Jamison Cush: Business intelligence is a

technology driven process of analyzing data and

presenting actionable information to executives

for decision making. It combines a variety of

tools, technologies and methods with the intent of

driving positive change and boosting company

performance. BI encompasses a variety of analytics

processes, including data mining, predictive

analysis, text mining, statistical analysis, and

big data analytics, as well as reporting processes

and tools like data visualization software, key

performance indicators, performance benchmarking,

and querying. By improving access to a company's

data, BI can increase overall profitability

through effective decision making and optimize

internal processes, as well as by helping

businesses discover new revenues, identify market

trends, and spot business problems. BI is often

used interchangeably with business analytics, but

there are differences. Typically BI uses both past

and current data to inform current decisions for

current success, while business analytics uses

past data to explain current data and predict what

will happen in the future. In other words, BI

addresses the "what" and "how" while business

analytics addresses the "why" and what "next."