It can sometimes feel like businesses have more data than they can make sense of these days. Huge amounts of business activity are being tracked today, from sales figures and customer habits to stock levels and website activity. However, even though it’s not difficult to collect data in 2025, you’ll be forgiven for not knowing what to do with much of it once it’s available without the right solution.
This explains why so many businesses are excited about Business Intelligence or BI. Business Intelligence can help you transform your data into something much more useful, so you know what’s going well, where you could make improvements and what might happen later. When you’ve got a reliable BI set up, you can react to activity before it’s too late and start making better, more informed choices.
Let’s talk about why business intelligence reporting systems are so important, how to find the right BI tools for you and your business, the differences between off-the-shelf and bespoke BI software, making the right decision between the two and how to get the most out of BI solutions so you can get the best insights into your latest business activity and make accurate predictions about your company’s future.
Why BI Reporting Matters
When you bring BI reporting into your business, you can monitor performance as it happens, detect patterns and trends, predict future outcomes and identify areas where you might be inefficient right now. These reports are also great for predicting risks and let you make strategic decisions confidently.
One of the main reasons why so many companies are using BI reporting is that it bridges that gap between raw data and the great decisions that will protect your business and its prosperity, now and in the future.
For example, a retail chain that needs to track sales performance by store or a manufacturing firm looking at production volume can really benefit from quick and accurate BI reports as they help them take action before they miss out on valuable opportunities.
What Makes a Good BI Tool?
It’s important to note that not all BI tools are as reliable as each other. Here’s what you should be looking out for if you need a dependable BI tool that will really support you and your business.
1. Data Integration
It’s vital that your tool can easily connect to what you’re using already, such as spreadsheets, CRMS, databases and cloud apps. If it’s taking hours to pull in data, this can really slow you down and cause you a lot of unnecessary stress at the same time.
2. Interactive Dashboards
Reports aren’t meant to be static. You should be using dashboards that let you click around, take a good look at the details and crunch the numbers the right way for you, without you having to rely on an IT department for help. The more intuitive and interactive your BI software is, the better.
3. Real-Time Reporting
Knowing what’s happening inside your company right now is so important. If there’s been a big change since you opened your doors this morning, yesterday’s figures might suddenly be irrelevant. When you’ve got access to live data and can see changes as they happen, you’ll be able to spot issues quickly and take action within moments. This will help you to prevent problems from spiralling out of control.
4. Flexibility & Customisation
One of the things we’re really proud of at Pixel Fusion is the way we recognise that no two businesses are the same. Your reports need to reflect your uniqueness and be tailored to the specific way you work, from layouts and filters to KPIs and visuals.
5. Security & Permissions
There’s no need for absolutely everyone who works inside your business to see all your information and data. Features like role-based access, robust security and discreet audit trails will ensure you get the figures that you need without them being visible to people they don’t concern.
6. Mobile Access
In 2025, people aren’t always working at their desks. This is why you need to make sure that dashboard access is available whenever the right people need it, whether they’re in the office, in a meeting, on the move or working remotely.
7. Collaboration and Flexibility
The most important insights about your business need to be seen by the right people, whether they’re scheduled email reports, embedded views or live dashboard links, so choose software that makes this happen. We can provide you with BI software that suits your specific needs perfectly, helping you access all the information you need whilst helping you avoid paying for irrelevant features.
8. Scalability
If your business is going to be a real success, it will need to grow, and this means you needs will too. This is why your tool needs to keep up with the larger amounts of data you’ll be dealing with in the future as you start seeing more expansion. When your data, users and business are expanding, your software should be able to cope with these changes as they happen.
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Off-the-Shelf Tools: Pros and Cons
Tools like Power BI, Tableau, Looker and Google Data Studio give you a quick and simple way to get things off the ground when it comes to business intelligence and doing more with your data. They’ve become popular amongst companies from a wide range of industries because they’re supported well, are easy for users to get to grips with and tend to be very affordable.
Pros:
Most of these tools offer rapid deployment and are configured and ready to deploy within as little as a few hours in some cases. They’re very easy to use and come with drag-and-drop features and visualisation templates. This means they can be used by non-technical members of staff as well as the more tech-minded members of your team.
If you do decide to go for a subscription model, you should only have to pay for what you use. This will help you make your budget go further and avoid waste. These tools do tend to come with a lot of community support. They have big user bases and active forums, and there should be lots of documents you can easily access online to help you make the most of their features. The online communities that have been built around these tools tend to consist of very helpful people who can give you answers whenever you need them.
The vendors that supply these tools tend to dispatch new features and security patches on a regular basis so you can enjoy the latest functionality as it’s made available and stay always one step ahead of new threats.
Cons:
There are also some downsides you need to be aware of before you go ahead and bring readymade BI tools into your business.
There tends to be a higher upfront cost with off-the-shelf BI tools, and you might need to invest quite a large sum into development, testing and deployment. Ongoing maintenance is another issue as you’ll need either internal or outsourced developers to manage updates, security fixes and debugging. If only a few developers understand how an off-the-shelf solution works, there might be a lack of internal knowledge if they leave. This explains why so many companies prefer to have bespoke BI tools built for them that have been specifically designed for their businesses, with support from the teams that created them always available.
At Pixel Fusion, we firmly believe that you should always be able to get in touch with the team that built your software whenever you run into a problem or have a query about it.
Bespoke BI Reporting Solutions: Pros and Cons
Custom-built business intelligence reporting solutions are tailored specifically to your organisation’s needs, workflows and data environment. They’re designed with your exact needs in mind and have become increasingly popular with businesses who require deeper insights, greater control and long-term scalability.
Pros
Custom BI solutions are built from the ground up to make sure that they fit your business processes, KPIs and strategic goals. They can seamlessly integrate with your existing systems, consolidate data from multiple sources and deliver the exact types of reports your teams need, without forcing you into awkward workarounds.
As they are built specifically for your organisation, you don’t have to worry about clutter or irrelevant functions as each dashboard, report and data connection will be there for a reason. You can expect faster performance, cleaner interfaces and reports that fit your decision-making needs much more closely.
Long-term ownership and flexibility are other big advantages. You don’t be tied to a vendor’s licensing model, roadmap or limitations. It’s also much easier to add new features and update how your data is displayed as your development partner can make changes to the system whenever you need them.
You can expect to receive support that’s much more direct and personalised. You won’t have to find your way around large community forums to get the help that you need or wait days for someone to respond to a ticket. Instead, you’ll always have access to the people who built your platform, who understand your goals and the way your business works.
Cons
There are some potential pitfalls you need to consider when it comes to bespoke BI software. Development can take time. It can take weeks or months of planning, building and testing before software is ready. You may also need to pay a substantial sum for the upfront investment and cover the cost of support, enhancements and training as well as the initial build. However, it helps to see this is a long-term investment that will make your company more precise, efficient and competitive.
At Pixel Fusion, we believe that every business deserves to have tools that fit them perfectly. This is why our bespoke BI systems come with ongoing access to the people who built them, so you never have to feel stuck or unsupported.
Making the Right Decision
There are quite a few things you need to think about when you’re deciding between off-the-shelf and customised BI reporting.
One of the main factors you need to consider is your budget. Will paying a large sum upfront or opting for a subscription be best for you? You also need to think about timeframes. Are you eager to see bigger business insights right now, or can you wait a bit longer for a custom creation to be designed for your company?
Business complexity is another consideration. Think about whether your reporting needs are simple or extremely specialised. If you do decide to go for a customised solution, you might need an internal development team or other reliable in-house resources to support it.
Most organisations start with off-the-shelf applications before they move towards custom-built alternatives. It’s common for companies to wait until the time is right and their needs have evolved before they do this. Some businesses go for a hybrid approach and use a mix of off-the-shelf reporting plus custom-built connectors and dashboards.
How to Make BI Work for You
No matter which tool or methodology you go for, the success of your BI project will depend on your specific objectives, stakeholder buy-in and continuous improvements.
Let’s talk about some of the best practices you need to think about if you’re ready to get the best return on your Business Intelligence investment.
KPIs, Training and Quality Data
You’ll need to clearly define your KPIs. This means you need to be clear about what you want to measure and why you want to measure it. It’s also really important to engage users early and ask for input early on in the design phase so they feel involved and invested in the project.
You can get the best results by investing in training, so make sure your team know how to make the most out of the tools and use them properly. It’s also best to see your project as an iterative one, rather than a one-off deployment, and to remember that it can take time for it to start making a real difference to your business. Make sure you’re using quality data too. Bad data can make even the finest BI tools inefficient.
Conclusion
In 2025, Business Intelligence isn’t something that’s just nice to have. It’s vital that your company has access to it. Whether you’re happy with an off-the-shelf solution or are ready to invest in a bespoke reporting system tailored directly to you, the right BI tool and strategy can help you get access to detailed essential insights that will help you make much better decisions.
Technology isn’t going to stop evolving, and you’re likely to be dealing with even more data in future. This is why you need to remain agile and embrace iteration as this approach will ensure that your BI capabilities evolve as your ambitions do. Never forget that BI isn’t just about looking at information but understanding it too. You also need to act with confidence and certainty when it comes to acting upon your understand of BI.
Remember that off-the-shelf tools won’t always fit the most specific business needs and that subscription costs can quickly add up, particularly when you’re in charge of a larger team.
Some tools need intervention when it comes to supporting niche and legacy systems, and feature releases and bug fixes might not be available until the vendor prioritises them. This can be frustrating when you’re ready to push your business forward. What’s right for one business isn’t always the correct solution for another, so think carefully and consider talking to an expert before you make a decision on bespoke vs off-the-shelf BI software.
If you are ready to bring a bespoke BI reporting solution into your business, we’re ready to help. We have lots of experience in this area and are ready to hear from you right now if you want to find out more about tailored BI reporting in Grimsby, Lincolnshire or anywhere else.
Contact Us Today
Why wait any longer to get in touch if you do need to learn more about the best Lincolnshire BI reporting solutions or any of our other bespoke software development services? You can reach us today by calling us on 0330 133 2536 or by sending your message to enquiries@pixel-fusion.co.uk. You can also connect with us by completing the form on our website. Rest assured that we’ll respond as soon as possible so we can help you meet your BI reporting needs in no time at all.
