibility into the results of BI and analytics
applications with built-in data visualizations and, often, self-
service capabilities to do additional data analysis.
Other components that increasingly are part of a business
architecture include data preparation software used to structure
and organize data for analysis and a metadata repository, a
business glossary and a data catalog, which can help users find
relevant data and understand its lineage and meaning.
Power BI Report Server web portal
